Ensure Justice of Women Prisoners

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Built on the initial experience of working with women undertrial prisoners in Mum- bai, Prayas, a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), pio- neered the simple yet powerful strategy of placing social work students and full-time trained social workers in prisons, police sta- tions, courts, and women and children's institutions in Maharashtra and Gujarat. This exposed criminal justice institutions to professional social work methods and restorative practices. Vijay Raghavan, professor with the Centre of Criminology and Justice at TISS and project director, Prayas, says, "The presence of the trained social worker in the criminal justice system ensures that the women prisoners and their children accompanying them and those left outside are able to access legal aid and wel- fare schemes and find pathways towards their social re-entry”