Tool 5: Places of Deprivation of Liberty and Gender It is therefore of huge importance that institutions holding people awaiting trial and authorities responsible for questioning detainees embrace a gender perspective and apply the concept to all areas of policing.* New approaches to integrating a gender perspective have recently been piloted with people deprived of liberty while in custody for initial questioning and during pre-trial assessment and detention (see Box 11). Box 11: Implementing a gender perspective during pre-trial assessment in Kenya Context analysis To provide a strong understanding of the specific situation in Kenya for women in contact with the justice sector, the Kenya Probation and Aftercare Service partnered with Penal Reform International to complete a detailed contextual analysis. On the basis of this context analysis report, the Kenya Probation and Aftercare Service was able to identify several areas of possible improvement. It decided to focus on pre-trial assessment as one of the areas that could have the greatest impact. Adaption of tools and approach During the pre-trial stage, probation officers interview defendants deprived of liberty in police stations, at court and in prison to provide a report and recommendations to the court. The guidance for conducting these interviews and the assessment tools used to gain information from the accused were deemed to be gender neutral and to overlook the needs and responsibilities of women. The tools and guidance were redesigned to be gender responsive by explicitly gathering information about women’s health and sanitation needs, and their parental and other carerelated responsibilities. For example, previously a female defendant would not have been asked about the consequences for her children if she was to be found guilty, or whether she was pregnant, as her questioning was the same as that for men. Probation officers were also trained in the importance of the Bangkok Rules and a more open questioning style, which allowed the women interviewed to feel more at ease and divulge information about their situation and the context surrounding their alleged offence. Impact The new methods allowed for greater information collection. Magistrates reported a significant increase in the quality of reports, which included relevant mitigating factors that allowed them to decide on non-custodial sentences more often. Probation officers also noted that the gender-responsive approach allowed them to build better working relationships with the female defendants, which meant they could give improved recommendations for women’s rehabilitation. An additional unforeseen positive impact was that probation officers started to take the same gender-responsive approach to male defendants. This led to an improved understanding of and recommendations for men, which took into consideration the specific needs and responsibilities of the individual. Source: O. P. Khan (2018) “Introducing a gender-sensitive approach to pre-trial assessment and probation: Evaluation of an innovation in Kenya”, Probation Journal, 65, pp. 184–200. * See Tool 2 for guidance on integrating a gender perspective in policing. Other useful resources include DCAF, OSCE, OSCE/ ODIHR (2014) “Integrating gender into internal police oversight” and UN Women (2015) “Module 3: Justice and policing”, in Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence: Core Elements and Quality Guidelines, New York: UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC. 35