This collection of photographs provides a narrow glimpse into life inside Baabda Women's Prison, located on the southeastern outskirts of Lebanon's capital, Beirut. One of four exclusively female prisons in the country, Baabda detains women convicted of crimes ranging from drug possession to murder, in addition to sex workers and migrant workers. While this women's facility is arguably Lebanon's most prominent—and though it has been the focus of multiple donor-funded projects—Baabda falls significantly short of meeting the minimum conditions stipulated in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, otherwise known as the Nelson Mandela Rules. Reports of ill-treatment and sexual abuse and harassment are pervasive, though rarely addressed by investigative judges. Likewise, despite the absence of accessible official population data, severe overcrowding is also well-documented—an issue compounded by the facility's lack of proper ventilation, as well as inadequate sanitation measures. Although hot water is available for showering, for example, toilets are not separated from the sleeping area, and inmates must often rely on non-governmental organizations for the provision of sanitary pads.
 
Baabda Women's Prison serves as the setting of Scheherazade's Diary, a documentary chronicling a 10-month drama therapy/theater project that was implemented inside the facility by Lebanese drama therapist and film director Zeina Daccache in 2012.

Marwan Tahtah (b. 1981 in Beirut) is a Lebanese photographer and photojournalist. He is currently based in Beirut, Lebanon.