The Mistreatment of Women in Closed Institutions: A Study of Hostels, Shelters, and Rehabilitation Centers

This paper investigates the systemic mistreatment of women and girls residing in closed institutions designed for their protection, care, and rehabilitation. While hostels for working women, domestic violence shelters, and substance abuse or mental health rehabilitation Centers are established with ostensibly benevolent aims, they often become sites of coercion, abuse, and rights violations. Through a qualitative synthesis of secondary data-including NGO reports, judicial inquiries, survivor testimonies, and academic literature-this study identifies common patterns of mistreatment across institutional types. These include physical and psychological abuse, restrictive and punitive regimes, denial of autonomy, inadequate living conditions, lack of grievance mechanisms, and the exploitation of labor under the guise of "therapy" or "discipline." The analysis employs a feminist theoretical framework, arguing that such mistreatment is rooted in patriarchal control, the carceral logic of institutionalization, and the erosion of personhood for marginalized women (including those from low-income, minority, or disabled backgrounds). The paper further examines the failure of state oversight and regulatory capture that allows these abuses to persist. It concludes that the current institutional model often replicates the very harms it claims to mitigate. The recommendations call for a paradigm shift towards rights-based, community-integrated, non-custodial support services that prioritize resident agency, robust independent monitoring, and transformative accountability mechanisms.