Penal Reform and Gender Box 6 Mental health and care of women in prison in the Andhra Pradesh region The Indian organisation Penal Reform and Justice Association (PRAJA) organised week-long Health Camps at two jails in Hyderabad and Rajahmundry, as part of a programme to promote the mental health and care of women in prison. During the Health Camp sessions: ■ Eyes were tested for disease and weakness. 69 pairs of spectacles were distributed to those with weak eyes. One person had a cataract condition. ■ Eye drops, vitamins and other medicines were issued. ■ A blood-testing unit identified prisoners’ blood groups and distributed cards to each prisoner. ■ All women underwent a general screening, then a gynaecology camp was organised. Four gynaecologists and paramedical staff conducted tests. Some women had pre-menopausal symptoms, a few had acute menstrual problems, many had urinary problems, and others had conditions related to being generally run-down. ■ Dental examination showed that the women’s oral hygiene was in a bad state. They received general medical advice on the importance of oral health. ■ Ear and throat infections were treated and preventive measures proposed.56 PRAJA’s Health Camp project demonstrates how, even in a very poor country, it is unacceptable for prisoners not to be given minimum standards of health care. Methods can be found to enable basic rights to be delivered with limited resource input. health of a pregnant woman and that of her unborn child. Pregnant women should only be held in prison in the most extreme circumstances, such as when there is a concrete threat of violent crime. As the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa has said: ‘Prison is not a safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children and it is not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mothers. However, it is possible to find solutions so that these women are not imprisoned: use of bail for remand prisoners, non-custodial sentences or conditional/early release, parole, probation, [or] suspended sentences for convicted [female] prisoners.’57 If a woman is pregnant in prison, special provisions must be made for ante and post-natal care and treatment. It is well established in international human rights standards that babies should not be born in prison. If they are, their births must be registered, but the birth certificate should not state that the birth took place in prison.58 Measures of physical restraint, such as shackles or straightjackets, Box 7 should never be used on a pregnant women or woman giving birth, unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Arrangements for the care of babies born to imprisoned mothers and the care of young children of imprisoned women vary across the world, from taking children away from the mother at birth, to enabling the child to stay with their mother until six or more years old.59 Either solution presents a dilemma. As stated above, a prison is not an ideal place in which to bring up a baby, but separating a baby from its mother is damaging to its development even when there is a suitable alternative home for the baby. The best solution is for pregnant women and those with young children not to be sent to prison. In all decisions made concerning a child of a woman in prison, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration.60 Such decisions must be made with regard to the responsibility of the state to ensure the child special protection and assistance. Special provisions in the Russian Penal Code for pregnancy, mothers and children As described above, the Russian Penal Code provides for suspended sentences for a pregnant woman or a woman with a young child convicted of a minor crime. In other cases, the Code accepts that pregnant women be imprisoned and that babies born in prison stay with their mothers under the following conditions: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ A woman in pre-trial detention who has children under three may bring them with her, and they are entitled to improved living conditions, specialised medical service, increased rations and clothing, a longer time out of their cells and are not to be put into punishment cells. In penal institutions, nurseries may be set up where children of female inmates can be provided care until they reach the age of three. Pregnant women and women with children have the right to extra food donations via mail or provided during visits, and to a specialised medical service. Pregnant female inmates or those with children in the nurseries receive at least 50% of their wages, pensions, or other incomes in their personal accounts. Female inmates with infants at the penitentiary’s nursery, and female inmates relieved from work because of their pregnancy or having recently given birth, may not be placed in punishment cells or prison-type cells.61 11