can be especially devastating for women whose mental states are already deteriorating, due to prior mental illness or to the effects of being in segregation. It can also result in pregnancy, and pregnant women in solitary confinement—whether the pregnancy was a result of a rape by a guard or not—are often denied proper medical care. Women have also reported stories of being publicly humiliated when asking for additional sanitary pads during their menstrual periods, or being forced to hand in their used pads in order to acquire a new one, according to the women who contributed to The Fire Inside magazine. They are entirely dependent on male guards, even for such personal needs as this. Separation from children Women are more likely than men to be the primary guardian of a child or children; having a mother who is in solitary confinement, then, can be very detrimental to the children. Inmates in solitary confinement have much less frequent contact with family members, and when they do, they are usually separated by a partition. Although inmates are allowed some visits from immediate family members, a long background check is required. Children with mothers in prison are at a greater risk for depression or anxiety, substance abuse, or involvement in crime. These factors are only furthered by the more distanced relationship that becomes necessary with a mother in solitary confinement and the restrictions on visitation that accompany that. Reentry Women who are released from solitary confinement into the general prison population are more likely than men to experience stigmatization and humiliation from the prison guards. This often leads to them isolating themselves and not interacting with other prisoners even when they are not in solitary confinement. Once they are released from prison, too, they often have a harder time adjusting to being a part of society again, and frequently end up back in prison. Ex-offenders who were held in solitary confinement are more likely to commit violent acts against others once released than those who spent all their time in the general prison population. As one California prisoner who wrote for The Fire Inside prison magazine put it, “We go through these kind of mental, emotional, and spiritual stages. At first when you get here you’re angry and disoriented…Paranoia sets in…I slowly began to think of this cell as my safe place…What happens next year when they take the box away?” She,