Middle East Watch compiled a number of testimonies about the conditions of prisons and prisoners experience in Egypt’s prison system in 1992. In the section about Women’s prisons, they speak directly to the conditions at Qanatir, the largest women’s prison in the country. It is located on a 30-acre facility that during 1992 housed men as well. The women however were housed in the oldest and most run down section of this facility, built by the British in the early 1900s. Women reported that they were often subjected to long periods of confinement within their cells. The women also complained about overcrowding within the cells and poor ventilation. The facilities were initially designed for 500 bodies, but at the time of the interviews held about 1,100 women prisoners.
The sanitation of the facility was poor and women reported that although there was a washroom close to their cells, they were not allowed to use it. They had to relieve themselves and wash in buckets, shared by about 100 other women.
Women did mention that they were allowed visitations by family members, but only for periods of 10-15 minutes and at fifteen day intervals.
Women prisoners look out a barred window of Al-Qanater prison in Cairo October 6, 2007 (Photo by Reuters/Nasser)
In 2014 director Kamla Abu Zekry and writer Mariam Nawaem highlight the experiences of women in Qanatir with their new TV drama Women’s Prison. This new program has actual footage of the prison, one of the first opportunities for the public to see within the gates of this historic establishment.
Bibliography
“Ch 8 Women Prisoners.” Prison Conditions in Egypt. New York: Human Rights Watch, 1992. 137-50. Print.
Woman At Point Zero 