66 Towards the Effective Protection of LGBTI Persons Deprived of Liberty regimes. Such discrimination jeopardizes the detainees’ chances of reinsertion and leads to deprivation of meaningful human contacts and greater isolation. Another issue of concern revolves around the admission process to LGBTI wings, and specifically to the question of who is placed in such units, and on the basis of which criteria. In some countries, special wings house trans women detainees only, while in others they house gay and bisexual men and trans persons together. In other cases, self-declared bisexual detainees are specifically excluded from such wings. Initial screenings are often conducted in such a way that they amount to discriminatory “admissions tests” that rely on appearances and stereotypes. There is also evidence that minorities, including ethnic minorities, may be excluded from special wings because of discriminatory biases during admission. Such screenings can be humiliating and detainees may therefore prefer not to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity, while staff may label a detainee who has not self-identified as such as LGBTI. If special wings exist, initial admission screenings should be done by multidisciplinary teams, based on objective and professional criteria, and with a view to avoiding further discrimination and stigmatisation. It is also important for monitoring bodies to assess whether interviews upon admission are conducted in private, with clear explanations – in a language understood by the detainees – about the implications of disclosing such information. In homophobic and transphobic contexts, LGBTI detainees – particularly gays and trans persons – can be segregated in the worst quarters of the prison (sometimes in warehouses, with little or no natural light at all) on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. They may be treated as outcasts, according to informal rules that forbid other inmates from speaking or coming into physical contact (i.e. taking items from their hands or shaking hands) with them, or even greeting or sharing the same space with them. Often housed together with sex offenders, LGBTI detainees may even be forced to bear a distinctive sign or wear a special uniform. Sometimes authorities may deny the existence of separate accommodation for “vulnerable” detainees, but monitoring bodies should be aware that they can nevertheless exist, even unofficially.

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