It is well documented that the impact of prison on children of imprisoned mothers can be devastating.23 The imprisonment of Mäori mothers, as a formerly imprisoned woman told the New Zealand Herald, has an even deeper effect: “Mäori women have integral roles that they need to play to ensure that the whakapapa [lineage or ancestry] is pure and the mokopuna [grandchild/ descendant] can stand strong. We’re already in pain, you put us in prison and the root of that pain goes deeper.”24 In short, this is a cohort of women, many of whom are Mäori and Pacific, with high levels of trauma and health needs, particularly vulnerable to the harms of imprisonment and the separation from their family and community.25 They arrive at prisons architecturally designed for men, are housed in cells designed for men, managed in accordance with prison rules designed for men,26 and are subjected to the same policies and practices which are applied in men’s prisons, including those regarding the use of solitary confinement (segregation) as punishment, protection, or management of prisoners. These practices are the focus of the remainder of this report.27 23 Beresford, Sarah (2018) ‘What about me? The impact on children when mothers are involved in the criminal justice system’. Prison Reform Trust: London. 24 ‘The number of Mäori women imprisoned without conviction has nearly doubled after law change’ New Zealand Herald, 29 June, 2020 accessed 4/6/21 25 See United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Collaborating Centre for Health and Prisons in the Department of Health, United Kingdom, and World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe (2009) Women’s health in prison: Correcting gender inequity in prison health. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen. 26 As reiterated in the preamble to the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules): “[We are] Aware of the fact that many existing prison facilities worldwide were designed primarily for male prisoners, whereas the number of female prisoners has significantly increased over the years”. 27 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2009) Handbook for prison managers and policy makers on Women and Imprisonment. United Nations, New York, at p 27; For Rules and Regulations specific to women prisoners in New Zealand, see Appendix 1. 21