According to a report, families of 40 women released from prison rejected them and they are now forced to live in a shelter run by the Ministry of Social Affairs. This points to serious problems not only within our own society but also in the institutions that are supposed to protect Saudi women.
The reports say that the 40 women found themselves destitute and without family support after being released from prison for various convictions. However, according to the National Committee for Prisoners, the ministry needs at least three times the current budget to adequately care for these women.
The mere fact that these women must stay in shelters is shameful for both the authorities and the families that refused to accept them back. The shelters are simply an extension of the prison. They served their time for their convictions, paid their debt to society, but still are punished by effectively remaining incarcerated. Yes, their punishment may very well last a lifetime.
But consider this: It’s a tragedy that female ex-convicts still in custody in so-called shelters are better off than other women who have been murdered by their families for the alleged shame they have caused them. And just to let you in on a dirty little secret, in some instances, some women don’t even make it miles away from the prison gates before they are shot dead by their families.
I can’t even pretend to understand the mindset of families who abandon their daughters and sisters for crimes they may have committed when they are more than willing to accept their sons and brothers who may have committed the same crimes with open arms back into their homes. This backwardness is disgusting on so many levels.
Yet we compound the problem by refusing to give female offenders released from custody a fighting chance to become productive members of society. What we should do, but so far lack the will, is provide halfway houses — apartments under the strict supervision of the Social Affairs Ministry, which enforces a curfew — to allow them to live a somewhat normal domestic life that allows them to go to work each day, earn a wage, and return home. Frankly, if the Social Affairs Ministry takes on the responsibility of the de facto mahram, then the ministry should give each released prisoner the permission to live in an apartment on her own as long as they have employment and earn a wage that allows them to support themselves.
This is what civilized societies do. Instead, we insist on putting released female offenders in a shelter that is no more than a more comfortable confinement, perhaps a bit better than the one they left. While these shelters provide care and comfort and some skills, the women have no real opportunity to live in dignity. If their families don’t want them, then the Social Affairs Ministry should have the courage to find work for them and a place to live. Easing the male guardianship restrictions to allow them a degree of independence helps not only ex-prisoners but also society in general.
By keeping these women incarcerated — there is no other word for it — we deny them justice and we tacitly endorse their families’ un-Islamic behavior by preventing them from enjoying their rights as free Saudis citizens who have paid the price for their crimes and are entitled freedom.
Improvements in the system have been made to encourage female ex-prisoners to participate in society. Laws have been changed in recent years to allow ex-convicts to take training courses, find work and enroll in college. However, the practicality of actually working is remote if women are not permitted to live independently.
The problem remains as to what degree are women allowed to live an independent life. Of course, the Saudi government should triple the Social Affairs Ministry’s budget for the construction of new accommodations. The government certainly has the financial means to do so. But rather than spend those funds on more shelters, programs should be established for halfway houses, apartment rents and more training for independent living.
