Publications on Prisoners
10-Point Plan: Gender-sensitive Drug Policies for Women
Resource | Publications,
The number of women and girls in prison, estimated to be more than 740,000, is increasing: between 2010 and 2020 there was a 17 per cent increase globally. Punitive drug policies are known to be a key driver of rising prison populations and to have a particular and disproportionate impact on women. Drawing on the report, Sentencing of women convicted of drug-related offences, as well as findings from an expert meeting held in London in February 2020, and the recent briefing, Punitive Drug Laws: 10 years undermining the Bangkok Rules, this model for reform details how policy makers and criminal justice practitioners can respond effectively and positively to reduce the unnecessary imprisonment of women for drug‐related offences in line with international standards.
 
 
The Harms of Incarceration: The Evidence Base and Human Rights Framework for Decarceration and Harm Reduction in Prisons
Resource | Publications,
This briefing provides advocates with the evidence base and human rights framework for decarceration and the provision of harm reduction services in prisons.
 
 
Prisoner Slides 2021
Resource | Presentations,
Get an overview of the HIV/AIDS situation for Prisoners.
 
 
Human Rights Fact Sheet Series 2021
Resource | Fact Sheets,
The 2021-2026 Global AIDS Strategy has bold and critical new targets on realizing human rights, reducing stigma, discrimination and violence and removing harmful punitive laws as a pathway to ending inequalities and ultimately ending AIDS. To aid in the scale up of interventions to remove these societal barriers, UNAIDS has produced a series of fact sheets on human rights in various areas, highlighting the critical need to scale up action on rights. They are a series of short, easy to digest and accessible documents outlining the latest epidemiology, the evidence of the impact of human rights interventions, the latest targets, and international guidelines, recommendations and human rights obligations relating to each topic. Fact sheets released in June 2021: HIV criminalization, HIV and people who use drugs, HIV and gay men and who have sex with other men, HIV and transgender and other gender-diverse people, HIV and sex work, HIV and people in prisons and other closed settings and HIV and stigma and discrimination.
 
 
Global Prison Trends 2021
Resource | Publications,
Health crises and other emergencies are not unprecedented in prisons. This year’s Special Focus examines prisons in crises, and how authorities respond to health crises, natural hazards and extreme weather, or in fragile and conflict-affected settings. We look at how prisons and the people within them are affected, as well as the involvement of prison populations in times of such crises and consider what measures authorities can put in place for better preparedness and response.
 
 
Impact of COVID-19 on Drug Markets, Use, Harms and Drug Services in the Community and Prisons
Resource | Publications,
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Since then, the virus has claimed millions of lives and has transformed nearly every aspect of our individual and collective reality. As with all areas of life, drug consumption, related harms and drug markets have been impacted, as have the services established to respond to drug-related problems. During the first weeks of the pandemic, the EMCDDA instigated two rapid assessment studies to identify the initial impact and implications of COVID-19. These studies identified signs of an overall decline in some forms of drug use during the first 3 months of the pandemic, largely as a result of national confinement measures. In addition, many drug services were forced to close or restrict their access, new measures for hygiene and social distancing were implemented, and there was a shift towards greater use of telemedicine.
 
 
Punitive Drug Laws: 10 Years Undermining the Bangkok Rules
Resource | Publications,
For centuries, criminal laws, justice systems, and prisons have been designed for, and by, men. The 2010 United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, also known as the ‘Bangkok Rules’, break away from this history by establishing the first set of international human rights standards that focus on the specific needs and experiences of women deprived of liberty. This briefing paper provides analyses the concrete ways in which punitive drug legislation has impacted upon the achievement of the Bangkok Rules, and offers several recommendations on how to translate the commitments set in the Bangkok Rules into drug policy.
 
 
Engage & Empower: Supporting access to TB Health Services for Prisoners and Other Persons Deprived of Liberty
Resource | Publications,

This package forms part of a broader series of interventions to find and treat all people with TB, particularly those who currently face barriers to accessing TB services or completing TB treatment, and to support an enabling environment for overcoming the various legal, social and economic barriers that people affected by TB encounter.

 
 
Technical Brief: Addressing HIV and TB in Prisons, Pre-trial Detention and Other Closed Settings
Resource | Publications,

This technical brief describes how HIV and TB interventions for people in prison and other closed settings can be incorporated into funding requests to the Global Fund. The Global Fund supports evidence-and rights-based interventions aimed at ensuring access to HIV and TB prevention, treatment, care, and support for key populations, including people in prison.

 
 
IN BRIEF: Covid-19, Women, and Prisons: Early Release and Non-Custodial Sentences for Women as an Effective Means to Reduce COVID-19 in Prison Populations
Resource | Publications,

The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the dire situation of overcrowded prisons and triggered discussions about alternative sanctions that effectively reduces crime rates and recidivism while ensuring health and safety of the prison population. Women, particularly in Asia, are incarcerated at an increasing rate and for non-violent offenses. This brief explores the use of early release and alternative sentencing to effectively curb populations, thereby reducing the threat of Covid-19 due to overcrowding.