MANSEHRA: After giving her a bath, prisoner Kaneez Sughra wrapped her three-year-old daughter in a piece of cloth covering most of her body.

Though 39 women detained in her barrack of Mansehra district jail saw the woman do all that, no one knew how adversely the environment would impact on the mind of the child, whose mother served a jail term.

The minor is not alone. Four more such children are also living there with mothers convicted on various criminal charges.

“We don’t give anything extra to women living with children in jail but a specified quantity of milk under the jail manual,” superintendent of the district jail Tahir Shahbaz said.

Jails and courts have no special places for such children and thus, exposing them to hostile environment

He said there was not an isolated barrack for women prisoners living with their minor child here and anywhere else in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Experts say the minors growing up behind bars even for no fault of theirs are exposed to viral infections and psychological problems.

Such children also accompany mothers to courts for trial in their respective cases and thus, becoming vulnerable to another hostile environment. Ironically, the courts in Abbottabad, Haripur, Battagram, Kohistan and Mansehra don’t have special spaces for such children and mothers.

Miserable are the conditions in Haripur’s central jail, where women prisoners with minor children are kept with convicts without children.

Neither the federal nor provincial governments have taken serious efforts to provide these children with an environment, which keep their little minds from adverse impact of the time spent behind bars.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s judiciary led by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Yahya Afridi has taken initiatives for creating trauma-free environment in courts for children accompanying parents for trials.The situation in Hazara jail is ironic as the children accompanying mothers are kept in barracks having other women prisoners. Also, there is no isolated space for them on the court’s premises.

The situation in lower courts is no different as the children going there with parents in family cases or otherwise come across hostile environment. There are no separate spaces for them and thus, rendering them vulnerable.

Also, such children lack counseling services and so, the chance of their getting involved in crimes after leaving jails is high.

Recently, the Peshawar High Court wrote separate letters to district and session judges and qazis across the province about the establishment of thematic parks in district courts for children affected by parental dispute.

It also called for the creation of special spaces for children and women coming to courts.

“The children, particularly adolescents, are the victims of dispute between husband and wife. They suffer psychological and physical trauma when relations between their parents come to sore and situation further worsens when matter is brought to courts where these children witness criminals handcuffed and their parents indecent altercation in court and undergo abusive and suffer from social neglects,” read the letter.

The court also ordered the relocation of family courts to places away from full public view.

“Outdoor entertaining park should be developed with necessary facilities, toys etc so children can play there when their parents appear in courts adding if space for park is not available such a room should be developed for the purpose,” it asked the subordinate courts.

The letter also called for the construction of washrooms and lavatories for such children on the court’s premises.

After receiving that letter, district and sessions judge of Mansehra Muzzamil Shah Khattak sought a report from the family court judges, Imran Shaheen and Alia Bibi, regarding the establishment of a thematic park for children accompanying parents to their courts.

In a separate letter, the high court also asked the district and sessions judges to encourage a voluntarily counseling of such vulnerable children through girl colleges’ students and dispose of family court cases expeditiously saying this will keep children from hostile environment for a long period.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2017