rest of the bathroom. All of the windows in the room can be opened. Only if necessary, a blocker can be activated. There will be no barriers to reaching any room. The room for longer visits is also designed to be barrier-free. By its dimensions, it is designed for a visit not only by a single person but by a family as well. In addition, four new shared accommodations are planned, each of which disposes of its own kitchen. In the future inmates will take their medications themselves. Inmates will be given a mobile phone when they are allowed to go on outings. It will be given to them in the admission area before they leave and deposited into a storage box when they return. The outdoor installations are also spacious. They consist of terraces, a vegetable garden and a fun court area. The annexe is embedded in a plot of land that is ten hectares large. The new construction is being attached to the old construction. There will be no gate guards in the entrance area, but rather a reception desk. The presence of uniformed officers will be reduced to the extent possible. Prison guards will only be responsible for exterior security. No locked area The NPM visited the shell of the building to assure itself of the progress of the construction. Its design appears to have been well planned and to be well attuned to the needs of the users, who were involved in the planning process. However, the NPM could not understand the smallscale gratings over the windows. The prison warden assured the NPM that this was for protection against the sun, similar to shutters. Moreover, the gratings made it more difficult to see into the patient rooms from outside. This meant that the attachment of a privacy screen to the outside fence could be dispensed with. Grating tarnishes the overall impression The new construction is to be completed by the end of 2015. Thereafter, a total of 152 persons will be housed in the Asten Centre for Forensic Science, who will be inmates in the sense of Section 21 (1) and Section 21 (2) of the Austrian Criminal Code. Only persons who are suited to the setting will be admitted. However, the NPM regrets that women will not be accepted into the Centre for Forensic Science in Asten in the future. Their housing in the Schwarzau correctional institution is inadequate, as repeatedly demonstrated by the commission. Juveniles are generally well cared for in the Gerasdorf correctional institution and should remain there. However, the living conditions of mentally ill offenders remain critical. About 40 women in Austria are currently affected. Further discrimination against women  The new construction at the Centre for Forensic Science in Asten will improve the spatial requirements for care and the preparation of mentally ill offenders for life after their release.  In contrast, the conditions under which women in the Schwarzau correctional institution are held urgently need improvement. To afford equal treatment of women, the NPM advocates contemporary housing which meets appropriate standards. 119