🔗 Share this article

A human rights activist, while she was, was detained near her residence in March 2024. Accused with a broad allegation, she was jailed lacking proof. Three weeks later, her family received a call to retrieve the remains of her infant child. The cause of death remains unexamined, and the family does not know what happened or if she received any postnatal care.

A Global Crisis

Cases such as this are far from uncommon in prisons around the world. Women carrying children are often kept in deplorable conditions and not given proper healthcare. Some lose their pregnancies, others go into labour and give birth by themselves in a cell. Devastatingly, infants die while incarcerated.

"Countries think it’s a few of women so it’s insignificant, but that’s not true," states a legal advocate focused on female imprisonment.

"Prison is a terrible environment for women, let alone someone who is pregnant," she continues. "There’s so much evidence that demonstrates how harmful it is. Many prisons were designed with male inmates in mind, so women were an secondary consideration."

Violated Global Standards

Over 15 years since the establishment of the UN's Bangkok Rules for the treatment of female prisoners. This framework clearly say that incarceration should be a final option for pregnant women and that alternatives to detention should be the first choice. They also prohibit the use of shackles on women during labour.

But, these standards are consistently flouted globally. "This isn’t seen as a worldwide priority for women's rights," argues the advocate. "It’s not visible, and there’s a lot of shame and prejudice."

Critical Conditions in Overcrowded Systems

In some countries, situations for pregnant prisoners are described as "exceptionally severe". Contact with relatives have been prohibited, and independent monitors are denied access. Accounts with ex-inmates reveal beatings, abuse, and being denied basic supplies. Reports indicate some are forced into trading sex with prison staff for food or medicine.

"We has recorded pregnancy losses and the loss of four babies … there will be more," reports a rights defender.

It is also reported women who were chained to hospital beds while in labor and delivered while observed by male prison guards.

Overcrowding and Its Consequences

Statistics shows some nations as having the most severe overcrowding levels in the globe. Women are particularly vulnerable to these situations. "There is rarely enough space to fully lie down," says a human rights outreach director. "There is a chronic lack of access to essentials."

Expectant inmates have been handcuffed to hospital beds prior to delivery. Conditions for raising a newborn upon return in prison are worrying, as shown by cases of infants dying from pneumonia and severe malnutrition in custody.

Accounts from Around the Globe

In one African country, a past prisoner remembers being in a detention block with expectant mothers. Doors were secured overnight. If a woman went into labour at night, the women were forced to fend for themselves. "We begged. Others were praying. Others were hitting the floor and the doors, yelling: ‘Please come, somebody’s in labour!’"

Such events occur in wealthier nations. For example, a teenager her baby died after delivering unassisted in a prison cell. Her pleas for assistance were ignored for hours, and she was forced to bite through the cord on her own.

From Experience to Advocacy

Some women have decided to use their experiences to advocate. In the US, a woman who lost her pregnancy in her prison cell set up an organisation. She has successfully pushed for laws that prohibit shackling and isolation for expectant inmates in numerous jurisdictions.

Another story comes from South America. A woman learned of her pregnancy after being given a prison term. During her delivery, officers shackled her legs to the bed. Hospital staff performed a caesarean section. While still groggy, they suggested to perform sterilization. "Why would you wish to have more children, if you’re a inmate?" was the response.

"What I experienced was medical abuse during childbirth. It should not have occurred, but this is what women in prison endure," she says. This trauma later informed official guidelines around childbirth in detention.

Potential Reforms

Some nations have introduced measures regarding pregnant women in the justice system. Among them are:

• Considering alternatives to detention for defendants who are mothers, expecting, or nursing mothers.
• Implementing house arrest as an option to being held before trial, especially for pregnant women.
• Allowing for the postponement of sentences for pregnant women.

Advocates and people with experience contend that, often, pregnant women should not be in prison at all. "We must ask whether women should be criminalised for many issues in the beginning," argues the advocate.

"Community-based solutions that tackle the root causes of women entering the legal system – for example, poverty, abuse and drugs – are really what we should be investing in."