An official inquiry in Mozambique has confirmed reports of forced prostitution in a women’s prison in the capital, Maputo. The government set up a commission of inquiry last month to investigate cases of sexual abuse and exploitation. The commission found that the abuses were perpetrated both by prison guards and individuals outside the jail. Elisa Samuel, who wrote up the findings, said in many cases it was the prison wardens who abused or enabled the rape of certain inmates. “In other cases, [they] demanded sex in exchange of food, drugs or promises of differentiated treatment,” she added. The prison officers used their power to impose their sexual “appetites and fetishes” and when that did not materialise, it resulted in the restriction of liberties and severe and inhumane punishments, including humiliation at parades. The report also noted that the majority of prisoners became pregnant and were forced to have an abortion, using hospital services of nurses assigned to the prison. “Women’s exploitation and other forms of sexual abuses committed against female inmates by some prison agents, as referred to in this report, constitute acts of torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment,” Ms Samuel said.
SOURCE: BBC
How Female Prisoners were Abused in Maputo
