28 The Bangkok Rules Rule 6 (5) The health screening on admission is essential to identify any signs of ill-treatment or torture in previous detention/custody and take appropriate action. Torture and abuse of prisoners in custody, immediately after arrest, is more common than during the period of imprisonment. During the initial period, suspects mostly find themselves in the hands of the officers in charge of investigating the crime of which they are accused. The officers therefore have an interest in obtaining a confession or other relevant information.44 During this time, women are at particular risk of sexual abuse, including rape.45 Rule 7 Any woman who has been diagnosed as having been abused in previous custody or prior to that, (by prison staff or other prisoners) should be fully informed of her right to complain and adequate assistance shall be provided to her to enable her to proceed with her complaint if she wishes. The principle of confidentiality should be respected during this process and the woman concerned should receive the psychological support required by her situation, whether or not she chooses to complain. Psychological support may be provided by outside services, such as NGOs, in cooperation with prison authorities, especially when prison authorities do not have the capacity to provide for adequate and appropriate services. The provision of legal assistance to such women is essential. Such assistance may be provided by lawyers or qualified para-legal aid providers, at least in the first instance, in the absence of lawyers. Rule 8 International standards guarantee the right to medical confidentiality for all individuals, including prisoners. Women may have particular safety and security concerns in relation to their reproductive health history, and therefore should never be coerced into giving information, which they feel may put them at risk. In this context women should have the right to refuse vaginal screening/hymen examination. Rule 9 Many women worldwide who are admitted to prison are accompanied by their children, who may remain with them in prison, sometimes for long periods. It is vital to respect such children’s right to the highest attainable standards of health, enshrined in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Article 24 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, undertaking also a thorough health screening on their entry to prison and provide the requisite health care during the whole period of their stay in prison facilities. Wherever possible and in the best interests of the child, such screening should be undertaken in the presence of the mother. ___________ Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, Human Rights Council, Thirteenth Session, 9 February 2010, A/HRC/13/39, para. 52. 45 For a discussion of custodial violence against women, see Human Rights Council, Seventh Session, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, A/HRC/7/3, 15 January 2008, paras 34-35 in particular. In para. 34 it is stated that “[c]ustodial violence against women very often includes rape and other forms of sexual violence such as threats of rape, touching, ‘virginity testing’, being stripped naked, invasive body searches, insults and humiliations of a sexual nature, etc. It is widely recognized, including by former Special Rapporteurs on torture and by regional jurisprudence, that rape constitutes torture when it is carried out by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of public officials. In a 1997 decision on a case of custodial rape the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged that ‘rape of a detainee by an official of the State must be considered to be an especially grave and abhorrent form of ill-treatment given the ease with which the offender can exploit the vulnerability and weakened resistance of the victim’ and ‘rape leaves deep psychological scars on the victims which do not respond to the passage of time as quickly as other forms of physical and mental violence’.” 44