A Monitoring Guide 51 ther it helps inform allocation and placement decisions in either male or female facilities. Visits to places of detention are never ends in themselves, but rather central components of a monitoring body’s sustained endeavors and the processes by which it seeks to improve the overall treatment of and conditions experienced by persons deprived of liberty. Visits should therefore be followed by reports to the authorities, with recommendations on areas for improvement and required changes. This section does not aim to present a comprehensive overview of all aspects of reporting and recommendations, but rather to elaborate on key points relevant to reporting on the situations of LGBTI persons deprived of liberty. Visit reports are one of the most important tools at the disposal of monitoring bodies aiming to enhance the protection of persons deprived of their liberty. Some monitoring bodies first share their draft reports confidentially with the authorities, with the final reports being made public only thereafter, alongside the authorities’ replies. Visit reports are intrinsically linked to the ways in which monitoring bodies conduct visits, as they are meant to reflect, elaborate upon, draw conclusions from, and issue recommendations from the main findings of visits. The issue of LGBTI detainees may or may not appear in a visit report, depending on what is observed during the visit. In some cases, the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity may be addressed in the broader context of discrimination. In other cases, when monitoring bodies conduct targeted visits to specific premises where LGBTI detainees are held, or come across situations of a systemic nature, dedicated reports and/or specific recommendations on this topic should be produced. In addition to visit reports, monitoring bodies may also write thematic reports and (at least in the case of NPMs) be obliged to publish an annual report. Issuing thematic reports enables monitoring bodies to employ a cross-cutting approach to specific topics, such as the situation of LGBTI detainees, and moreover to address sectors as a whole (e.g. the penitentiary or health immigration systems), rather than individual establishments. Both thematic and annual reports can be powerful tools that bring visibility to the deprivation of liber- Chapter II 7. Reporting