Bangkok Rules E-Bulletin Women in the criminal justice system
May 2017
Welcome to Penal Reform International's quarterly Bangkok Rules E-Bulletin, a round-up of news and developments from PRI and others around the world on women in the criminal justice system and the implementation of the UN Bangkok Rules. The views expressed in the news items are not necessarily those of PRI.
The UN Bangkok Rules are a set of standards adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2010, which supplement existing standards for the treatment of prisoners by addressing the specific needs of women in the criminal justice system. For more information on the Rules see PRI's Short guide.
A new Workbook, published by PRI and the Thailand Institute of Justice, has been adapted from PRI's e-course on Women in Detention: putting the Bangkok Rules into practice. It draws on global good practice and research findings to provide practical guidance, using exercises and case studies.
At the end of the 10 modules, participants will have the tools and knowledge to design gender-sensitive policies and practices for women offenders and prisoners and apply them in their professional roles.
On 24 May, PRI will launch its annual flagship publication, Global Prison Trends 2017, at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Published in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice, Global Prison Trends 2017 is the third edition of the series, which identifies topical developments and challenges in criminal justice and prison policy and practice over the past 12 months. The report includes an exploration of various prison populations, including the specific needs of women. The Special Focus section looks at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and criminal justice – including SDG5 on gender equality.
In December 2016, PRI concluded a one-year project dedicated to pursuing a gender-specific criminal justice system in Georgia, in line with the UN Bangkok Rules. The work, funded by the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF), included advocacy and technical assistance to implement gender-specific approaches in legislation, policy and practice. As part of this, PRI developed evidence-based recommendations, including increasing alternatives to imprisonment for women –in view of the damaging impact prison has on women and their families. The research report is available in Georgian only.
Photo credit: Antonio di Vico, 2016.
See also:
PRI's photo book on Women Behind Bars(available in Georgian only), a set of stories told by women prisoners and former prisoners about the years spent in penitentiary establishments and the negative factors their imprisonment had on their caring liabilities towards their families and children. The stories also include cases of those women whose offences are related to domestic violence.
PRI's 2013 research report, based on a survey of the female prison population in Armenia and Georgia, produced with the financial assistance of the UK Government.
During 2016–17, PRI undertook monitoring missions across 20 regions to assess the situation of vulnerable groups (including women, and women with children) in detention. Prison conditions for these vulnerable groups in pre-trial detention centres and police units were also assessed. This report(currently available in Russian only) provides a detailed analysis of the missions across the Russian Federation.
This briefing gives an overview of what the international and regional standards say regarding the care and treatment of children who are suspected, or convicted, of violent extremism related offences. It is primarily focused on the criminal justice and penal response to children who are in conflict with the law, owing to involvement in such activity.
This advocacy note on opportunities for promoting criminal justice reform has been prepared for the 26th Session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, set to take place from 22 to 26 May 2017. In the note, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and PRI identify key aspects of the UNGASS Outcome Document that are relevant to the work of the Commission, including a gender perspective in criminal justice matters.
Published in February 2017, the Essex paper 3: Initial guidance on the interpretation and implementation of the Nelson Mandela Rules is based on deliberations at an expert meeting organised by PRI and the Human Rights Centreat the University of Essex that took place on 7–8 April 2016. The document seeks to provide initial guidance on implementation of the Mandela Rules, which supplement the Bangkok Rules, and to serve as a basis for initiatives to develop more comprehensive guidance, training materials, or projects on implementation.
The paper notes that certain groups, including women prisoners, are more likely than others to suffer the adverse effects of high security classification in prisons, and advocates for gender-sensitive risk assessment and training that incorporates standards that give guidance on how to provide a gender-sensitive approach.
It is now widely acknowledged that armed conflict particularly and uniquely impacts women, and there is political commitment to address this, notably in the Women, Peace and Security agenda. In this expert blog, Andrea Huber of PRI and Therese Rytter of DIGNITY, the Danish Institute Against Torture, examine how international law on the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment (UN Convention against Torture) and gender-specific forms of abuse have been reflected in instruments mandating and guiding peacekeeping efforts. The authors specifically analyse UN Security Council Resolutions on peacekeeping operations and in the Gender Strategy and Policy of the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).
Although social franchises are increasingly being used and recognised as a tool to quickly and effectively create sustainable impact, their potential to support probation and reintegration of former prisoners has not yet been fully explored. Adam Boxer, a Director of Wessex Social Ventures, discusseshow social franchises can support women on probation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In this blog, Sabrina Mahtani, co-founder of the Sierra Leone NGO AdvocAid, writes about a woman, aged 17, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for killing her abusive former boyfriend. Her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011, and, although her appeal was heard in 2014–2015, she has still not received a decision in her case. Sabrina explains why the law is ill-adapted to such cases, resulting in unjust outcomes.
INCB: The annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has found that women and girls comprise one-third of global drug users, despite making up only one-fifth of those receiving treatment. It has called for more policies to address drug dependence among women, with significant systemic, structural, social, cultural and personal barriers impacting on women’s ability to access substance abuse treatment.
CEDD: The Research Consortium on Drugs and the Law (CEDD), a network of drug policy experts from 10 countries in the Americas, has published a new report – Irrational Punishment: Drug Laws and Incarceration in the Americas – which reveals that the incarceration of women for drug offences is increasing 'at an alarming rate'. It finds that prison has disproportionate impacts on women, and that the incarceration of women who are mothers and caretakers can have devastating consequences for their families.
UNODC: New UNODC guidance on Implementing Comprehensive HIV and HCV Programmes with People Who Inject Drugs advocates for gender-responsive harm reduction services. It finds that women who inject drugs often experience greater stigma and discrimination than men who inject, which is often aggravated by gender-based violence. In addition, women face a range of gender-specific barriers to accessing HIV-related services, and in many contexts remain particularly hard to reach, even where harm reduction programmes are in place. The guidance recommends that organising women who use drugs, particularly through community-led women’s groups and networks, coupled with targeted efforts to stop violent practices against them, can contribute to improvements in drug policy and access to reproductive health services.
The Norwegian and Catalan National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM), mandated under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, have issued reports on women in prison.
Women in Prisonis the first thematic report published by the Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman (a NPM under OP-CAT). The report is a summary of the visit reports from most of the high-security prisons for women between 2014–16. It concludes that, overall, there are many instances of women being placed in a worse situation than men, in breach of international standards.
A new report by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR) and Fair Trials–Prison: Evidence of its use and overuse from around the world–describes patterns and trends in imprisonment in 10 jurisdictions. Findings on women include a rise in women being imprisoned for drug offences in Brazil resulting, firstly, from pressure being placed on women to bring drugs into prisons when visiting inmates and, secondly, from the fact that women often have little choice but to take over drug operations for male partners or relatives when men are imprisoned. The report also found that, while women make up less than 7 per cent of the worldwide prison population, their proportion of Thailand’s prison population is currently 14 per cent, and was as high as 17 per cent in the years 2000 and 2005.
Dubravka Šimonović, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences, has expressed concerns on women in prison in Australia, following a visit to the country from 13–27 February 2017. In her end of mission statement, the Rapporteur expressed concern about over-incarceration, prison overcrowding, strip searching, solitary confinement, lack of alternatives to custodial sentences (in particular for women with dependent children), inappropriate access to health care (in particular mental health care), and inadequate re-entry programmes to prevent reoffending. She urged the Australian Government to review a policy of incarceration for unpaid fines, which has a disproportionate impact on the rates of incarceration of Aboriginal women resulting from the economic and social disadvantages that they face.
The Rapporteur also drew attention to Rule 26 of the Bangkok Rules, which recognises the significant impact that loss of contact with children has on mothers.
A report has found New Zealand’s overuse of solitary confinement to be in breach of international standards. Dr Sharon Shalev, an international human rights expert, was funded by the UN to visit New Zealand last year at the request of the UN Commission on Human Rights, owing to concerns about the country’s use of solitary confinement. The report – Thinking Outside The Box – showed that women were much more likely than men to be segregated (and segregated for longer periods), recommending that the higher use of segregation with women in prisons should be investigated.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the release of petty offenders to decongest prisons and reduce government spending on them, stating that '[t]hose being remanded for minor offences should be released'. President Kenyatta said his government was committed to improving prison staff welfare through an established multi-agency taskforce appointed to review the situation of all prisons and make recommendations.
PRI welcomed the announcement, following its recommendation in its research report Community service and probation for womenfor an inter-agency approach which brings together all relevant stakeholders in the criminal justice system. PRI's recommendation for training of all relevant stakeholders is also reflected in the significant steps that have been taken with the National Counter Terrorism Centre to improve training curricula for staff and the rehabilitation of inmates.
PRI works with the Kenya Probation Service to improve and increase the use of alternatives to imprisonment and gender-sensitive community sanctions.
A report on Uncovering the Gender Participation Gap in Crimeby the University of Essex and the Norwegian School of Economics recommends that policies tackling crime should differ for men and women, since they have different motivations and concerns. According to the researchers, the differences stem from socio-cultural factors such as how women see their role in the household, raising children and other social norms.
Between 2013 and 2015, the UK-based Centre for Crime and Justice Studies conducted a gender-based study of long-term imprisonment among men and women. The survey results showed important differences in their experiences. Overall, the impact of long-term imprisonment was experienced more harshly by women than by men.
A dramatic increase in self-inflicted deaths of women in prison prompted a bulletin by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. It revealed that the number of women who died in prison in England and Wales reached a record high of 22 last year, with more than half taking their own lives. Figures released by the Prison Reform Trust reveal that 46 per cent of women in prison have attempted suicide at some point.
See new research published by the Prison Reform Trust, which reveals significant variations in how police forces deal with women who come into the criminal justice system.
The UK-based alliance Agenda has issued a new briefing on the use of physical and face-down restraint against women and girls, based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all 58 mental health trusts in England. Its findings suggest that women are more likely to be restrained repeatedly than men.
New US initiatives give hope to women offenders
Christy VanCleave, who knows firsthand the challenges that individuals, particularly women, face when reintegrating into society, co-founded Pets Helping People in 2009. The non-profit organisation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, provides non-violent female offenders job training in dog grooming, boarding and other pet care services, and sees a recidivism average of under four per cent.
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovationhas recognised the Women’s Re-entry Assessment and Programming (WRAP) initiative, Pennsylvania, as a semi-finalist for this year’s Innovations in American Government Awards. The WRAP programme is a 'trauma-informed' approach to dealing with women who find themselves in the criminal justice system. The programme began in 2014 with 50 women. To date, more than 100 women have taken part in its prison and community-based programmes, with Pennsylvania seeing a 60 per cent reduction in the recidivism rate among female offenders.
The most common consequences of drug policies bring disproportionate harm to women and girls. An Open Society Foundations and Aeonpublication argues that women who use drugs or have used drugs should be involved in policy reforms, including development, implementation and evaluation, so that the harms of drug policies may be decreased.
In this video by Just Detention International, a pair of old friends – a former lifer and a prison warden – reunite to make a California women's prison safer.
Do you have new publications or resources to share on women and criminal justice?
We encourage you to send us any new materials, feedback, news items, blogs, etc. to share with this network of people interested in women and the criminal justice system. Please send to: info@penalreform.org
