14 CPT: 9TH GENERAL REPORT Detention centres for juveniles 1. introduction 28. In the view of the CPT, all juveniles deprived of their liberty because they are accused or convicted of criminal offences ought to be held in detention centres specifically designed for persons of this age, offering regimes tailored to their needs and staffed by persons trained in dealing with the young. Moreover, the care of juveniles in custody requires special efforts to reduce the risks of longterm social maladjustment. This calls for a multidisciplinary approach, drawing upon the skills of a range of professionals (including teachers, trainers and psychologists), in order to respond to the individual needs of juveniles within a secure educative and socio-therapeutic environment. 2. material conditions of detention 29. A well-designed juvenile detention centre will provide positive and personalised conditions of detention for young persons deprived of their liberty. In addition to being of an adequate size, well lit and ventilated, juveniles' sleeping and living areas should be properly furnished, well-decorated and offer appropriate visual stimuli. Unless there are compelling security reasons to the contrary, juveniles should be allowed to keep a reasonable quantity of personal items. 30. The CPT would add that, in certain establishments, it has observed a tendency to overlook the personal hygiene needs of female detainees, including juvenile girls. For this population in custody, ready access to sanitary and washing facilities as well as provision of hygiene items, such as sanitary towels, is of particular importance. The failure to provide such basic necessities can amount, in itself, to degrading treatment. 3. regime activities 31. Although a lack of purposeful activity is detrimental for any prisoner, it is especially harmful for juveniles, who have a particular need for physical activity and intellectual stimulation. Juveniles deprived of their liberty should be offered a full programme of education, sport, vocational training, recreation and other purposeful activities. Physical education should constitute an important part of that programme. It is particularly important that girls and young women deprived of their liberty should enjoy access to such activities on an equal footing with their male counterparts. All too often, the CPT has encountered female juveniles being offered activities which have been stereotyped as "appropriate" for them (such as sewing or handicrafts), whilst male juveniles are offered training of a far more vocational nature. In this respect, the CPT wishes to express its approval of the principle set forth in Rule 26.4 of the Beijing Rules, to the effect that every effort must be made to ensure that female juveniles deprived of their liberty "by no means receive less care, protection, assistance, treatment and training than young male offenders. Their fair treatment shall be ensured." 32. The regimes of a number of the juvenile detention centres visited by the Committee have included generalised incentive schemes, which allow juveniles to attain additional privileges in exchange for displaying approved behaviour. It is not for the CPT to express a view on the socio-educative value of such schemes. However, it pays particularly close attention to the content of the base-level regime being offered to juveniles subject to such schemes, and to whether the manner in which they may progress (and regress) within a given scheme includes adequate safeguards against arbitrary decision-making by staff.