BANGKOK — Life in prison is tough. But being a female inmate living in facilities that are mostly designed for their male counterparts where their needs are largely unmet is even worse.

Around the world, there are more than 500,000 women and girls in prison, representing less than a 10th of the overall prison population. When they are the minority of offenders, chances are high their needs are left unrecognised.

In recent years, different organisations have been working together to encourage and ensure gender-sensitive treatment of these prisoners, especially with the introduction of the UN Bangkok Rules in 2010 as an international standard and guideline to protect the rights of women behind bars.

Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Prison is one of the prisons in Thailand that has adopted the Bangkok Rules. It has become a model prison for other facilities across the country to learn from in terms of how it recognises the rights of prisoners.

THE BANGKOK RULES

The Bangkok Rules — or the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders — are a set of 70 rules that act as a soft law to give gender-sensitive guidance in the treatment of women prisoners in areas such as prisoner admission and search procedures, healthcare and treatment. They are also extended to the prisoner's children who may accompany their mothers into custody. They were adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2010.

The rules are called "Bangkok" as they were initiated by the Thai government, with HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha playing a vital role in their development.

"As there are differences in terms of the physicality and sexuality of women prisoners, we feel that they should receive treatment that, while neither different nor better, fills in what is lacking concerning their human rights," said Ambassador Adisak Panupong, special adviser at the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ).

Suggested treatment of women according to the Rules includes, but is not limited to, a body search that can only be conducted by female staff. If the prisoner is pregnant, no restraints must be put on them so as to not hurt the baby. They also need to receive regular physical and psychological healthcare.

In Thailand, the Department of Corrections and TIJ have been working together to implement the Rules at both mixed and all-female correctional facilities in the country to cater for women prisoners, whose population has grown to over 38,000 throughout the country this year. Thailand is currently ranked fourth worldwide with the most women prisoners followed by the US, China and Russia. The country also has the highest percentage of women prisoners in the world based on population comparison. Many of them have been victims of abuse and have a history of drug addiction.

Since 2015, there have been six model prisons across Thailand that have adopted the Bangkok Rules, with one of the aims being to reduce the number of women prisoners and stop the vicious cycle that leads women back to crime and penal institutions.

"Some people initially said this is a Western thing, that it can't be done. Some asked if it would make the inmates our bosses. But after we began implementation, people started to realise that this standard brings a more systematic approach to their work, and it ended up benefiting the staff too," said Dr Nathee Chitsawang, another special adviser at TIJ.

LIFE OF A WOMAN PRISONER

Outside the towering gate of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Prison, there is a sign saying: "A house that changes life." This is one of the model prisons that currently houses about 560 prisoners within its female section. At this Ayutthaya prison, the sleeping quarter is occupied by about 40 prisoners per room who sleep on the floor. Inside the window-and-fan room, there is one TV and a toilet. At night, the TV is turned on for about two hours during the “lakorn” period. The prisoners are not allowed to watch the news.

Outside, there is a shop that prisoners can buy items from such as toiletries, sanitary pads, bras, cup noodles, drinks, ice creams and snacks — anything outside the basics provided.

They are allowed to spend no more than 300 baht (S$12.20) a day. The money is deposited for them by their family, which can't exceed 9,000 baht a month.

Following the introduction and implementation of the Bangkok Rules, Ms Apiradee Chantorn, deputy director of the Ayutthaya prison's female section who has been with the Department of Corrections for 25 years, said the change was quite pronounced for both staff members and inmates.

"Before, I think we were pretty idle, just making sure each day that no one caused trouble. But after the Rules were introduced, we've been much more active. We can give and do more for our prisoners now. There are always activities going on," she said.

"The prisoners also reacted quite well to the change. Some used to live aimlessly here, but now they are much more enthusiastic when they have goals. They want to develop themselves by attending lessons, planning to have a business of their own when they go out. They are more hopeful and they want to change, too. We've been seeing less people coming back."

The female section regularly offers occupational workshops to its inhabitants, which include lessons on cooking, coffee-making, bakery, massage, beauty, handicraft-making and more. There is also a class for them to learn about setting up their own small enterprises.

Mae*, a 25-year-old who was incarcerated on a drug-related charge, now has two months left of her time after being inside for more than two years. After learning the art of coffee-making from the occupational workshops provided in the prison, she was given a chance to work at the prisoner-operated coffee shop and restaurant, which sits right outside the prison compound. The job is only available for a select few whose sentence is soon to end.

"I'm happy to be leaving," said Mae. "While there may be a lot of things inside, the outside is still better." Mae earns about 1,000 baht a month working at the coffee shop. After finishing her time, she plans to open her own at home.

A recent addition within the prison compound that has improved the inmates' living conditions is the Happy Centre, which was modelled after the Personal Growth and Emotion Treatment Centre for Women at Lo Wu Correctional Institution, Hong Kong. The centre, established last year, serves to inspire a change in the inmates' attitude and behaviour. There are individual counselling sessions available with a psychologist, plus group therapies and more to help reduce the prisoners' stress levels, and to care for their psychological well-being.

BABIES BEHIND BARS

There are now six pregnant prisoners, plus seven children living inside Ayutthaya prison. There is an on-site nursery where women can care for their children, and they also get to spend all day with the child. Nappies and milk are provided.

"Some of our prisoners were pregnant before they were brought in. Here, we give them check-ups for all trimesters, both inside our facility and at the hospital. And we also provide them with knowledge on how they should care for themselves and the child," explained the prison's nurse Sirirak Sanghirun. "When it's time for them to give birth, as we know the expected time in advance, we take them to the hospital."

Following the child's birth, some mothers choose to send the baby outside to live with relatives. Some also decide to raise their baby inside the prison, where the baby can be breastfed for up to six months. As per current rules, the child can only stay with their mother up to the age of three. Allowing a child to remain with his/her mother within prison is crucial, said Ms Samantha Jeffries, specialist on criminology and sexuality from Griffith University, Australia, though sadly the practice is not allowed, or comes with several limitations in some parts of the world.

"Caregiving is such a big part of women's identity," said Ms Jeffries. "To have a child removed from them, it's going to cause a lot of anxiety, worry and distress. And the children's first year is the crucial bonding period between a mother and child. There needs to be a continuity of care between infant and mother."

GLOBAL SCALE

Women prisoners are treated differently around the world.

Taking the mother-and-child case as an example, Ms Jeffries said that in her country Australia, very few women are allowed to have their child with them as the criteria for that is very strict, and is not open for all prisoners. Ms Barbara Owen, specialist on the implementation of the Bangkok Rules, said that the treatment of prisoners in the East and the West is based on a contrasting mindset. In the US, for example, the atmosphere can be quite punitive.

"In the US, the concept of prisoners is that they are civilly dead. They do not have civil rights and so any rights that prisoners have to struggle for has to be through litigation. When you flip it to the human rights point of view, we all deserve respect and dignity just by being human," said Ms Owen, adding that Thailand, while a less-resourced country, is making a great stride on human rights, treating prisoners with a much greater degree of respect and dignity compared to many other countries.

Ms Owen revealed that there is currently a movement in many European countries, such as Norway and Germany, to run a more open prison that is directly connected to the community. Social integration is what they hope for the prisoners who deserve a second chance after they serve their time behind bars. BANGKOK POST