Women Incarceration: Issues and Challenges

Incarceration has destructive consequences for men and women alike. However, women are more often the ones affected. The physical and mental health trauma that women prisoners experience is significant. Women prisoners in Kerala have been noticed nowadays, but research on women prisoners' issues has been very limited in this field. However, the recent trends towards the rise in female crimes have gathered curiosity among researchers to know more about the life of women prisoners. However, when it comes to women in prison, there is a paucity of literature on the situation of these women. The present study delves deep into life inside jail, the effects of incarceration and its cascading effects on both family members and dependent children, as well as the coping strategies adopted to overcome it. The paper focuses on women's imprisonment, their issues, and challenges. This study used a qualitative, descriptive approach and non-probability sampling, using a snowball sampling method. The findings of the research show that most of the women had problems with their physical and mental health as a result of their incarceration period. The study also found differences in how women adjusted and how much stress they felt during the first few days versus later on. It also found that women who did not have a lot of social support inside or outside of prison found it hard to deal with being imprisoned. As a way to cope, many women did things in prison or spent time alone. The study shows that social workers need to help women on trial deal with the incarceration process and its effects by getting more involved.