Women in Detention: A Guide to Gender-Sensitive Monitoring|Second edition

Individuals who want an up-to-date understanding of gender-responsive issues and all those who work with female offenders should read this document report. "It outlines the risks faced by women deprived of their liberty of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment and measures that can be taken to reduce such risks. The main focus of the paper is the situation of women in detention in the criminal justice system, though the discussion is in many cases equally relevant to women deprived of liberty in other contexts, such as psychiatric institutions and immigration detention facilities.” (p. 2). Sections contained in this document include: introduction to gender-specific treatment; why monitoring bodies should look at this issue; concepts-gender and gender mainstreaming, and discrimination and violence against women; risk factors and measures to reduce risk-certain contexts which heighten risk, certain times that heighten risk, certain policies and practices that heighten risk or cause physical or mental suffering, and certain categories of women who are at heightened risk (girls, victims of human trafficking and sex workers, women with mental healthcare needs, and other groups); and the qualities monitoring bodies need to engage in this endeavor.