Women, criminality and multifocal empowerment 
responses: some prospects for Botswana 
TlRELO MODIE-MOROKA1 AND MARIE-ANTOINETTE 
Sossou2 
ABSTRACT 
Although the overall agenda of the women's movement is committed to 
recognizing the needs and aspirations of women and ending genderbased 
inequality, issues concerning women and crime have always 
been ignored. This paper documents the situation of women in prison 
in Botswana. Although the proportion of prisoners who are women is 
relatively small, women constitute a growing subset of the entireprison 
population whose needs are different from those of men. Whereas factors 
that draw women to criminal activities may not differ markedly for 
men and women, women's crime is a reaction to the special 
circumstances of their prolongedvictimization and dispossession. The 
paper explores how prisons have historically served to enforce and 
reinforce women's traditional roles and to foster dependency and 
passivity. The paper combines empirical evidence collected through 
qualitative research conducted in six female prisons in Botswana with 
feminist and empowerment models used to highlight the personal 
experiences and psychosocial problems of women in prison. We argue 
for the development of gender-appropriate and gender-sensitive social 
services in education, economic and personal empowerment, legal 
aid, medical and counselling, among others, in order to help women 
prisoners take control of their lives. 
1 Department of Social Work, University of Botswana. 
2 Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Ghana, 
Legon.
THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE for Women (1975-1985), the Lagos Plan 
for International Development of Africa (1980-2000) and the United 
Nations Assembly Resoution 44/211 were major steps toward raising 
awareness of women's needs and their socioeconomic development. 
Over the past two decades women have made energetic efforts to 
organize, articulate their concerns and make their voices heard in their 
respective countries and in international forums, culminating in the 
United Nations Beijing Conference for Women in 1995, which 
emphasized mainstreaming gender in the sociopolitical and economic 
agenda. Although the overall agenda of the women's movement and 
social action has expressed a commitment to ending gender-based 
inequality, recognition of the needs and specific concerns of women in 
prison have always been ignored. 
Prisons serve the same purpose for women as they do for men—as 
instruments of social control. The imprisonment of women takes place 
against a backdrop of patriarchal relationships, that is, the manifestation 
and institutionalization of male dominance over women and children in 
the family and the extension of male dominance over women in society 
in general (Lerner 1986). Men hold power in all important social 
institutions and women are often deprived of access to such power. 
The imprisonment of women in Africa as a whole and in Botswana in 
particular has always been different for women than for men. Women 
have been sent to prison for different kinds of crime and, once in prison, 
they endure different conditions of incarceration. In an effort to examine 
this issue of criminality and imprisonment of women, this paper suggests 
how empowerment models could be integrated into the services 
provided for women prisoners. 
This is first, to help them gain control over their lives and overcome 
the factors that account for their oppression or disempowerment. 
Second, it is to urge that Botswana follows the United Nations Standard 
Minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. These state that the period 
of imprisonment should be used to ensure that, as far as possible, upon 
her return to society the offender is not only willing, but able to lead a 
law-abiding and self-supporting life. To this end, the institution should 
utilize all the remedial, educational, moral, spiritual and other forces and 
6 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
forms of assistance that are appropriate and available (United Nations 
1983). 
This paper is based on a study that was done in prisons in Botswana. 
The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of the women 
prior to incarceration and the conditions they viewed as connected to 
their participation in specific crimes. The ultimate objective was to offer 
an impetus to policy changes by providing a foundation for research 
on women and crime. It also intended to cultivate a theoretical and 
empirical base for providing nonsexist services and interventions in 
prison settings. Understanding the realities of women's lives provides 
a fertile ground for planting new seeds in their lives. Women in prison 
may share similar experiences with other women. Intervention with 
women in prison should therefore address the way that marginalization 
and powerlessness in society is linked to their association with procriminal 
subgroups and ultimately their own involvement in crime. 
Methodology 
THE STUDY EMPLOYED a combination of both qualitative and quantitative 
analysis of 80 life-history interviews with incarcerated women and girls 
in six prisons in Serowe, Lobatse, Tsabong, Maun, Gaborone and 
Francistown Women's Prison in Botswana. These prisons serve as 
catchment zones for most of the women sentenced to imprisonment in 
all the districts in Botswana. The research design is therefore both 
descriptive and exploratory in nature. A list of women who are currently 
in prison was obtained from the Department of the Prison and from staff 
at the women's prisons. This Department keeps standardized data on 
all women sentenced to a term of imprisonment who are mandated to be 
under its care for the duration specified by the courts. 
A list of all the women in prison was then drawn up and a simple 
random sampling method used to minimize bias in demographic 
characteristics and to manage the interviews. Informed consent was 
obtained from every respondent and all were assured of confidentiality 
and anonymity. Using the above sampling design, a sample of the 
women was selected for the first part of the study, which consisted 
mainly of demographic close-ended questions. For the qualitative 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 7
component of the study, the same sample of 80 women was used for indepth 
interviews. This was mostly a retrospective study, hence the use 
of intensive interviewing, relying on the individual's memories of events 
that had occurred previously. An interview guide with probes was used 
to ensure that key topics were explored with each respondent. The 
interview guide was structured to probe the information given by the 
respondents on the questionnaire and to add new areas that the 
researcher and the women wanted to explore further. A questionnaire 
consisting of primarily closed-choice questions and open-ended 
questions was administered to the research participants. The first author 
and six research assistants, who were all social work students at the 
University of Botswana, completed the interviews. 
The complex nature of life events presented an enormous challenge 
to the researcher. The qualitative approach enabled the researcher to 
solicit in-depth descriptions, explanations and narrations of what women 
believed had contributed to their involvement in crime. Information 
collected from the quantitative data included measurement, prediction 
and data for drawing correlations and relationships between variables. 
The qualitative data methods enrich the variables under study by linking 
them to specific experiences, incidents and observations. A combination 
of these methods minimizes threats to internal validity. In a mixed-method 
approach, therefore, the inherent weaknesses of one method are 
minimized by the other. 
The analysis of the data was guided by the research questions. 
Descriptive univariate analyses involved a general aggregate profile 
(demographic description) of the characteristics and profile of the overall 
sample population. Bivariate correlation analyses examined the existence 
(association) and strength of a relationship between independent 
variables and the outcome of criminal behavior. Multiple Regression 
analysis was conducted to identify and determine the relationship 
between two or more predictor variables and the dependent variable. 
For the qualitative data analysis phase, a word-processing programme 
(HYPER RESEARCH) was used to identify the individual participants' 
files. The computer programme was used to search for key words such 
as "meaning", "poverty", "violence", "alcohol", "abuse" throughout 
8 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
the data file, corresponding to the topical areas of analysis. Content 
analysis of the interviews revealed concepts important to understanding 
the women's experiences of poverty, violence, intimacy and others, as 
shall be later seen. Conclusions were then drawn up, based on these 
findings. 
The situation of African women 
WOMEN PROVIDE THE BACKBONE of the rural economy in many of the 
communities in Africa. About 80 per cent of the economically-active 
female labour force is employed in agriculture and women comprise 
about 47 per cent of the total agricultural labour force {Africa Recovery 
1998). In many rural communities in Africa women contribute unpaid 
labour to the household's agricultural production and spend up to 50 
hours a week on domestic labour and subsistence food production. 
Studies have documented that women work 12-13 hours a week more 
than men, as the prevalent economic and environmental crises have 
increased the working hours of the poorest women {Africa Recovery 
1998). 
In some areas, women may have separate access to land and work 
independently in farming or in some other income-generating activity, 
but in general they have fewer opportunities than men to earn an income. 
They combine their unpaid labour with independent production to meet 
the needs of their families and to attain some measure of autonomy and 
self-reliance. Their income is indispensable for family survival regardless 
of the presence of men in their lives and they are expected to generate 
actively the means to meet the daily expenses for themselves and their 
children. 
With the decline of national and local economies in many African 
countries, many men have been unable to or have refused to contribute 
their share of household expenses. This has increased household 
pressures on women, raising the numbers of women living in poverty 
and the number of households in the poorest categories headed by 
women {Africa Recovery 1998). 
Women in Africa bear a disproportionate burden of the social crisis in 
the continent. They experience the highest maternal mortality rates in 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 9
the world, while the level of illiteracy among them is almost unsurpassed 
(Economic Commission for Africa 1998). Among the majority of rural 
and low-income urban dwellers, women perform all domestic tasks, while 
many also farm and trade. They are responsible for the care of children, 
the sick and the elderly, in addition to performing essential social 
functions within their communities. They seek to manage the 
environment, although their struggle for survival often results in 
environmental damage from activities such as fuel-wood collection 
(Manu 1998). Lack of access to formal education and training, 
suppression and domination have been identified as the key barriers to 
women's development and advancement in Africa. According to the 
African Platform for Action one way forward for the advancement of 
women in Africa is to empower them politically and economically, 
increase their access to education, training, science and technology 
and support their vital role in society and the family. Their legal and 
human rights and other social and cultural rights also need to be 
protected. 
Batswana women, like their counterparts in sub Saharan Africa, 
have a long history of deprivation, powerlessness and deprivation, a 
result of patriarchal, colonial and ongoing gender struggles. This is 
shown in their relative over-representation in poverty, unemployment, 
illiteracy and bad health, the scale of their childcare responsibilities, 
their lack of safety, and the prevalence of gender-based violence. As a 
result, when women commit crimes it is most often a result of continued 
deprivation and helplessness. 
Women in prison 
WOMEN OFFENDERS POSE multiple challenges to human service 
organizations at the levels of direct service, policy and administration 
because of their heterogeneity. They differ in age, birth order, class, 
educational status, ethnicity and lived experience; all which may have 
contributed in some way to their involvement in crime. The study 
confirmed the conclusions of various studies done across the world. 
First, women's crimes are often a reflection of their social, economic, 
political and domestic circumstances (Daly and Chesney-Lind 1988, 
10 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
Gilfus 1987, Mothibi 1994). Second, there are as many explanations of 
women's criminality as there are pathways to crime itself; hence, a 
multidimensional portrait seems appropriate. Third, women in prison 
are products of the class- and gender-based oppression they experience. 
Gendered power relations which benefit men and perpetuate their needs 
at the expense of women and children, are push factors in women's 
criminality (Arlington 1993, Dominelli 1991). Fourth, societal role 
expectations (latently existing through the legal and normative 
structures of society) force women to take responsibility for family 
affairs, often resulting in their adjusting in criminal ways. 
The other major conclusion of the study was that women are heavily 
burdened with a number of responsibilities, especially within the 
reproductive and care-giving arena. This leaves them with few options 
for making a livelihood, despite their resilience. As role demands on 
these women multiply, they find it increasingly difficult to cope with 
their poverty and inequality in employment opportunities. The 
prevalence of physical, sexual and emotional victimization by family 
members and intimates and the high proportion of drug and alcohol use 
by the women, their parents or their male partners also signify a high 
level of distress present in women when they enter custody. Women in 
the study reported experiencing ongoing physical and sexual abuse 
throughout their childhood, adolescence and adulthood and cooccurring 
economic deprivation. Throughout their lives they 
experienced continuous victimization (especially those from low 
socioeconomic classes) which they resisted or responded to by 
becoming involved in criminal activities. This leads to their entrapment 
within the walls of the criminal justice system. 
Finally, their narratives pointed to stress as a major factor in women's 
lives. Conditions associated with a low-income status such as 
unemployment, poor housing, low literacy rates, violence and crime are 
chronic stressors. Such psychosocial distress may even be a factor in 
the development of criminality, as people seek to escape their situation 
through non-legitimate ways. Freedman (1981) suggests that the growing 
rate of women in prison could be linked to social change and changing 
gender roles, especially increasing urbanization and the development 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 11
of new agents of social control. Property- and drug-related crimes were 
often the most readily available ways for women to support themselves 
and their children. 
The neglect of social services for women in prison has often been 
justified by referring to the smaller proportion of women as compared to 
men in the entire prison system. Furthermore, most women offenders 
are sentenced to short terms of imprisonment due to the nature of their 
offences. Hence their needs and the provision of gender-specific 
services are often neglected or ignored. (Carlen 1983, Chesney-Lind 
1989, Gilfus 1987, Sarri 1983, Simpson 1989). In Botswana, however, men 
and women also differ in degree to which they participate in certain 
crimes (Government of Bostawana 1998(a) and (b), Gilfus 1987, Moleboge 
1998, Mothibi 1994). Female criminality is on the increase in Botswana, 
accounting for 15 per cent of all those arrested/accused and 10 per cent 
of all incarcerated prisoners (Moleboge 1998). Only 20 per cent or less 
of convicted women end up in prison: the remainder are diverted away 
from custody through fines, community service or given a warning. 
While offences against property and persons rank as the first and 
second major offences for all, the third most frequent offence for women 
relates to public order, usually due to fights in public places such as 
bars and drinking spots (Moleboge 1998). For all convictions, about 60 
to 70 per cent of men are likely to be fined, compared to 75 to 85 per cent 
of women. Factors in the development of "deviant behaviour" do not 
differ markedly for men and women, but the latter are especially 
vulnerability to physical and sexual violence, poverty and single 
parenthood, low esteem and identity problems. Women's crime is a 
reaction to this dispossession. 
This paper recommends a wide range of comprehensive, integrated 
and responsive programmes and social services designed to steer 
women out of crime. Such strategies are meant to assist women in the 
development of their overall well-being. Programmes that address the 
central issues of women's empowerment in economic, political and social 
spheres, equal opportunities in social services and mother-child relations 
are needed the most. Professionals from many fields, such as criminal 
justice, social work, education and health, should be aware of this need 
12 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
and should thus exercise sensitivity in sentencing women and 
developing programmes targeting them. First we will discuss the service 
interventions in the current prison system and their limitations, in order 
to build an argument for a different approach to working with women in 
prison. Then we will consider the experiences of women as our data and 
analysis has revealed. 
A critique of existing programmes offered to women in prison 
PROGRAMMES DEVELOPED IN prison have often focused on rehabilitating 
inmates, without acknowledging the structural impediments outside 
prison that could be responsible for driving people to a life of crime and 
keeping them captive in a criminal subculture. The Prison Department 
in Botswana offers rehabilitative programmes such as carpentry, 
tailoring, building; upholstery, mat-making, fencing, knitting, 
leatherwork, crocheting, fanning, cookery, social welfare counselling 
and religious activities. The emphasis has been training prisoners in 
vocational skills and the criteria for eligibility is the length of sentence. 
According to the Prison Rehabilitation Handbook, (1996:1), the aim is 
to "train prisoners in such trades that may enable them to be self 
employed after they are released from prison. Prison industries also 
generate income to government since goods produced whilst training 
inmates are sold to offset government expenditure in procuring raw 
materials." 
But central questions remain unanswered in these documents; 
namely: 
• What are the objectives of imprisonment generally and specifically 
of women prisoners? 
• What broad macrosocial problems are reflected in the crimes that 
women commit and to what extent do social definitions of crime 
reflect current values and assumptions about the status of women? 
• What ideological standpoint underlies the choice of service 
programmes: what are its implications for social service provision 
and do all prisoners need such services? 
• Are prisons are the ideal place for social services? 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 13
• What social services and programmes would be responsive to the 
needs of women who enter prisons? The answer will help understand 
what social services and programmes to provide so that women 
prisoners can make meaningful choices. 
• Do the services aim to facilitate changes in the behaviour of the 
prisoners and help women to deal with personal and macrosocial 
changes, including the cultural and structural forces that contribute 
to women's criminality? 
• Do social services in prison increase the inmate's self-empowerment 
in order to prepare her for a life outside the prison and what could be 
some of the (positive and negative) effects of empowering women 
in prison? 
• The final question is whether the prison staff is trained to provide 
gender-specific and culturally-sensitive appropriate services to 
female prisoners. 
Prior to developing any programme, the above questions must be 
answered and used to provide a conceptual framework to guide 
interventions. However, as the situation stands now, in the prison 
system, where a majority of service providers and recipients are male, 
provision of services for women are clearly inadequate. Service 
programmes for men are more capacity-building than those for women. 
There is gross discrimination in terms of availability, sustainability and 
suitability between programmes for women and those for men. Women 
in Botswana are offered a smaller range of programmes. For them skill 
development is concentrated in the areas of making mats, sewing and 
knitting, cleaning, scrubbing floors, vegetable gardening and, to some 
extent, literacy education and religious activities. While some of these 
skills may be relevant for some women, their benefit to most is minimal. 
Homebound skills cannot empower women who will have to perform 
multiple roles, including breadwinning, upon release and it is likely that 
such programmes, far from "rehabilitating", could actually reduce the 
women's aspirations and self-esteem and ability to achieve economic 
and emotional sustainability. 
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Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
Official records show that while in prison, the women's programmes are 
not only less than empowering; they are often offered at an elementary 
level and participants are not eligible for any kind of trade testing. The 
failure to view women as breadwinners could be a leading factor in the 
provision of these minimal opportunities for women. In the prison 
system, equality means allowing women access to some of the 
programmes traditionally reserved for men, but not designing special 
programmes to meet their own special needs. Despite the fact that most 
of the women in prison are single parents or grandparents and are thus 
breadwinners with the sole responsibility of maintaining their children 
and grandchildren, none of the services in prison will help them turn to 
productive activities. Instead, women in prison are offered menial and 
undervalued work activities; the very activities which failed to keep 
them from coming to prison in the first place. Furthermore, once in 
prison, women continue to provide cheap unpaid labour to the prison 
itself, all in the name of rehabilitation. The lack of proper, gender-sensitive 
programmes for women in prison stems from a lack of knowledge and 
understanding of why women become involved in criminal activities. 
Opportunities for women's self-enhancement and self-determination 
therefore remain unaltered, and so unimproved. In planning and resource 
allocation, women's projects are confined to domestication, dependency 
and socialization into roles in the kitchen. This serves to affirm the 
traditional dependency role of women. Instead of improving their wellbeing, 
they serve to train women to be better domestic workers and 
housewives or dressmakers. These jobs pay very little, if anything. The 
practical side of social service provision contradicts the theoretical, 
because women walk out of prison with hardly any of the skills they 
need to earn a living. 
The length of the sentence determines the choice of social services 
provided. Since most women's sentences rarely exceed three years, this 
has skewed all capacity-building programmes towards men. If women 
in Botswana are generally under-educated and have few opportunities 
for paid employment, it is logical that their need to earn an income may 
turn them to illegal activities such as theft, stealing, possession of 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 15
dagga—the southern African name for cannibis— and illegal border 
jumping in order to trade (the latter as it relates to Zimbabwean women). 
Women who have been structurally dislocated from a rural-based 
economy find it difficult to survive. There are no opportunities alternative 
methods of food production and they have few employment 
opportunities. When they can earn, their wages are too low to support 
themselves and their families. A shift from "home economics" oriented 
strategies to income-generating activities, life skills training and job 
apprenticeship is an urgent need. Janitorial level jobs only reduce these 
women to the level of domestic workers, taking then back into this 
private sphere, no matter how far away they had ventured prior to 
incarceration. If women are taught survival skills, they could access 
legal income opportunities more and use these to stay in the community 
in their own right and not in an emotionally or financially dependent 
relationship "with the father of my child". 
Both the criminogenic and non-criminogenic needs of the women 
should be addressed by using objective, empirically-based assessment 
instruments on contemporary research on women and crime. These 
would target those at risk of reoffending, those with antisocial attitudes, 
those with problems with peer group membership, self-control and poor 
problem-solving skills, with a history of alcohol and drug involvement 
bothof themselves and their partners and with other familial pressures. 
Women in prison are confined in a system designed, built and run by 
men for men and they therefore suffer accordingly. There are no 
"economic of scale" to be made in meeting their needs. 
Towards gender-sensitive service programmes: the empowerment 
model 
IT IS A PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY that sends women in Botswana to prison, 
makes the rules and defines the crimes. In a patriarchy is acceptable for 
a husband to beat up his wife, but that very same wife cannot defend 
herself against his violence. Once in prison, patriarchal assumptions 
and male dominance continue to play an essential role in the treatment 
of women, even when women prison officials run the prisons, for they 
merely perform the work of the patriarchal prison system and society. 
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Although imprisonment rates for women are low, they are rising rapidly. 
It is possible that deteriorating economic conditions are now pushing 
women to the brink faster than men. As the primary caregivers of children, 
women are driven by poverty and other social circumstances to engage 
in more crimes of survival. In addition, changes in sentencing laws and 
practices, such as mandatory minimum sentencing, are commonly 
considered a main factor in the rising imprisonment rates for women, 
especially for possession of dagga. 
A profile of the woman prisoner 
THE PROFILE OF THE women that emerged from the study is of young, 
single or married mothers or women with few marketable job skills; 
school drop-outs who live below the poverty level and are mothers of 
dependent children and who are unemployed most of the time. 
Incarceration has severe ramifications for women. A large number who 
enter prisons are mothers and have to undergo the intense pain of 
forced separation from their children. In most cases they are often the 
sole caretakers of their children and the primary source of financial and 
emotional support. When a man goes to prison, his wife or sister often 
assumes, or continues to assume, responsibility for the children but the 
reverse is not true in the case of the woman. For most imprisoned mothers 
the separation from their children is one of the greatest punishments of 
incarceration, and this engenders despondency and feelings of guilt 
and anxiety about their children's welfare. 
Visiting their children is another problem for women. Women 
prisoners are often denied contact visits and visitors are required to go 
through long and cumbersome procedures. When women leave prison, 
there are no reunification services to bring mothers and their children 
together. Pregnant prisoners also suffer from inadequate reproductive 
rights and social services while in prison. The essentials for a healthy 
pregnancy such as nutritious food, fresh air, exercise and reasonably 
sanitary conditions are usually inadequate. The powerlessness, 
helplessness and dependency they experience is systematically 
heightened by the rules and the regulations of the prison system. It is 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 17
therefore difficult for these women to feel their own power and to take 
control of their lives. 
Towards empowerment 
EMPOWERMENT HAS BEEN defined by the Cornell Empowerment Group 
(1990) as an intentional, ongoing process centred in the local community, 
involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring and group 
participation, through which deprived people gain greater access to 
and control over valued resources. Empowerment therefore refers to 
gaining control over one's life or over the factors that account for one's 
oppression or disempowerment. Empowerment is also an appropriate 
goal for any community, group or individual experiencing systematic 
and institutionalized discrimination (Solomon 1976). The term describes 
the transformation from individual and collective powerlessness to 
personal, political and cultural power. Women individually and 
collectively live under conditions of discrimination and powerlessness; 
hence the empowerment of women is an appropriate and necessary 
goal toward a just society. 
Economic empowerment 
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR female prisoners contribute to economic 
empowerment. Economic empowerment refers to the promotion of 
women's economic rights and independence, including their access to 
employment and appropriate working conditions and their control over 
economic resources. Women so empowered may obtain equal access 
to resources, employment, markets and trade, and families of these women 
should experience the harmonization of work and family responsibilities 
for both parents. The goal also includes the provision of social services, 
training and access to markets, information and technology, particularly 
to low-income and rural women and the strengthening of women's 
capacity and commercial networks (Katepa-Kalala 1999). 
The economic empowerment for women is central to crime diversion. 
Strategies that could be considered are access to lending and other 
credit facilities for small businesses and human resource development 
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through training and job placement. Research, advocacy, planning and 
community advisory services are needed to decide on what would be 
the best model at the community level. The economic capacity of women 
should be strengthened and they should be directly involved in 
accessing income opportunities, thus shaping the direction of market 
forces that often ignore gender considerations altogether. 
Programmes, services and facilities should be designed to meet 
specific requirements such as helping women to make meaningful 
choices and to earn respect and display dignity in supportive 
environments, with restored possibilities for positive socialization and 
life experience. College education is also a possibility for a number of 
women who dropped out of school due to pregnancy or other reasons. 
The only time when these women can have an educational opportunity 
is when they are in prison. Business education, clerical skills and 
computer skills are also possibilities. Apprenticeship programmes may 
be developed to include electrical training, mechanics, soft furnishings, 
pottery and beadwork, basketry, cosmetology, fabric-cutting, welding, 
painting, plumbing and mechanics, among others. 
These programmes are recommended against the possibility that 
there exist tensions between political, administrative and institutional 
agendas which may result in the inconsistent application of other plans 
decided upon according to national development priorities. It is critical 
that a well-intended strategy is agreed at departmental and ministerial 
levels, especially if it comes after the plans have been submitted and 
approved at departmental levels. As a broad recommendation, policies 
and development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women 
in poverty should be vigorously sought after. The recent National 
Platform for Action to revise laws and administrative practices to 
guarantee women's equal rights and access to economic resources is a 
welcome venture. Such macroeconomic policies and development 
strategies should be prioritized and women should have access to 
savings and credit mechanisms in their own right. 
Ample evidence exists that imprisonment is simply not serving the 
purpose for which it was originally intended and recidivism rates are 
escalating each day, especially among men. This speaks to need for 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 19
targeted services. The following principles should be operational if 
women in prison are to be economically empowered: 
• Increase women's self-sufficiency by instilling in them a sense of 
power and autonomy and mastery over certain skills, tasks and 
initiatives; 
• Develop group consciousness by showing how the political, social 
and economic conditions that women live in outside prison are 
connected to their criminality; 
• Reduce women's self-blame but emphasis their need to take 
responsibility for the methods they have used to acquire resources; 
• Work towards income-generating methods that are not criminal in 
nature; 
• Educate the women on the economically-empowering programmes 
that exist in the community and the criteria for qualifying for such 
programmes. 
Motherhood and child welfare 
ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE young mothers in the study experienced 
problems during childhood and early adolescence, they did not abuse 
alcohol. A common theme in their personal narratives was their concern 
for their children and their resolve to be good mothers after release. 
However, their poverty was compounded by teenage pregnancies, a 
lack of education and an association with men who were caught up in 
drugs, especially alcohol and marijuana, and criminal activities. It is 
improbable that such men could or would take responsibility for the 
welfare of their children. In these situations, child-support enforcement 
programmes may fail (if the ideology of law enforcement is that an 
unemployed man cannot be expected to maintain a child). However, 
some of these women prefer not to have any further contact with the 
fathers of their children—having been "dumped" after a pregnancy. 
No programmes exist currently to connect these young mothers to 
work opportunities in the community. However, to be able to support 
their families, these women will need to reconnect with the school system 
and start where they left off so they are equipped with equivalency 
tests and can receive training for jobs that pay enough to maintain a 
family. On the way to self-sufficiency, these young mothers will require 
20 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
childcare subsidies and programmes that also focus on their selfdevelopment, 
such as dealing with anger and assertiveness. They are 
prime candidates for educational support and childcare so they can 
eventually become heads of independent households. Policymakers 
should, therefore, consider the situation of young mothers; specifically 
their need for programmes that involve positive mentoring and support. 
Restorative justice 
THE PRACTICE OF RESTORATIVE justice is rooted in Tswana customs and 
traditions. This requires that, before an issue can be discussed in public, 
the "victim family" and the "offending family" should meet to prevent 
further acrimony. The wronged party must meet the person who has 
done the wrong within a closed family setting where reconciliation, 
restoration, healing and payment for the wrong take place. The modern 
criminal justice system operates on principles of vengeance, deterrence 
and punishment through an adversarial and antagonistic approach, 
where the victim never even confronts the offender. This usually only 
makes it easier for offenders not to take responsibilities for their actions, 
especially if they are unable to see the impact of their behaviour on 
other people. 
In this study it was quite clear that some of the women (especially 
those whose crimes are property related) were not prepared to take 
responsibility for their behaviour and they saw nothing wrong with 
what they had done. This is clear from their statements such as "I am 
here for no reason at all"; "The police hate me", "I was reported by 
jealous people; they choose who to report to the-police. How come soand-
so was not arrested as well?" It is possible that the world-view of 
these women is based on avoiding taking responsibility for their actions. 
Socialization patterns that emphasize physical abuse even after a child 
has "told the truth" could result in avoiding truth-telling. Through their 
lives these women have leamt that people, (who are mostly trusted 
elders), rarely take responsibility for their behaviour and various systems 
have assisted them to do so themselves. 
It is therefore critical to develop a justice system that will take note 
of how fractured relationships can be mended, especially when the 
woman is both the victim and perpetrator. At the centre of most cases of 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 21
criminality was evidence of a splintered relationship in the women's life. 
One example is of a married woman sent to prison for grievous harm, 
after having assaulted another woman who was in love with her husband. 
All attempts to restore her relationship through the customary court 
system and the police had failed and her husband responded to her 
with yet more violence. Ultimately, the police had intervened, but in 
vain: she assaulted her husband's lover and was sentenced to seven 
years in prison. In the meantime, when she was in prison, the husband 
moved in with his lover and abandoned his children. 
It may look as if justice was served, since the lover lost her lip in the 
fight and the wife went to prison. However, reconciliation and restoration 
had not taken place. The wife was still angry about the events that 
landed her in prison and was folly occupied in planning her revenge. If 
all parties had been able to meet so that she fully understood her new 
position vis-a-vis her husband and children, she would be better able 
to plan to move on with her life after prison. As matters stood, she saw 
prison as the final destructive blow that would completely destroy her 
family. Unless the legal system explores the possibilities of victim 
mediation and opportunities for the parties to meet, it will remain 
disempowering. 
Health and mental health services 
As PREVIOUSLY STATED, the study found that poor physical and mental 
health was highly correlated with women's criminality. The chronic health 
problems of women include hypertension, unintended, interrupted or 
lost pregnancy, dysmenorrhoea, chlamydeous infection, chronic pelvic 
inflammatory disease, anxiety and depression. The latter are the most 
significant health problems cited by women inmates. Bivariate correlation 
showed a close to marginal relationship between a history of physical 
violence and health problems of the respondents (r= .32; p= .04). The 
poor financial situation of the family was also correlated with health 
problems (r= .46; p= .004). Post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from 
long-term victimization, if investigated separately, was found to be highly 
prevalent. 
Body-image problems were also prevalent, as well as other mentalnealfli 
problems such as depression, sleep disorders and anxiety, in 
22 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
part a consequence of being in prison. Women inmates told stories of 
histories of multiple episodes of violence at the hands of fathers, 
husbands, boyfriends and strangers, and this abuse was often directly 
related to the offenses for which they were in prison. A barrage of 
problems such as poor physical health, sexually transmitted diseases, 
psychological problems, family responsibilities and a lack of marketable 
employment skills greatly complicate women's status. 
Health-related programmes for women inmates should be expanded 
and made to be intensive, comprehensive and women-specific. 
Especially when combined with aftercare, these could enhance the 
women's reality testing and compromised judgment, thus ultimately 
reducing recidivism and assisting the women to navigate the community 
without committing crimes. Studies have shown that women who have 
a low-income status, low educational prospects and history of family 
violence, with multiple dependent children, were found to be at a higher 
risk for chronic conditions like hypertension, substance abuse and 
gynaecological complaints (Adelmann 1994, Avotri and Walters 1999, 
Brown and Harris 1978, Noor 1995). But women in prison seemed less 
likely to get early diagnostic and preventive services such as screening 
for breast, ovarian or cervical cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease or 
any other life-threatening diseases. The health status of these women 
could decrease their longevity and general quality of life and negatively 
affect their future aspirations and those of their children. 
Adequate data is needed to assess accurately the interrelationship 
between the health problems of women, their children and criminality. 
Prison policies and strategies should devise an information base and a 
plan to address these health issues. A central need is to evaluate how 
the health risks of women are changing in reaction to the growing 
demands on them and how this may impact on their criminality as in 
issues of compromised mental health. Comprehensive services are 
needed to encompass a wide range of prevention, promotion and 
treatment services such as poverty alleviation, protection from violence 
and prevention of general physical ill health and alcohol abuse. 
There is also evidence that, due to relational inequality in intimate 
relations, women are exposed to unprotected sex on a regular basis, 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 23
even if they are aware that their partners have other partners whose 
might be HIV carriers. Unprotected sex has obvious implications for the 
spread of the mv virus and other sexually-transmitted diseases. Contrary 
to male offenders who may "have no time to exercise self heath care 
outside as they are presumed to be always on the run" (Government of 
Botswana 1996:24); women (except probably illegal immigrants) are less 
mobile. However, their powerlessness in sexual relationships, which 
may be manifested through the sexual abuse of young girls, rape, incest 
and other forms of violence, means they are still at high risk of infection 
and worse. Services should therefore be directed at educating women 
about the nature of their bodies and its functioning and the health risks 
associated with various behaviour such as alcohol and unprotected 
sex. Other integrated services should be developed to assist women 
with self-assertiveness and empowerment in decision-making and their 
rights over the use of their own bodies. Such services could incorporate 
self-defence training for women, especially taking into account the high 
risk of violence against women and subsequent unwanted pregnancies, 
infanticide and criminal abortion. 
Mental health aspects of pregnancy and childbirth 
COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR PREGNANT women should be integrated so as to 
educate them about their reproductive rights and post-partum 
depression. This condition, which some women are confronted with 
after childbirth, is implicated in baby-dumping, infanticide and child 
abandonment. These reproductive services should be integrated with 
other supportive structures in the community such as the family, school, 
customary courts and the police. Comprehensive services for women 
and girls' health in the community would be useful as they would make 
it possible for people to be aware of their situation and that of their 
family members. In this way, referral would be possible before a crisis 
arises. 
Alcohol and drug services 
A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER of the older women in prison had a problem with 
abuse of substances including prescription medication (from both 
traditional and modern practitioners). The use of alcohol has been 
associated with their offence. This long-term addiction is not likely to 
24 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001
Modie-Moroka and Sossou/WOMEN, CRIMINALITY AND EMPOWERMENT 
be dealt with by a sentence of imprisonment which does not mandate 
treatment, and alcohol treatment services do not exist. Substance abuse, 
as well as their life style adopted before imprisonment, makes women in 
prison more susceptible to a wider range of physical health problems 
than men. While they may not have an extensive history of drug use, 
their susceptibility to physiological ailments and vulnerability after 
drinking is a matter of great concern. Access to good, appropriate 
psychological health care is therefore, important for women in prison. 
Since prison officials are responsible for the health and mental health 
referral of inmates, they should be trained in the early diagnosis of 
certain conditions so as to effect timely referrals. 
No research has been done in Botswana about the impact and 
extent of alcohol and other drug use on women's bodies or lives and the 
effect this has on their families and children in particular. Research is 
needed to evaluate the effects of alcohol on women and how these 
matters affect their decision-making power in unprotected sex. Strategies 
should be developed to prevent women, particularly young ones, from 
getting involved in drug use or excessive alcohol use. Professionals 
who know about female biology and are experts on substance abuse 
and mental disorders should participate in such studies. The knowledge 
base of health professionals should also be increased in this context. 
Although most studies on female offenders focus on those who are 
in custody, other women with alcoholic and abusive partners, whose 
lives are affected by addiction, and physical, emotional and sexual abuse 
issues are worth studying as well. 
Services for survivors of violence 
THE FACT THAT A large number of women cited abuse as contributing to 
their problems with the law suggests that abuse is related to female 
criminality but further research is needed to clarify the role that violence 
plays in female criminality. This is a serious societal issue and needs to 
be addressed by the criminal justice system. Abused women experience 
a profound lack of control during their abuse, and may have difficulty 
with authority figures. The women's emphasis on unemployment and 
financial problems suggests that economic marginalization may also be 
a factor leading them to crime and should be studied further, especially 
VOL 16 NO 2 JULY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 25
if dependence may prevent a woman from running away when violence 
escalates. 
Survivors of violence may also engage in unhealthy coping 
strategies. Therefore, abused women are likely to be re-traumatized—a 
condition that could prevent them from benefiting from services offered, 
if trauma-related issues are not addressed directly. Women in prison, 
especially those with a history of abuse, should also receive services 
that help them understand how the abuse they suffered has contributed 
to their involvement in crime. Programming should focus on alternative 
ways of dealing with abuse. Finally, prison staff should be educated 
about the potential difficulties experienced by survivors, so that the 
interactions between staff and inmates do not exacerbate abuse-related 
difficulties. 
Conclusion 
WHEN THE CONDITIONS of incarceration are examined, it appears that the 
imprisonment of women is coming more and more to resemble that of 
men. Once in prison, patriarchal assumptions and male dominance 
continue to play an essential role in the treatment of women. Because 
women constitute a minority of the total prison population, it is difficult, 
though essential, to organize resources to deal specifically with them. 
Concern with male prisoners has dominated the programme philosophy, 
standards and perception of the prison programme development. As a 
result, these programmes do not address the special needs and concerns 
of women effectively. Society must change the way it views women 
who are trying to survive against all odds in the community and who 
later become involved in acts of crime. This must be done by focusing 
on policy change in existing agencies that provide gender-sensitive 
services, so that they can respond closely to their needs voiced by the 
women themselves. 
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