Project Background “Women’s Situation in Jails and Access to Justice” was produced as part of the “Enhancing Access to Justice for Women in Asia and the Pacific: Bridging the gap between formal and informal systems through women’s empowerment,” a five-year programme that began implementation in 2018, with the generous support of the Government of Sweden. The overall goal of the programme is to enhance access to justice for women in formal and informal systems in Asia and the Pacific, bridging the gap between these systems through women’s empowerment and reduction of gender biases. Access to justice services are crucial to enforce human rights granted to women and girls. Despite global efforts to advance legislative measures to ensure access to justice and protection, women and girls still face numerous obstacles in pursuing their legal rights and holding justice systems accountable. Women are at risk of discrimination in places of detention, which are still predominantly designed for men and managed by men. Gender-neutral prison policies also largely contribute to disregard of women’s different needs. As the population of incarcerated women continues to rise in the Philippines due to lack of non-custodial alternatives and increased penalties for drug-related crimes, progressive implementation of international norms like the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules) is all the more crucial. In 2019, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) conducted focus group discussions in selected female detention facilities all over the country. Through the FGDs, a situationer report was produced, revealing issues faced by women in detention, including issues of congestion, security access to justice, availability of basic and gender-specific facilities and services, and the burden of women’s traditional roles. The bulk of the report is included in this booklet. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CHR asked women deprived of liberty to answer a questionnaire that was developed in partnership with an NGO and in coordination with the detention authorities. Through this questionnaire, women’s personal accounts of their experiences and ways of coping during the pandemic were documented. This booklet features twenty-eight (28) of those narratives as well, about how an ordinary day 1