WHY SHOULD MONITORING BODIES LOOK AT THIS ISSUE? Why should monitoring bodies look at this issue? The particular risks women face of ill-treatment and torture in detention has received limited attention to date. Efforts to reduce violence against women usually focus on the private sphere or the community, with less attention being given to gender based violence encountered by women deprived of their liberty. While torture and ill-treatment in detention, in general, has been an area of great concern, the gender-specific angle of the topic has not been adequately discussed or explored. The Committee against Torture, in its General Comment No. 2, has underlined the lack of information in State reports on the implementation of the Convention with respect to women, and has emphasised that gender represents a key factor in torture prevention.13 The SPT notes in its eight annual report in 2015 that ‘gender-specific perspectives have not been adequately discussed, and the particular risks of ill-treatment and torture faced by women in detention have received limited attention’. Examples of situations of concern found during its visits include: ‘the use of sexual violence as torture, including against transgender persons; lack of adequate attention to their right to health care, including sexual and reproductive health rights; the precarious situation of pregnant women and their children living with them; non-compliance with the rule of separation of women and men; shortage of women custody staff; the practice of invasive searches, including in intimate parts of the body, and the use of public nudity; discrimination in access to work, education and recreational activities; limitations on contact with relatives, including visits by intimates and contact with their children, as a form of punishment’.14 Monitoring bodies can play an important role in filling this gap and encouraging their governments to do so as well. They can do this by assessing the risk factors in the places where women are held, the safeguards, if any, which have been put in place by authorities and by making recommendations to their governments and all relevant key actors, in line with the provisions of the Bangkok Rules, to improve the protection of women against ill-treatment and torture. In examining the risks women face, and within a holistic understanding of their prevention work, monitoring bodies can also go beyond the facts found in places of detention to try to identify possible root causes of problems. A problem encountered during a visit to a place of detention may be the result of external factors and it is therefore essential for monitoring bodies to also analyse the legal framework, criminal justice policies and practices.15 Some examples of such an approach are provided in this paper. 13. CAT/C/GC/2, 24 January 2008, para. 22. 14. Eighth annual report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 26 March 2015, CAT/C/54/2, para. 63. 15. Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture Implementation Manual, Revised Edition, op. cit. p235. 4 | Penal Reform International | Women in Detention: a guide to gender-sensitive monitoring