ACAT CI. Women and children represent a small percentage of the Ivorian prison population. They are incarcerated for various reasons. Women are primarily imprisoned for offences relating to drugs, such as possession or dealing, or for child abduction. This can be explained in part by the extreme economic vulnerability experienced by women in Côte d’Ivoire. Women commit offences to support themselves. They are often the final link in large-scale trafficking chains. This is the case for drug dealing, for example. Women sell small quantities of drugs on the market, like small links within much larger trafficking networks. But they’re on the front line. As it is difficult to trace the networks to the top, women are the ones who are arrested and prosecuted.

Abductions of minors typically occur in one of two scenarios. More often than not, woman find themselves at the end of the line of an international network for child trafficking or organ trafficking. They are spotted in the streets by traffickers, who track their idleness and vulnerability before attempting to lure them into their nets. They are assigned with the riskiest tasks, such as dropping off a child in a given location. In many cases, these women do not understand what exactly they are agreeing to do. As with drugs, the networks are difficult to trace, and women end up in detention. The second scenario is domestic: during a divorce, some women move back in with their families, bringing their children with them, disregarding the legal process. This is considered an abduction in the eyes of the law. It’s an offence that is considered gender-specific: in 90% of cases, women are the ones accused.

As for minors, they are primarily charged with robbery and rape. Most of them are placed in remand detention and have no contact with their families. The time spent in detention rarely correlates with the offence committed. The judge must contact the parents before releasing a minor. Oftentimes, this is not possible because the judge cannot get a hold of them. When the parents do not respond to summons, the judge has an obligation to not leave the child in the streets. The child therefore remains imprisoned solely for this reason, sometimes for a long period.

ACAT CI. The incarceration of women and minors has devastating consequences on society. In Côte d’Ivoire, women are often the backbone of the family. They oversee their children’s education and ensure the household’s economic survival. This is especially obvious in families with divorced parents: in most cases, children placed with their fathers are left to their own. Fathers often take little interest in their children’s education or attendance. Incarcerating a woman, particularly a mother, is therefore extremely detrimental, not only to her but also to the survival of the household. Judges seem to ignore this consideration when placing mothers behind bars. Their children are left without anyone to watch over them.

Minors who find themselves in prison often come from contexts of isolation. Our study shows that nearly half of boys and girls were not living with both parents before being placed in detention. Delinquency and entry into prison are often perceived as these young people bringing disgrace to their families. We are fighting to help these children reintegrate, but our work is sometimes undermined by their families’ views. For example, we found a training course for a young man to become a mechanic. The judge agreed to release him so he could complete the training, but his father refused to pay for it. He saw his son as a thief who didn’t deserve such positive treatment.

Detention inevitably exacerbates the loneliness of minors. They have few visitors, and their fellow prisoners become their second family. We met a young man in Abidjan who had intentionally committed an offence the day of his release in order to return to detention. He told us: “My family and friends on the outside have rejected me. Here at the Juvenile Monitoring Centre (Centre d’observation pour mineurs, COM), I have my friends and my brothers. I can be myself here.”

ACAT CI. In most facilities, there are no cells set aside for women whose children are with them. The only exception is at the prison in Abidjan. This is the case despite it being an international requirement. Mothers with their children are therefore imprisoned with other women. No special arrangements are made for them, neither for the dormitory nor for any dietary requirements. If the child’s father is not in prison, the child is typically placed with him. In practice, this presents certain challenges, as the prison service often struggles to identify the family. To ensure their care, children often remain with their mothers.

For example, we followed the case of a woman who entered prison while pregnant. She remained in detention for three years. Her daughter spent the first three years of her life in prison. When the little one had to go to the administrator’s office with her mother, she would ask, “Is this Abidjan?” She had never experienced anything other than prison.

Female minors are not placed in separate cells, either. They are mixed in with adult prisoners, except at the prison in Abidjan. Girls and women share the same exercise yard and the same timetable, eat from the same plates, and experience the same treatment. Within each prison, there is a Child and Youth Protection Service (Service de la protection judiciaire de l’enfant et de la jeunesse, SPJEJ) that looks after minors. However, there is no difference in their material conditions in detention. Providing education to incarcerated minors is a challenge that ACAT endeavours to address. In Côte d’Ivoire, school is compulsory from age 6 to 16. Many young people who would be in senior school based on their age are prisoners. Apart from a few literacy modules, and libraries in 13 prisons, young people do not have access to education. Minors that leave detention after the age of 16 cannot resume their studies unless their parents agree to finance them.

We have exceptionally managed to register a few young people for exams. When they sit their tests with other students, they are surrounded by surveillance officers. It is extremely humiliating. In general, these young people were unable to revise in prison, making it rare for them to pass their exams.