Driving health right policy on children living with innate mother in Thailand

Abstract

This research aimed to study situations of driving health policies of children living in prisons of inmate mothers in Thailand from 2014-2018 and to find policy-based gaps concerning health rights of children living in prisons with inmate mothers. It included a question about how the health policy for children living in prisons was driven and whether there were gaps of the policies that have not been fulfilled. The findings reveal that 1) The quality of life of pregnant inmates and children living with inmate mothers was developed through uplifting standards of medical facilities in prisons However, some penitentiaries did not meet standards due to overcrowded number of inmates. Furthermore, there were some kinds of promotion to inmate mothers to feed their children with breast milk as a consequential result from Bangkok Rules. 2. The pregnant inmates perceived the policies that accommodated the children living with inmate mothers and provided healthcare similar to normal children. 3. The justice system in Thailand focused on punitive justice rather than restorative justice, which was contrary to human rights and Bangkok Rules. As a result, there were numerous female inmates and children living with them in prisons and these were obstacles to hygiene development in prisons. 4. The regulations were stipulated to protect rights of children living with the inmate mothers as well as pregnant inmates i.e. regulations of Department of Corrections  associated with children in custody of inmates B.E. 2561 (2018) and regulations of the Department of Corrections on pregnant or feeding inmates care B.E. 2561 (2018). 5. Failure to implement non-detention measures was a main cause of rapid increase of female inmates. Speaking of policy-based gaps, the researcher could conclude that 1) Thailand has not implemented the Criminal Procedure code Section 246, 2) families of children living with inmate mothers did not receive child grant support and 3) there were gaps about information transmission between prisons and foster homes.