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Two separate reports by the Office of the Children s Commissioner into the Mothers with Babies Unit (MBU) in prisons have found multiple incidents where women were handcuffed before, during and after giving birth.
A 2019 report into the MBU in Auckland found female prisoners were handcuffed in labour or soon after birth in hospital.
A 2020 report into a Christchurch unit found handcuffing shortly after giving birth and while in the late stages of pregnancy.
It is illegal for female prisoners who are giving birth to be restrained, and Corrections policy states that where a medical professional says a woman is in labour, restraints must be removed.
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STUFF
Kelvin Davis says prisoners damaged property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and risked the lives of staff and themselves.
Prison staff say they’re effectively banned from defending themselves from increasing violence from inmates, leaving some fearing for their lives. One Corrections officer, who works with some of the country s most violent criminals and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he and his colleagues endured violence about two to three times per week. “We are not allowed to do anything to defend ourselves. We can’t be proactive, so if a prisoner is behaving aggressively, we can’t assume that he’s going to try to hit us. We have to wait until he does hit us.”