• In several participating States, measures to release prisoners early have been introduced to reduce the risk of infection and spread of the coronavirus. These provisions are particularly relevant for women, because they are usually detained for non-violent crimes, and it is recommended that women prisoners be conditionally released when possible.230 Sex-disaggregated prisoner-release data that could provide insights into whether women prisoners have benefited from or been excluded from such programmes were not available at the time of writing. Monitoring of the situation, however, suggests that, in many countries, governments have been slow to release any eligible prisoners, even in light of high infection rates.231 Where data is available from countries that have been giving priority for early release to pregnant women and women in mother and baby units, the number of women prisoners actually released appears small (e.g., of 37 states in the United States, the majority had not released any pregnant prisoners, although there was variation by state;232 in the United Kingdom, of a potential 70 eligible women prisoners, only 22 had been released several weeks after the government had announced emergency measures.233 Recommended actions to protect women’s rights Emergency response plans should recognize the specific needs of women who are deprived of liberty, and should include measures to ensure that gender-specific health and hygiene needs are met. Emergency measures on social distancing in places of deprivation of liberty should, as much as possible, mirror recommendations for the outside world (proper hygiene, maintaining appropriate distance, limiting contact) and should not entail complete segregation or isolation. Special attention should be paid to mitigating the impacts of increased social isolation on women prisoners. Improve the necessary technology and equipment and increase the options for women prisoners to contact people in the outside world during lockdown situations. Facilitate unrestricted access to alternative means to contact family members and others for women prisoners. 230 The Bangkok Rules encourage prison authorities to make use of post-sentencing dispositions, such as early conditional release, for women, especially those with caring responsibilities or special support needs. 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 63. 231 Human Rights Watch, “Covid-19 Prisoner Releases Too Few, Too Slow”, 27 May 2020, <https://www.hrw.org/ news/2020/05/27/covid-19-prisoner-releases-too-few-too-slow>. 232 The Guardian, “Pregnant Inmates Languish in US Prisons despite Promises of Release”, 22 May 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/22/ us-prisons-pregnant-inmates-coronavirus-pandemic-release#maincontent>. 233 The Guardian, “Richard Garside: ‘The UK Is Lagging Behind Europe on Coronavirus in Prisons’”, 21 April 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/21/ richard-garside-uk-lagging-behind-europe-coronavirus-prisons>. 66