Contents Acknowledgements 4 Foreword 5 Table of figures 8 Executive summary 9 1. Introduction: the use of segregation, forms of restraint, and pepper spray in women’s prisons 12 1.1 Background 12 1.2 Key policy developments affecting women in prison in Aotearoa New Zealand 13 2. Aotearoa New Zealand’s prisons for women and the women they house 17 2.1 Aotearoa New Zealand’s prisons for women 17 2.2 The women in Aotearoa New Zealand’s prisons 18 3. The use of solitary confinement (segregation) in Aotearoa New Zealand’s women’s prisons 22 3.1 22 Prison Segregation Units 3.3 In focus: the Management and Separates Unit at Auckland Region Women’s Correctional Facility (ARWCF) 27 3.4 Intervention and Support Units (ISUs) in women’s prisons 38 4. Self-harm 45 5. Recorded incidents and pepper spray use 47 5.1 Recorded incidents 47 5.2 The use of restraints and pepper spray 49 6. Discussion, conclusions and recommendations 53 6.1 Discussion and conclusions 53 6.2 Key recommendations 57 Appendix 1: International human rights standards relating to solitary confinement (segregation) and restraint use, with a focus on women 60 Appendix 2: The legal and administrative framework for the use of segregation and restraint in New Zealand 67 7