PRISON MANAGEMENT Women and rehabilitation in prison International standards are clear that prison systems should be gender sensitive in their approach to rehabilitation. The Bangkok Rules require that the specific reintegration requirements of women prisoners are catered for, with Rule 29 stating that staff should be trained to ‘address the special social reintegration requirements of women prisoners and manage safe and rehabilitative facilities’. On the whole, there are fewer rehabilitation opportunities available to women, and the opportunities that do exist tend to be less varied and of poorer quality than those offered to men. In some prisons, women dollars a day and do not leave prison with the correct qualifications to secure employment on release.368 Many former prisoners face stigma when entering the job market, though recent research indicates an attitudinal shift amongst employers. In the US, research by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Charles Koch Institute found that employers are more open to employing people with criminal histories.369 A scheme in Thailand is helping former prisoners find employment through a newly created Centre for Assistance to Reintegration and Employment, which will be established across 256 prisons in the country.370 Good rehabilitation programmes can enhance safety and control measures in the prison environment. Prisoners engaged in constructive activities have no rehabilitation opportunities whatsoever. There is a lack of knowledge about women prisoners’ educational and other rehabilitation needs, which is particularly problematic given that they are usually very different from the needs of men. As a result, the opportunities offered to women – when they are available – are often poorly thought through and ineffective, and can even reinforce discrimination. While skills taught to men are generally framed in terms of their preparation for employment on release, skills taught to women often mirror the domestic work conventionally conducted by women in the household, such as cooking or sewing. Alternatively, they equip women for the most low-paid jobs in are generally easier to manage and less likely to be disruptive. Providing prisoners with constructive activities has also been found to reduce levels of depression and other mental health conditions, with one study describing prisoners’ motivation to change – through participation in vocational training programmes – as instrumental in improving mental health ‘as they are more focused on goals and resilient to negative external and social impacts on their lives’.371 If operated transparently and fairly, prison rehabilitation programmes – and work programmes in particular – can benefit prisoners by providing incentives that could help them to financially support their families, while also producing resources for prison systems themselves. Many rehabilitation projects can be set up without significant resources and the economy. Ultimately this approach reinforces women’s dependency on men and reduces their ability to earn a sufficient income following release. To ensure the successful design and implementation of rehabilitation programmes for women prisoners, 10 fundamental principles were identified as part of the Guide to the rehabilitation and social reintegration of women prisoners: Implementation of the Bangkok Rules.367 Rehabilitation programmes should be framed within a national strategy for rehabilitation; community and prisoner driven; supported by staff and managers; gender responsive; individualised; holistic; based on market needs for employment; sustainable and consistent; good quality; and evidence-based. any money made can be invested in enhancing rehabilitation programmes or developing new ones. RECOMMENDATION 17 Rehabilitation and reintegration initiatives should be implemented as soon as possible after admission, and should address the root causes of an individual prisoner’s offending. Initiatives should include holistic measures, such as education, vocational training, work, medical care, and social and psychological services. Prison work programmes should be well remunerated and working conditions should be safe, and programmes should ensure that prisoners obtain employable skills, with a view to their successful reintegration. Fragile and conflict-affected states More than a fifth of the global population live in places that experience protracted crises brought about by a combination of challenges, such as drought, famine, conflict and population displacement. It is commonplace for prisons in such settings to be affected by unrest, disturbances, breakouts and severe overcrowding. For example, in 2018, 34 | 68 people in pre-trial detention in Venezuela died during a prison riot372 and in Papua New Guinea, four prisoners were shot dead after a mass breakout.373 A report documented inhumane conditions in Afghan prisons and detention centres, with severe overcrowding and insufficient toilets, potable water, mattresses and other facilities.374 In Libya, around 400 prisoners escaped from a facility amidst ongoing violence between militia groups,375 while in South Sudan, prisoners disarmed guards and seized control of part of a detention centre.376 There are particular challenges in conflict and post-conflict states, where the physical infrastructure may have been destroyed; criminal justice often Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice | Global Prison Trends 2019