Tool 5: Places of Deprivation of Liberty and Gender Box 21: Efforts to reduce prisoner rape in South Africa A group of three staff members from one prison started a local initiative, called Friends against Abuse, in 2000 in response to their outrage at the normalization of rape at an all-male institution. The group gained support from other local businesses and collectives, and in 2004 took an ambitious plan to the South African parliament. The first-ever parliamentary meeting on the topic of prisoner rape was held. Their ideas received opposition as well as support. At around the same time Friends against Abuse reached out to Just Detention International (then known as Stop Prisoner Rape), based in the USA. As a result, Just Detention International developed a deep interest in South Africa and worked with local civil society organizations, especially the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, which had published ground-breaking research on rape in South African men’s prisons. Together the organizations started to work with the Department of Correctional Services to develop strategies to address the problem and raise awareness in parliament and other oversight bodies. The group collaborated with more local and international partners to continue to fight for change and raise awareness. In 2008 the new Commissioner of Correctional Services held an event to explore and highlight the problem of prisoner rape. The commissioner invited Just Detention International and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation to work with the department to address it. In 2009 the Department of Correctional Services, Just Detention International and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation drafted a policy mandating prisons to prevent, detect, respond to and document prisoner rape in correctional facilities. But following leadership changes at the department, the policy approval process was slow and difficult: it was only approved in 2013, after years of civil society Department of Correctional Services advocacy. In the meantime, Just Detention International founded Just Detention International – South Africa and began a pilot project to test the suggested policies in one prison. It was not until 2017, three years after the pilot project, that the finally approved the rollout of the policy. Just Detention International – South Africa continues to work with the Department of Correctional Services to support implementation of the policy, and offers training for officers (and staff who offer medical/psychological services, etc.) in:  dynamics of sexual abuse and toxic notions of masculinity, misogyny and homophobia  gender and sexuality  how risk factors interplay with sexual violence  trauma and how it manifests among people in detention  the importance of compassionate listening versus purely cold security fact finding  legal framework – duty of Department of Correctional Services to prevent abuse in places of deprivation of liberty. Source: Information for this case study was taken from a forthcoming publication kindly provided by Just Detention International – South Africa. It will appear on its website in future: https://southafrica.justdetention.org/. 47