Chapter 2 The reports, opinions and recommendations published in 2016 1. Opinion of 25 January 2016 on the situation of women deprived of liberty The opinion of 25 January 2016 on the situation of women deprived of liberty was submitted to the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Social Affairs and Health and Minister of the Interior who all wished to give their feedback on it. This opinion was drawn up as part of discussions following visits to various places of deprivation of liberty accommodating women and of the examination of a number of referrals received on the situation and treatment specific to women. For the general inspection carried out across all places of deprivation of liberty found that men and women were treated differently, usually because of the low number of women. Under no circumstances must imprisonment constitute an obstacle to application of the gender equality principle proclaimed in the preamble of the 1946 Constitution. Women and men must be treated equally inside places of deprivation of liberty, a requirement which must not, for all that, prevent certain needs specific to women from being taken into account. Female prisoners are accommodated in a small number of remand prisons and sentencing institutions – all of which are situated in the North of France. The low number of women deprived of liberty should not justify their unequal distribution across the territory, which violates the right to maintain family ties. In this respect, the CGLPL recommends opening a "detention centre" wing for women in the South of France. In his reply to this opinion, the Minister of Justice confirms the shortage of places for women in sentencing institutions in the South of France, and announced the opening in 2017 of a detention centre wing for women that can house sixty prisoners in Marseille. The CGLPL also recommends accommodating men and women within all detention centres for illegal immigrants (CRAs) across France. In the Minister of the Interior's reply, dated 18 February 2016, he indicated that a large majority of CRAs accommodate women (15 out of 23), which guarantees maintenance of their family ties. He maintains that, pursuant to Article R.553-3 of the Code for Entry and Residence of Foreigners and Right of Asylum (CESEDA), under no circumstances can male prisoners access the accommodation areas reserved for women, in any CRAs, except when there is a family link. Women also find it difficult to access specialist structures equipped for their needs (access to psychiatric care in particular) and specific situations (restricted access to the day -parole regime). As such, to ensure that men and women have equal access to psychiatric care, regional mental health departments for prisons (SMPR) and units for difficult psychiatric patients (UMDs) must all be able to accommodate women. The same applies for wings/centres for adjusted sentences and open wings/prisons, the moment there is a strict framework governing the way in which prisoners are accommodated and treated. 37