These women prisoners face a harsher reality than the men : NPR

Maïmouna Diouf served several years in a women’s prison, convicted of infanticide, a charge she denies. She says the conditions were difficult: dirty mattresses on the floor, lack of sufficient food and hygiene products. She now volunteers to help the inmates.

Ricci Shryock for NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Ricci Shryock for NPR

The first time she entered the prison, she felt like she was going to pass out.

It is 2021. Maïmouna Diouf has been convicted of infanticide, a charge she denies, saying she gave birth to a stillborn child that she buried without notifying authorities.

Diouf looked around his shared room at the Thiès detention center in Thiès, Senegal. She was one of 10 prisoners assigned to sleep in this small space. There were old, dirty mattresses on the floor, she said. There was a smell emanating from them that she couldn’t exactly place. “This is my life now? How am I supposed to sleep here?” she thought.

Released in 2025, Diouf now volunteers to help inmates in Senegal. The conditions faced by women in prison were highlighted during events in Senegal to mark International Women’s Day last week, including the distribution of free, reusable menstrual products, which are not easily accessible to prisoners. Diouf agreed to share her story to draw attention to issues affecting the country’s approximately 280 women prisoners, about 2 percent of the total prison population of 14,000.

In Senegal, women and men accused of a crime are at the mercy of a system where justice is not delivered quickly. According to a report published in 2024 According to the U.S. State Department, “judicial delays and absenteeism by judges have resulted in an average wait of two years between the filing of charges and the start of a trial.” During this period of uncertainty, it is estimated that 60% of those charged were detained. The women are detained at the Liberté VI women’s prison in Dakar.

“It is very difficult for these women, especially innocent women, but they are in prison awaiting their trial. They sometimes do not have the means to have a lawyer, and in Senegal there is a lack of judges, which can also delay the trial,” explains Seynabou Dieme, head of socio-educational services at the Liberté VI women’s prison.

Dieme confirmed that some women waited up to six years for their trials to begin.

According to the Senegalese press, the government adopted a law in February aimed at reforming prisons and in particular improving detention conditions. NPR called relevant government offices to confirm this report and check on the status of the reforms, but received no response.

An additional burden for women

And then there is the issue of stigma.

“The culture often says that a woman has no right to make a mistake. Because the woman has to manage the house and the community and raise the children. If she falls, she brings down the whole family,” Dieme explains.

According to a 2021 report from the group Prison Insiderwhich monitors conditions in Senegal’s prisons, nearly half of women detained were convicted of infanticide and 23 percent were incarcerated for abortion, which is illegal in Senegal except in cases where the procedure would save the pregnant woman’s life.

The nature of the crimes women are accused of adds to the stigma, explains Fatou Faye. She is a supervisor at Tostan’s Prison Project, a Senegalese organization that distributes sanitary pads on International Women’s Day and teaches inmates human rights and the practical skills needed to generate income in prison and after release – dyeing fabric and sewing, for example. Faye also organizes family mediations to help former prisoners rebuild their relationships after their release.

Fatou Faye is a prison project supervisor run by Tostan, a human rights organization based in Senegal. She says she would like to see a more lenient public attitude toward women who have been accused or convicted of crimes: “They’re all human, and she may do something she regrets. So she should be given a chance to start fresh.”

Ricci Shryock for NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Ricci Shryock for NPR

Diouf says she was lucky: she still had the support of her family after her conviction, which made a huge difference while she served her sentence. Her brother had dropped her off at the prison the first day, saw the old mattresses in her cell and offered to bring her a new one. Her family members also brought her extra food and essential feminine hygiene products, something the state does not always provide. provide.

Family support – and rejection

Drawing on her experience, Maïmouna Diouf reiterates what Dieme, prisoner educator, says: Many women are rejected by their families even before being sentenced.

“They were always crying, because it’s hard to be rejected by your own family,” she added of her fellow inmates whom she grew close to during her incarceration.

Even when family members want to support a loved one in prison, they may face societal pressures to step back. This is what AF experienced, who served four years in prison for having an abortion. She asked to be identified only by her initials due to the continued stigma attached to her incarceration.

It was 2001. AF was a young mother who became pregnant and felt she could not support a second child, so she decided to have a clandestine abortion. The procedure caused complications and bleeding; When she was taken to the hospital, health workers reported to the police that she had had an abortion.

AF says his mother and sister wanted to offer him support, but the community and other family members – including uncles – urged them to abandon him. “They kept saying I was a bad woman and didn’t deserve their support,” she says. But her mother and sister insisted on continuing to support AF – providing not only material goods like food and soap, but also emotional support, promising that they would welcome her back once she was released.

“It was painful to watch them [her mom and sister] suffer,” she says. “When I couldn’t do anything from inside the prison.” She says she is grateful that her sister and mother did not give in to the pressure and helped her find work and support once she was released. After her release in 2005, AF began working with Tostan’s prison community education program to help incarcerated women prepare for life after prison.

Fatou Faye, prison project supervisor for the charity Tostan, enters a women’s prison in Dakar, Senegal, for an International Women’s Day event.

Ricci Shryock for NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Ricci Shryock for NPR

Life after freedom

For incarcerated women, AF says, the stigma continues even after their release.

“There are women who have been in prison and, once released, their families no longer welcome them. Often, they turn to delinquency and end up returning to prison,” she says. “Families and communities should have a mindset of forgiveness and helping.”

Faye, the Tostan prison project supervisor, agreed that she would like to see the public’s attitude toward women accused or convicted of crimes as one of acceptance to help them reintegrate into society. And that of forgiveness.

“They’re all human and she might do something she regrets,” Faye says of the average prisoner. “So she should have a chance to start fresh.”

Ricci Shryock is a writer and photographer in Dakar, Senegal. This September, Cassava Republic will publish her non-fiction novel about the experience of a female fighter during the war of independence in Guinea-Bissau in the 1960s.