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Abstract
This study analyses intersectional perspective in relation to criminal legal justice in Pakistani society - a South Asian country with more than 220 million population. By drawing on insights from the women inmates and a criminal lawyer through qualitative interviews, the study probed the encounters of these women with criminal legal system and society. These women were incarcerated in drug-related offenses, murder, injury, and sex work. The study has found that social status identity (e.g., education and income), religious and gender identity of the women inmates experience the negative stereotyping, inadequate legal support, and discrimination in men’s dominated criminal justice system of Pakistan. The religious identity of the women inmates further overlaps in the legal system which can increase their vulnerability for discrimination in the criminal law that specifically deals with drug-related offenses. In relation to gender, women prisoners who are young and mothers with children allegedly incarcerated in murder were more vulnerable to patriarchal biasness and barriers of reintegration into family and community. The study has suggested skill-based education, establishment of free legal and reintegration service and oversight of police officials who register criminal cases against women offenders to prevent their religious and gender-based biasness while registering such cases.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the data collection support of Miss Saima Shareef who was the student in the department of Sociology of Allama Iqbal Open university Islamabad at the time of data collection of this research paper. The authors did not receive any funding for the completion of this manuscript.
ETHICAL APPROVAL
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan’s Policy on Research Ethics. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Social status identity of individuals encompasses their perceived access to financial resources, social prestige, and societal power relative to others in society. In this paper, social status identity is defined in relation to gender and class-based inequalities present in Pakistani society as socialization experiences that influence the research respondents’ social status in crime and legal justice process in Pakistani society (for details about the concept of social status identity see “Fouad & Brown Citation2000”).
2 The criminal justice system of Pakistan has five components: police, judiciary, prisons, prosecution, probation and parole. The law, policies, and institutions are articulations of the gendered inequalities, norms, and values that are prevalent in mainstream society and culture.
3 Although there is fluctuation in official statistics about the status of female prisoners in Pakistan, but available facts reflect a rising trend in female inmates. In 2015, Institute for Criminal Policy Research (2019) reported total number of female prisoners in Pakistan as 1204. This number increased to around 2000 in 2018 (Rizvi, Citation2019).
4 The name of the Jail is kept anonymous as per the request of the research respondents. The Punjab province is the most populated region of Pakistan having more than 50% population of the country’s 220 million people. According to the current statistics, the total number of female prisoners in the Punjab is 743 which is around 12% of total number of female prisoners (83169) in Pakistan (For details refer to References list: Punjab Prisons, Citation2019). The other provinces of Pakistan include Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and northern autonomous region Gilgit-Baltistan.
5 According to Pakistan’s Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, punishment for the possession of 1,000 grams of charas is minimum 3 years jail along with the fine. The fine is the discretion of the court. Respondent 1 belonged to a religious minority of Pakistan who are allowed to sell and consume alcohol under Pakistan’s law (for details see section “Intersection of gender and religious identity….”).
6 Respondent 9 told, “I think the law of Pakistan is made to control the suppressed population like women. It becomes active for those people of our society who do not have enough resources and power”.
7 Respondent 9 said “The male dominating law making bodies [National Assembly, Senate, and Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan] make the laws. In other words, the laws for women are also made by those men who do not have any idea of women issues and rights. They make such laws which exploit women rights and liberty”.
8 Respondent 9 told “The extent of corruption in law enforcing institutions of Pakistan is widespread. This is the basic reason for injustice to common population especially the women. Usually, men can bribe and influence the police and courts through their personal contacts and by arranging the money more easily for bribe than that of women”.
9 Respondent 9 believes “Mostly, the bail money is paid by parents of the accused. In some cases, husbands and in-laws also paid for their bails. Some pay their fees by themselves”.
10 A prostitute is one who exchanges sexual favours for money, drugs, or other desirable commodities, while a pimp is one who controls the actions and lives off the proceeds of one or more prostitutes (for details see “Williamson & Cluse-Tolar, Citation2002”).
11 Professional criminal is a person who pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation, developing skilled techniques and enjoying a certain degree of status among other criminals (for details see at “https://the-definition.com/.)
12 Pakistan’s liquor law allows only non-Muslims in Pakistan to prepare, possess, sell and consume alcoholic products. Muslims can only consume alcohol for medicinal purposes. Respondents 1 and 2 belonged to non-Muslim community of Pakistan. For details see at: https://pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/zia_po_1979/po4_1979.html.
13 According to Respondent 9 “Mostly, the bail money is paid by parents of the accused. In some cases, husbands and in-laws also paid for their bails. Some pay their fees by themselves”.