CAT/OP/CHL/1/Add.1
that is especially adapted for that purpose.43 Through this programme, pregnant women and
women with children up to 2 years of age receive the support of dedicated professionals
whose work involves addressing criminological issues so as to reduce the risk of recidivism,
as well as managing the children’s needs for protection. During 2016, assistance was
provided to 181 women44 in mother and child units throughout the country.
136. Furthermore, since 2004, the Prison Service has implemented the Conozca a su Hijo
(“Know Your Child”) programme, which is geared towards enhancing training for parents
deprived of their liberty in relation to their children, as well as encouraging learning and
development of children participating in the programme. The ultimate goal is to generate
better opportunities for the comprehensive development of these children, and to strengthen
the emotional bonds between parents deprived of their liberty and their families.
137. Paragraph 91: The Subcommittee recommends that, in line with rule 16 of the
Bangkok Rules, the authorities, in consultation with the mental health and social welfare
services, develop and implement strategies to prevent suicide and self-harm among women
prisoners.
138. In this regard, the Prison Service updated its general operational guidelines for the
prevention of suicide among inmates of both sexes, for the whole prison population, which
include the following measures:
I.
II.
Evaluation actions:
(a)
Health examination upon arrival
(b)
Continuous monitoring for prevention of incidents
(c)
Suicide risk assessment
(d)
Referral to professional care
Technical and operational coordination:
(a)
Training on the warning signs of suicide
139. In 2016, a document containing operational guidelines to prevent suicide among
persons deprived of their liberty in the closed subsystem) 45 was drafted; this document
includes instructions issued in previous documents and draws on experiences in the regions.
Moreover, a number of operational measures were introduced to allow prisoners who have
attempted suicide to receive adequate care and to prevent such actions during detention.
140. In March 2016, the health department of the Prison Service launched a mental
health-care pilot plan at Colina I Prison and Santiago South Pretrial Detention Centre. This
programme, which is due to end in December 2016, consists in group psychotherapy
workshops (to date, 726 cases of treatment provided). Individual psychological care is
provided in parallel and has been implemented at the Puente Alto and Santiago South
Pretrial Detention Centres and the Colina I and Punta Peuco Prisons. There is a need to
extend this plan to the whole of the Metropolitan Region and to other regions.
43
44
45
GE.17-07762
The Programme of Assistance for Pregnant and Nursing Women has been implemented gradually in
prisons since 2001. Under an agreement with SENAME, the Temporary Shelter Programme for
Infants was launched in 1998 and implemented until 2005 with the aim of providing comprehensive
care for infants aged 0 to 2 years of women prisoners. These infants were able to spend time and to
strengthen their emotional bond with their mothers, to be breastfed, to receive adequate food in
accordance with their development needs, to have access to primary health care and specialized
medical referrals, to receive clothing and to benefit from a safe, caring and hygienic environment.
Fifty places were subsidized as part of the agreement with SENAME. From 2005 until 2014, the
initiative was known as the Temporary Residence Programme and had capacity for 110 infants. In
2015, the Prison Service assumed the challenge, directly funding the programme from its own
resources, pursuant to Exempt Resolution No. 12713 of 10 December 2014.
As of November 2016, the Programme was providing assistance to 62 pregnant women and 118
women with infants aged 0 to 2 years.
Paper prepared by the Research Unit of the Office of the Deputy Technical Director of the Prison
Service.
25
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