A “heart-to-heart hotline” operated by 12 policewomen recently opened in Chongqing prison. Prisoner counseling takes place face-to-face through video computers. So far the hotline has been very successful.

“We talk about family, marriage, interpersonal relations – any topic the prisoners care to raise,” says Luo Min, head of the hotline. The hotline is open 12 hours a day, Monday to Friday, and all conversations are in strict confidence.

The 12 women selected for this work from various police departments have undergone a three-month psychology, law and sociology training course.