36 Gender and Security Toolkit In terms of initial entry into the prison system, interviews with women prisoners have found that the two issues causing them most concern upon admission are arranging care for children left outside and search procedures, which they find to be degrading.10 While each individual’s situation will be different with regards to making arrangements for their children’s care, those who have been primary caregivers up until that point should be given the means to communicate with the necessary parties during the entry process, to ensure the safety of their dependants. It may be possible to allow for a delayed sentence, to enable caregivers to make suitable alternative arrangements for dependants. (See the “Visits and community contact” section below for more information on communication with the outside world.) The interviews also highlighted the need for well-trained staff working from a gender perspective, as well as “for comprehensive medical screenings, and screenings for abuse, and for an atmosphere and process that attempts to reduce stress and orient women in ways that they understand”.11 Transfer Movement of people between places of deprivation of liberty, such as between police stations, courts, prisons, hospitals, etc., can be a time of risk. Transfer is often overlooked as a point in procedures that requires a gender-responsive approach. Women (including transgender women) can face heightened risk when transferred together in the same vehicle with men, and can be exposed to verbal, physical and sexual violence.12 Female and male detainees should always be transferred separately. As with staffing in institutions, female prisoners should only be escorted by female staff throughout the transfer process. The Bangkok Rules note that restraints should only be used during transfer where completely necessary. Nonetheless, “in some countries body restraints, such as shackles, are used on pregnant women during transfers to hospitals, gynaecological examinations and birth”.13 Staff conducting transfers are sometimes from different or private organizations* that do not fall under the staffing of the main institutions and therefore do not receive the same training. It should thus be ensured that all staff conducting transfers are appropriately trained in implementing a gender perspective. This aspect of deprivation of liberty should receive the same attention with regards to monitoring and inspection as all others. Searching Searches can be humiliating for all people subjected to them. However, the additional factors of male-dominated power relations and socialized ideas about the female body, as well as the greater likelihood of previous experience of SGBV as a woman, mean that the impact of searching women is more profound and more likely to trigger previous trauma. Specific guidelines should be devised and implemented from a gender perspective to avoid humiliation and reduce the risk of ill treatment at this vulnerable time. Policies should take into consideration the cultural and religious diversity within the target population, and make reasonable adjustments to ensure all individuals can comply with security procedures while maintaining their dignity and without experiencing discrimination. Institutions should consult directly with minority ethnic and religious groups to come to an understanding about what is culturally appropriate, rather than applying the same procedure to everyone. Male staff should be specifically prohibited from performing any type of personal search on women and girls, including pat-down searches, strip searches and invasive searches. Searches of women should be carried out away from the presence and sight of men. Pregnant women and girls should never be subjected to vaginal searches, and management should ensure that there are a sufficient number of trained female staff members available to carry out searches of female detainees or prisoners.14 * For guidance on ensuring appropriate gender training of staff contracted from the private sector see this Toolkit’s Policy Brief on “Gender and Private Security Regulation”.