CAT/OP/C/57/4 Suzanne Jabbour, June Lopez, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz and Catherine Paulet. It will liaise with the secretariat of the Special Fund to explore how to improve the functioning of the Fund. 3. Regional teams 46. Regional teams and country rapporteurs have continued to be in frequent dialogue and communication with national preventive mechanisms, facilitating the exchange of information and advice. Owing to the different sizes of, and levels of engagement in, the various regional teams, they have adopted the working methodologies that best suit their needs, which have included increased use of videoconferencing to ensure better outreach and efficacy. 4. Development of Subcommittee position papers 47. The working group on jurisprudence and thematic issues is currently drawing up position papers on prevention of torture in the transfer or relocation of persons deprived of their liberty; prevention of torture of migrants and refugees; and independence of national preventive mechanisms, with a focus on those within ombudsman’s offices and national human rights institutions. As in previous years, the Subcommittee welcomes comments and contributions for their development. V. Substantive issues: prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons A. Introduction 48. Individuals often experience multiple and extreme forms of discrimination in the form of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in relation to their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has noted that members of sexual minorities are disproportionately subjected to such treatment because they fail to conform to socially constructed gender expectations (see A/56/156, para. 19), an observation with which the Subcommittee concurs. The related stigma can contribute to the dehumanization of the victim, which is a facilitating factor for torture and ill-treatment (ibid.). 49. In its resolution 27/32, the Human Rights Council expressed grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. There is abundant evidence to conclude that torture and ill-treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons are endemic concerns, as has been attested to by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (see A/HRC/19/41), and that such treatment takes place in police stations, prisons, hospitals and other health-care settings, military, juvenile and migration detention facilities and other places of detention, as defined in article 4 of the Optional Protocol. 50. It is the duty of the State to design and implement legislative, administrative and judicial measures to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Effective compliance depends partly on an adequate understanding of the causes, nature and consequences of concerns particular to specific groups, communities and populations. In the case of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, in order to accomplish their duty of prevention, State parties and other entities have utilized 10