Shackled, alone and scared: the grim reality for women forced to give birth in prison

"Dina Hernandez was 35 weeks pregnant when she was arrested near her home in San Salvador in March 2024. The 28-year-old human rights activist, who was with her five-year-old son, was accused of illicit association with gang members and jailed without evidence. Three weeks later, her family received a call from the prison authorities to collect the body of her newborn baby."

"Prison is not a good environment for women, let alone someone who is pregnant, says Sabrina Mahtani, a British-Zambian lawyer and member of Women Beyond Walls, a global collaboration dedicated to combating the over-incarceration of women and girls. There's so much research that shows how harmful it is. Many prisons were built with men in mind, so women were an afterthought. There are lots of issues around violence, a lack of resources, a lack of sanitation, overcrowding, but also a real lack of gender-responsive care."

A woman arrested at 35 weeks gestation was jailed without evidence and later had her newborn found dead; the cause of death and postnatal care remain unknown. Pregnant women in many prisons endure deplorable conditions, denial of medical attention, miscarriages, solitary labour and births, and infant deaths behind bars. Prisons are often designed for men, producing gaps in gender-responsive care amid violence, overcrowding, poor sanitation and resource shortages. International guidance exists: the Bangkok Rules were adopted fifteen years ago to address female prisoner treatment, while the female prison population has risen far faster than the male population since 2000.

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