accused and 248 convicts) were placed in the establishment N5, 9 inmates (2 accused and 7 convicts) – in the establishment N2, 3 accused in the establishment N3 and 3 prisoners in the Medcail Establishment N18 (1 accused and 2 convicts). In 2015, within the framework of the National Preventive Mechanism of Georgia, with participation of the Gender Equality Department of the Public Defender’s Office, the monitoring of the institution N5 was conducted. The objective of the monitoring was to reveal the needs of the female inmates and to prepare the recommendations based on the assessment. In order to achieve the above objective, the monitoring team refered to the national legislation as well as the standards established by the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Sanctions for Women Offenders (The Bangkok Rules). Recommendations were prepared based on the results and were sent together with the special report of monitoring to the Ministry of Corrections for further reaction. A number of recommendations were fulfilled by the Ministry of Corrections, which had a positive impact on the conditions of the female accused/convicts placed in the establishment. Despite the fact that the overall situation in the Institution N5 is satisfactory, there still remain few serious problems. Still problematic is the procedure of full strip searches209 upon admission during which women have to get completely naked. In addition, what is particularly traumatizing for them is that they are asked to do squats. It is worth noting that such searches are conducted every time when prisoners leave the establishment and when they come back. Because of this practice which many prisoners find beyond their dignity, female inmates often refuse to receive medical care outside the establishment or attend the court hearings.210 In his Parliamentary Report of 2014, the Public Defender of Georgia addressed the Minister of Corrections with the recommendation to receive the female prisoners without violating their dignity. According to the response MOC31600018644 received from the Ministry on 11 January 2016, the above procedure is carried out while placing the inmate in the establishment, also, if the accused/convict has temporarily left the penitentiary institution on the grounds established by law and is returning back. The response 209 Decree 97 of the Minister of Corrections of May 30, 2011 on Approving the Statute of re-trial Detention, Semi-open and Closed-type Prisons, Medical Establishment and Tuberculosis Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre, Article 32, Para 9. 210 According to Rules 19 and 20 of the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), effective measures shall be taken to ensure that women prisoners’ dignity and respect are protected during personal searches, which shall only be carried out by women staff who have been properly trained in appropriate searching methods and in accordance with established procedures. Alternative screening methods, such as scans, shall be developed to replace strip searches and invasive body searches, in order to avoid the harmful psychological and possible physical impact of invasive body searches. NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2015 135