“The outcome of all this is that conditions in segregated housing units and the treatment of women housed in them, including the strip searches, the use of restraints, and the punitive attitudes, may feed into the cycle of harm which many of the women have had to endure throughout their lives, perpetuating trauma and harm.” Each of the women at the unit were discussed during multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings, which were meant to be attended by unit custodial staff, psychology, intelligence, and senior prison staff. I was pleased to observe that notes from MDT meetings significantly improved since early 2019, and I hope that this positive trend continues. But although notes from the meetings were more detailed than before, little changed between meetings in terms of outcomes for the women and work with them. Instead, much of the discussion evolved around the unit’s rigid practices and ways to ensure that these are adhered to. For example, one entry noted that a telephone call between one of the women and her daughter “lasted 5 minutes and 30 secs before the phone cut off. Officer to follow up with xx again and make sure that the phone is set for 5 minutes” (in other words, ensuring that only the very minimum is allowed). Another entry noted that women were “using manipulation to meet with senior staff as a means to negotiate”. Other notes speculated on relationships between the women and between them and friends and partners on the outside, sharing personal information for no apparent reason. The outcome of all this is that conditions in segregated housing units and the treatment of women housed in them, including the strip searches, the use of restraints and the punitive attitudes, may feed into the cycle of harm which many of the women have had to endure throughout their lives, perpetuating trauma and harm. As one of the women in the Management Unit observed, “we need the most help, but we get nothing”. Another woman said: “I have no hope”. The expectation of complete and docile compliance with unit procedures and staff orders is, to my mind, gendered and anachronistic. Importantly, such practices and attitudes may damage women’s perception of the legitimacy of the authority exercised by prison staff. This, in turn, can 37