It’s a usual guess in this side of the world to assume that a man is what an inmate should be. Hence, male inmates are the focus of the cries for criminal justice reforms. However, statistics obtained from the Nigerian Prisons Services has shown that female inmates represent two percent of the total number of inmates in Nigeria Prisons. This percentage reflects a figure of 1,500 female inmates out of over 73,000 inmates.
The Nigeria Prisons as well as other prisons in Africa is characterized by poor funding, over congestion amongst many others anomalies which has resulted in the poor health status of many inmates. There are a lot of worries inmates at Nigerian Prisons are faced with. But there is none that engages our interest like that of Menstrual Health. Of course, there have been cries for criminal justice reforms all over the world, and developing countries are not left out. Such cries has given birth to First Step Act Bill in the USA, where it was signed to law that female inmates be provided with free menstrual products to protect their rights of dignity. Looking at this bill, one will wonder how a nation as developed as the United States of America is just recognizing the need for females inmates to be given free menstrual products in 2019. The world needs to come to reality as to this fact and see menstrual hygiene products for inmates as a necessity and not a luxury or privilege of any kind which can be debated.
While menstruation is a topic that many find inappropriate to discuss in public, even in 21st century, it’s a necessary topic which must be taken with National concern. A study by UNICEF shows that one out of every fifteen girl child drop out of school as result of lack of menstrual care. If one could think of the fact that young girls who are roaming freely are finding it hard to get good menstrual hygiene, what can we think of women incarcerated? According to a remark made by a woman living in a prison in Nigeria when queried about the menstrual hygiene in prison, “if our relatives don’t bring menstrual products for us, there’s nothing for us to use than to rely on the extremely expensive pads being sold in the prison, this is what we spend the money we make in prison for”.
Quite apart from the undisputed reality that menstrual hygiene products is out of reach for female inmates, another worrisome snag is the absence of regular water supply in prisons. It would be agreed by many that the absence of water and soap in the cleaning up of menstruating women could lead to a myriad of infections.
It’s an incontrovertible truth that ignoring the menstrual health hygiene in prisons would be damaging, as the prison which is meant to serve as a correctional system would produce in disguise, beasts among female inmates instead of beauties due to the mental and physical damages that would be brought upon the inmates by poor menstrual hygiene.
Considering the Nigerian economy, providing pads on daily basis for prisoners would be financially draining, there’s a need to suggest the use of reusable pads which might be expensive at first but considering the longetivity of use, the frugality in such purchases is soon discovered.
This is a crying call to the Ministry of Interior Affairs and the general public to the salient and silent issue amongst others being faced by inmates in Nigerian Prisons.
Also, this is also need to give kudos to humanitarian organizations such as Reaching Minds Foundation, Sanitary Aid among others who have taken it upon themselves to act where the government failed to, in providing sanitary aids to young girls and female inmates across Nigeria.
Abass Oyeyemi Obafemi Awolowo University.