A/HRC/45/51 indigenous peoples, ethnic Vietnamese communities and persons with disabilities. Some of these groups do not speak Khmer and do not have access to official information. The limited initiatives to disseminate information to indigenous and ethnic Vietnamese communities were carried out on an ad hoc basis. Most of the official information was not available in formats accessible to persons with disabilities. 54 C. Rights of women 60. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that women’s engagement in economic activities, especially in informal sectors, are highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As noted above, the closure of factories disproportionately affected women, particularly in the garment sector. Owing to the restrictive measures in place and to the need for social distancing, women working in the massage and entertainment industries, some of whom are the sole family breadwinners, lost their income. According to the rapid socioeconomic assessment in Cambodia by the EmPower Project, all women surveyed reported a decline in their incomes and employment, of which 69 per cent were the primary breadwinners for their families.55 61. The Special Rapporteur is further concerned that confinement of women owing to travel restrictions and compulsory quarantine requirements has increased the risk of conflict and violence in households, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had already expressed concern on violence against women. 56 Women and girls, particularly in pregnancy and childbirth, will be disproportionately impacted by the additional strain of the COVID-19 pandemic on the underprepared local health-care system, and Cambodian women have expressed concerns over the risk of contracting COVID-19 by attending clinics or other health-care facilities. The time spent by women on unpaid care and domestic work has also increased, with almost one third of women surveyed by the EmPower Project indicating that it had doubled. Owing to traditional gender norms, girls may benefit less from online learning, and may instead be expected to carry out unpaid care work. D. Administration of justice 62. Prison overcrowding poses a major risk for transmission of COVID-19, and it also poses a challenge for other human rights. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to incorporate the guidance offered by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its Deliberation No. 11, on prevention of arbitrary deprivation of liberty in the context of public health emergencies.57 63. In March 2020, the Ministry of Interior introduced measures aimed at the prevention of COVID-19 transmission in prisons, including a temporary ban on all prison visits, and a subsequent instruction requiring the 14-day quarantine and isolation of all new detainees. The Special Rapporteur notes that on 16 April, the General Department of Prisons lifted a de facto ban on prisoners and detainees making phone calls. The Ministry of Interior also announced increased cooperation with the Ministry of Health to closely monitor and improve prison health and to respond to any health crisis in prisons.58 64. These initiatives are welcome but temporary in nature. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to strengthen alternatives to detention, introduce necessary legislative and policy reforms to ease the granting of bail, suspended sentences and judicial supervision, and to ensure their effective implementation as a matter of priority in order to 54 55 56 57 58 See documentation from Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the World Health Organization and other United Nations entities available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/COVID-19-and-Special-Procedures.aspx. “The impact of COVID-19 on rural women and enterprises: a rapid socio-economic assessment in Cambodia by the EmPower Project” (2020). Available at www.empowerforclimate.org. CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/6, para. 24. www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/DeliberationNo11.pdf (para. 22). Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health’s Inter-Ministerial Proclamation on the Establishment of Prison Health Technical Working Group, dated 16 June 2020. 13