RISK FACTORS AND MEASURES TO REDUCE RISK female defendants are not allowed to ride in the same vehicle.35 In India too, separate conveyances should be used for male and female prisoners, and female detainees need to be escorted by female guards or police officers, although these provisions are limited to under-trial prisoners.36 Lack of consideration of women’s hygiene needs, compounded by the long transit times that result from the small number of women’s prisons and their remote locations, may also represent a risk of inhumane or degrading treatment. The UK inspection body, for instance, reported that − for all adult prisoners − only a ‘few were offered a ‘comfort break’ to use a toilet. Instead prisoners were offered a liquid absorbing gel-bag to use in their tiny cell while the van was on the move’. Where women and boys travelled with adult men, men were routinely dropped off first, resulting in long transport times for women prisoners.37 While international safeguards provide little guidance on transport, Rule 73(2) of the revised Standard Minimum Rules states that ‘[t]he transport of prisoners in conveyances with inadequate ventilation or light, or in any way which would subject them to unnecessary physical hardship, shall be prohibited’. Monitoring bodies should check whether measures are in place to protect women against torture and ill-treatment during transit. Such measures may include ensuring that female staff are responsible for the transport of women deprived of their liberty, or that at least women staff are also present during transport; the installation of CCTV cameras in vehicles used for transport, with careful supervision of the use of such cameras; and ensuring that independent and accessible complaints procedures are in place. 3. Certain policies and practices that heighten risk or cause physical or mental suffering a. Inadequate safeguards and assessments on admission Detainees’ prompt access to family members and lawyers, following arrest, has long been recognised as one of the key safeguards against torture and illtreatment. All prisoners are entitled to inform, or have informed, members of their family or other appropriate person of their choice of their imprisonment promptly after arrest.38 Experience worldwide has shown that women are especially vulnerable at the time of their admission to prison. Many women who come in confrontation with the criminal justice system are uneducated or illiterate and unaware of their rights. In many countries, being detained or imprisoned will entail a particular stigma in the case of women, which will add to their distress. Most women who are admitted to prison are mothers, and the separation from their children and their families can have a severely negative impact on their mental wellbeing. Monitoring bodies need to pay special attention to the admission procedures of women prisoners and assess what assistance women are given at this time, with reference to the Bangkok Rules, which require prison authorities to provide them with ‘facilities to contact their relatives; access to legal advice; information about prison rules and regulations, the prison regime and where to seek help when in need in a language that they understand; and, in the case of foreign nationals, access to consular representatives as well’.39 Monitoring bodies should also take into account that the time of admission is the point when prisoners’ risks and needs should be determined via individual assessments and check whether a gender sensitive risks assessment is carried out in the case of women being admitted to prisons, with reference to the provisions of the Bangkok Rules,40 in order to ensure that their individual, genderspecific needs are provided for during their detention, thereby reducing the potential damage of imprisonment on their mental wellbeing and promoting their social reintegration. b. The nature and scope of medical examinations Medical screening on entry is one of the essential components of policies that aim to detect ill- treatment and torture by law enforcement officials or others, to bring perpetrators to justice and provide the requisite support and care for victims, when such acts have taken place. When complaints of sexual abuse or other forms of violence are ignored, the likelihood of custodial violence passing undetected by state authorities is increased, contributing to the lack of protection for women victims of such violence in prison. Monitoring bodies should find out whether the medical examination of women on admission to prison includes an examination of any sexual abuse and other forms of violence that may have occurred prior to admission, as 35. Cheng Lei, Lü Xiaogang, and Chen Jianjun, Research Report on the Treatment of Women Detainees in China – Using the Bangkok Rules as the Starting Point of Analysis, 2014, p13. 36. Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Model Prison Manual for the Superintendence and Management of Prisons in India, 2003, paras. 9.21 and 22.61, available at http://bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/1445424768-content%20%20chapters.pdf <accessed 24 November 2015>. 37. HM Inspectorate of Prisons, UK, A thematic review by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Transfers and escorts within the criminal justice system, December 2014, p5. 38. Principle 16 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment and Rule 58, revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. 39. Bangkok Rules, Rule 2. 40. Bangkok Rules, Rules 40 and 41. Penal Reform International | Women in Detention: a guide to gender-sensitive monitoring |9