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By: Tatiana Polyakova
[pullquote align=”normal”]“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19) [/pullquote]
Thanks to the Lord for giving us such a great undertaking—to carry the Gospel to the imprisoned ladies in the Women’s Colony. Let me give you some background: The number of women in Russian jails and prisons has risen in recent decades but, compared to men, they still represent a sliver of the nation’s prisoners. While women might remain a minority in correctional facilities, there is one area where they far surpass their male counterparts: rates of mental illness.
Newly incarcerated people, mostly drug offenders, include both men and women but there was a key difference between them. Women tend to internalize stress, which may explain why female inmates engage in self-harming behavior such as cutting, carving and burning; women have more frequent suicide attempts. The majority of female inmates are very receptive to rehabilitation programs, and they take the initiative to get involved in programs, classes and other activities that will begin to pave the way for their changed future. Russia is in third position in the world to incarcerate their citizens: 59,000 of its prisoners are women or about 7.8 percent of the total Russian prison population.
Women were more likely to be abused or to have suffered from trauma than men. The history of abuse and trauma, combined with changes to brain chemistry from heavy drug use, tended to translate to psychiatric problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.
These women may have somewhere to go after their release, they have parents, spouses and children. But they are humiliated, repressed, devoid of the will. On a brighter side, many female inmates find out their worth for the first time in their life because they are not being abused; they do not have a “john”, an unloving husband or a pimp lurking around the corner waiting to use or abuse them.
That was why rates of mental illness is typically higher among incarcerated women than incarcerated men. Incarcerated women tend to have experienced childhood trauma such as sexual abuse that leads them to run away from home, drop out of school, and experiment with alcohol and drugs before they reach adolescence.
Once on that path, those girls are more likely to become addicted to drugs, which in turn may lead them to prostitution or other criminal activity to support their addiction. They are then likely to end up in positions where they may be further victimized.
Some of these women were in prison for the first time, while others are repeat offenders. We ask God to provide His wisdom, granting insight, discernment and direction for these ladies as we continue to hold weekly Bible study. Our prayers go out for God to protect them emotionally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually. May each one continue to grow spiritually and be a witness of God’s grace to others. Ironically, we praise God for the non-believers who attend just to get some time outside their cells. We know that God will use the truth they heard and lead them to know Christ as Lord and Savior.
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