Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Humanities, Psychology and Social Sciences
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Understanding the Barriers to Reproductive Health and Parental Rights for Female Inmates in Croatia
Prof. Tihana Novak
ABSTRACT:
The project „Temida – Quality of life of female inmates in the Republic of Croatia“was conducted in 2023 with a broader focus on the well-being of female inmates. This part of the study focuses on reproductive health and parental rights, as well as the challenges and barriers female inmates face when trying to realise these rights. The methodology used is qualitative and based on a random sample of ten female inmates who agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. The participants represent a heterogeneous group in terms of age, number of children, socio-economic status, and minority affiliation. The research instrument was a semi-structured interview guide with questions about their experiences, attitudes, and opinions regarding their ability to exercise their reproductive health and parenting rights and the challenges they have faced so far. The interviews were analysed using techniques of summarization, structuring, interpretation, and explication according to the principles of thematic content analysis. The results are presented with a particular focus on the perspectives and understanding of reproductive and parental rights from the inmates’ point of view. The findings highlight challenges such as limited contact with children, problems with the flow of information, financial difficulties and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, problems with alternative childcare options and a lack of prison staff to support the implementation of their rights. As there are hardly any comprehensive studies on this problem in Croatia, this research provides an important basis for further research and assessment of progress in human rights conditions in prisons.
keywords: Childcare challenges; Human rights; Qualitative methodology