single cells for 23 hours per day, where “face-to-face education has been largely suspended, libraries and gyms are closed and no formal exercise classes are being provided.”226 Emergency measures that impose strict isolation, in conjunction with the suspension of physical visits, can cause significant deterioration in women’s psychological health,227 a situation that can amount to inhuman treatment. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the prevalence of self-injury among female prisoners has increased during the lockdown period (even in non-emergency conditions, the rate was five times that of male prisoners).228 • Women in places of deprivation of liberty are more likely than men to have histories of suffering sexual abuse or other forms of gender-based violence before admission. This fact has important implications for women’s health, their support needs while deprived of liberty, and their heightened risk for exploitation or violence while in custodial settings. During lockdowns, important safeguard and oversight mechanisms, such as those performed by national preventive mechanisms and also regular visits by lawyers, CSOs and volunteers, do not function as they would outside of emergency settings. When monitoring of conditions for women deprived of their liberty is limited, the risk for sexual and gender-based violence is intensified. The potential knock-on effect of the emergency measures is violations of women’s rights to humane treatment, to not be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and to be free from violence. • During emergencies, there is a risk that the labour of women prisoners will be exploited, related to the lack of oversight mechanisms and high demand for certain goods that cannot be met through other means. Specifically, during the coronavirus pandemic, concern has been raised over women prisoners working long hours for low pay – or no pay at all – to sew protective equipment, face masks and uniforms for health workers.229 Such practices may not only violate women’s rights to decent work, but could rise to the level of inhumane treatment and/or forced labour. 226 227 228 229 for pregnant women, women with infants and breastfeeding mothers. See: UNODC, “UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders [Bangkok Rules], with Their Commentary”, op. cit., note 244, Rule 22. In Canada, prisoners who are ill have been isolated in Structured Intervention Units (former segregation units). See: Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, Alarming Infection Rates at Joliette Institution for Women, Press Release, 18 April 2020, <https://www.facebook.com/CAEFSNATIONALOFFICE/ posts/1445312498974888>. Howard League for Penal Reform, “Letter to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales on Judicial Decision-Making Concerning Women in the Criminal Courts in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic”, 10 June 2020, <https://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Howard-League-Letter-to-the-Lord-Chief-Justice-10.06.2020. pdf>. The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (The Bangkok Rules) stress the importance of fostering women prisoners’ contact with the outside world, including with their families and children. See: UNODC, “UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders [Bangkok Rules], with Their Commentary”, op. cit., note 244. Howard League for Penal Reform, “Letter to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales on Judicial Decision-Making Concerning Women in the Criminal Courts in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic”, op. cit., note 248. European Prison Observatory, “COVID-19: What Is Happening in European Prisons”, op. cit., note 246, p. 13; and CNN, “Texas Turns to Prison Labor to Help Cover Face Mask Shortages”, 22 March, 2020, <https://edition.cnn. com/2020/03/22/us/texas-coronavirus-mask-trnd/index.html>. 65