4. Guidance for advancing gender equality within places of deprivation of liberty While section 3 sets out the vision, this section offers some specific steps that can be taken to integrate a gender perspective and advance gender equality in places of deprivation of liberty. It focuses upon three key stakeholder levels among state actors. 1. National/state-level policy-makers: those able to set and reform the policy agenda. 2. Institutional operations and leadership: those able to make direct reforms within places of deprivation of liberty. 3. Civil society: partnership with this group is an important factor in achieving longterm, sustainable reform. While no country has completely implemented a gender perspective across all aspects of places of deprivation of liberty, there are increasing examples of good practice from across the globe, some of which are shared below. Points to remember One size does not fit all. Avoid copying and pasting reforms from elsewhere; instead, develop reform with local knowledge and evidence 4.1. Guidance for state/national involvement Legislative changes To facilitate positive reform on gender equality, legislation lays the groundwork. Places of deprivation of liberty interpret and implement the law at their local level. Legislation is not a prerequisite, as there are cases where institutional managers or even front-line staff have created initiatives to improve access to justice for various groups without it. However, by far the strongest and most sustainable route to reform is by introducing legislation. Policy-makers and legislators do not have to start from scratch. Internationally agreed soft law already exists in the shape of UN standards and regional agreements and protocols. For example, several countries have incorporated the entirety of the UN Bangkok Rules into their own state constitutions. Other countries have looked at specific guidance from these rules and adapted their own legislation. Two examples are described in Box 5.* * For more information on how to reduce the female prison population by reforming legislation and practice see UNODC (2014) Handbook on Women and Imprisonment, Vienna: UNODC, pp. 103–128. Penal Reform International has created a free online e-course designed to assist practitioners in applying the UN Bangkok Rules, http:// penalreform-elearning.org/. Image: Narathiwat prison staff discuss a water project with delegates of the ICRC, Thailand, 2009 © ICRC / Kanya Chimroylarp.