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VOL. 12, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Women prisoners’ rights and quality of life in Haryana prisons: A socio-legal empirical study
Authors
Raina Godara Mann
Abstract
Women prisoners represent a template, but a very weak section of the
population in the Indian prison system, and their conception and governance in
the penal system is still gender-neutral but gender unequal. This paper will
examine the rights and Quality of Life (QoL) of women in prison infrastructure
in Haryana from a socio-legal empirical perspective. The study will be based on
fieldwork in four prisons: Sirsa, Sonipat, Ambala, and Hisar, to analyse data
from 189 incarcerated women using a modified WHOQOL-BREF instrument,
supplemented by interviews and legal analysis. The results show that there is
consistent overcrowding of women's units, a chronic lack of women staff,
general under-trial detention, and gross inaccessibility to legal aid.
Meaningful, although moderately positive perceptions of physical safety,
autonomy, and mental health support, as well as procedural justice, are
impaired. The paper presents incarceration as a dimension that has not been
taken seriously, especially in the concept of motherhood. It concludes that the
incarceration of women in Haryana is an expression of structural disconnect
between constitutional mandates and the practice of incarceration, and
therefore, it is critical to provide gender sensitive prison governance based
on human rights principles.
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Pages:47-52
How to cite this article:
Raina Godara Mann "Women prisoners’ rights and quality of life in Haryana prisons: A socio-legal empirical study". International Journal of Law, Vol 12, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 47-52
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