The Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners (CWP) and Santex Pakistan recently visited the Women’s Prison in Hyderabad. The CWP team, comprising Sana Sharif, Habib Jiskani, Fatima Umer Farooqui, Danish Soomro, and Muhammad Sajjad, collaborated with Santex to empower women prisoners by improving their access to menstrual hygiene resources. The partnership between both organizations has been active since 2021, and has been providing feminine hygiene products to women in three prisons in Sindh.
The collective aim of the CWP and Santex is to break barriers and foster a sense of self-worth among women prisoners by ensuring their access to basic menstrual hygiene resources and vital knowledge for a dignified life. This not only benefits them personally but also enables them to share this crucial information with others upon their release, thereby extending the positive impact of the initiatives.During the visit, Erum Adnan, the Sustainability and Outreach Manager at Santex, conducted a menstrual hygiene awareness session attended by 46 women.
The session provided essential tips on managing their periods with dignity, and each participant received a feminine hygiene kit generously distributed by Santex Pakistan.In addition to the Women’s Prison, the CWP team also visited the Youthful Offenders Industrial School (YOIS) in Hyderabad, where they met with Nadeem Akhter Shah, the respective superintendent. During the meeting, the team presented the Committee’s Result Report, showcasing their continuous efforts and progress within the criminal justice system spanning 19 years.
They also shared the CWP newsletter and discussed important collaborations with stakeholders and institutions to enhance service delivery within the criminal justice system.Prior to this visit, a similar session was conducted with Superintendent Abida Sami Abbasi at the Women’s Prison. Moreover, the CWP officials undertook activities related to providing ‘legal aid’ to prisoners in need.
