babies to stay with their mothers in prison. Alter-
natively, prisoner mothers may be granted early
or temporary release. If this is not practicable,
arrangements can be made for daily visits to the
prison by the baby for breast-feeding, in an appro-
priate setting. Arrangements can also be made,
where necessary, for mothers to express their milk,
for delivery to the baby located elsewhere (Kingi
2000). In Korea, it is possible for mothers to keep
their babies with them in prison for up to 18
months, while the specified limit in Vietnam is two
years. In Thailand, the upper limit is three years.
The age limit for children to stay with their moth-
ers is not specified in Cambodia, but the regula-
tions provide for a mother with a baby to receive an
extra one half of the adult food ration (APCCA
2000).
In Malaysia, mothers are allowed to keep their
babies with them in special units in prison, for a
period of up to four years, whereas in Brunei
Darussalam the limit is three years, and two years
in Indonesia. These Muslim countries follow the
Qur±àn: “The mothers shall give suck to their chil-
dren for two whole years, [that is] for those [par-
ents] who desire to complete the term of suckling,
but the father of the child shall bear the cost of the
mother’s food and clothing, on a reasonable basis”
(2: 233).
In Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, women
prisoners may be offered vocational training that
has a domestic orientation, and that is not neces-
sarily geared to the needs of the outside labor
market, such as beauty treatment, hairdressing,
cooking, and secretarial skills. In Japan, training to
obtain a license for care/service for the elderly is
very popular with women prisoners, and is very
useful in obtaining employment after release.
Women prisoners in Vietnam may be offered work
in tailoring, knitting, handicrafts, fine arts, or
weaving (APCCA 2000).
In the majority of the nations of the Asia-Pacific
region, a strict policy is pursued, requiring women’s
prisons, or the women’s section of mixed prisons,
to be staffed by female officers only. In a small
number of nations, however, a policy of cross-gen-
der staffing has been developed, which allows male
officers to work in female prisons, and, conversely,
female officers to work in male prisons. There are
always, however, regulations that ensure that
searches, and the supervision of ablutions, is under-
taken by same-sex officers.
The majority of countries also follow a policy of
strict segregation of male and female prisoners. In
Sri Lanka, for example, male and female prisoners
are strictly separated and females under 22 years430 law: enforcement
are separated from adult females. There are a few
exceptions, however, where contact between male
and female prisoners is tolerated, and sometimes
even encouraged. In the Australian Capital Terri-
tory and in Tasmania, for example, men and
women can meet in educational classes. If a hus-
band and wife are both in prison, special visits
under supervision can be arranged (APCCA 2000).
In Brunei Darussalam, the law prohibits mis-
treatment of prisoners, and there have been no
reports of such mistreatment. Prison conditions
generally meet international standards. There is no
overcrowding. However, there is a growing prison
population. In mid 2002, there were only 31
women in prison, whereas the number of male pris-
oners was 423. All prisoners also receive regular
medical checkups. The government is generally
quick to investigate allegations of abuse and impose
fines and punishment, as warranted. For instance,
in September 2000, two members of the Royal
Brunei Armed Forces were sentenced to four years
imprisonment and three strokes of the cane for the
attempted molestation and sodomy of a 20-year-
old deaf girl. Approaches in female-connected
criminal cases are, however, subject to change. In
1999 a photograph of a man accused of stabbing
his wife and assaulting one of his children was pub-
lished in a daily newspaper, a new development
in a country in which privacy is generally closely
guarded (United States Department of State 2002).
In Malaysia, prison conditions are poor, and
prison overcrowding is also a serious problem.
There were 1,328 female prisoners in Malaysian
prisons in mid-2002, compared to 27,476 male
prisoners. In August 2000, prison officials an-
nounced that a number of prison rules would be
reviewed (United States Department of State 2002),
but problems persist. For instance, Irene Xavire
was detained under Malaysia’s Internal Security
Act (ISA), which allows police to detain people
without trial indefinitely, as a preventive measure.
Since it was enacted in 1960, during Malaysia’s
colonial era, this act has been used as justification
for the arrest of thousands of activists, students,
and politicians. Irene Xavire has told of her own
experience, being harassed and beaten with a stick
during interrogation sessions. “I had to show a
policewoman a soiled sanitary pad before I could
get sanitary pads and also get to keep my panties
on. The police normally demand that you give up
all items of clothing in exchange for the Chinese
pants and blouse that they give you” (Xavire 2001).
Béatrice Saubin also told her story. In Malaysia,
at age 19, she fell in love with Eddy Tan Kim Soo, a
handsome, wealthy Chinese man. They planned to