Item 3 of the provisional agenda *Successes and challenges in implementing comprehensive
crime prevention and criminal justice policies
and strategies to promote the rule of law at thenational and international levels, and to support
sustainable development

Workshop 1: Role of the United Nations standards and norms incrime prevention and criminal justice in support of effective, fair,humane and accountable criminal justice systems: experiences
and lessons learned in meeting the unique needs of women andchildren, in particular the treatment and social reintegration of
offenders **Background paper
SummaryThis background paper highlights issues for consideration by Member States whendeveloping crime prevention and criminal justice strategies and measures that ensure theinclusion of gender and children-oriented perspectives, particularly with regard to thetreatment, social reintegration and prevention of recidivism of women and children. The
paper also provides an overview of the United Nations standards and norms in crime
prevention and criminal justice that are relevant in addressing the unique needs of womenand children in conflict with the law, in particular the treatment and social reintegration of
offenders. It further presents national experiences and key lessons learned in meeting thoseneeds, providing a set of specific recommendations for consideration during the Workshop.

I. Introduction

1. An important function of the United Nations has been the development of a broad range ofstandards and norms in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice. Many of these
instruments deal with the treatment of offenders and prisoners such as the Standard Minimum
Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, 1 the Procedures for the Effective Implementation of theStandard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, 2 the Body of Principles for theProtection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, 3 the Basic*

A/CONF.222/1.
The United Nations Secretariat wishes to express its appreciation to the members of the United Nations Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme network of institutes, especially to the Raoul Wallenberg Instituteof Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Preventionof Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, for assisting in the organization of the Workshop.
1
Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments, Volume I (First Part), Universal Instruments(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.XIV.4 (Vol. I, Part 1)), sect. J, No. 34.
2
Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/47, annex.
3
General Assembly resolution 43/173, annex.
**-5-Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners 4 and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules
for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules). 5 In 2010, recognizing the need to provide
global standards with regard to the distinct considerations that should apply to women
prisoners and offenders, the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners andNon-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) 6 were adopted as asupplement to the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
2. Several standards and norms relating to the administration of justice for children in conflictwith the law 7 have also been adopted, including the recent United Nations Model Strategies
and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice, 8 which provide guidance to countries on how to develop
and implement the necessary legal, policy and institutional frameworks for preventing andresponding to violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.
3. The above standards and norms represent important milestones in the treatment of women
offenders and children in conflict with the law. However, despite these achievements, crime
rates have escalated and there is an increased number of women offenders, while challenges
in meeting the needs of children in conflict with the law persist worldwide. Hence, it iscritical for Members States to develop crime prevention and criminal justice strategies andmeasures which ensure the inclusion of a gender and children-oriented perspective,
particularly as regards their treatment and social reintegration and the prevention ofrecidivism. Equally important are the efforts to eradicate all forms of discrimination andviolence against women and children at all levels of society, particularly when women andchildren enter in contact with the law.
4. More than 625,000 women and girls are held in penal institutions throughout the world,
either as pretrial detainees or as convicted and sentenced persons. 9 Women in conflict withthe law tend to be young, poor, undereducated and unskilled. It is recognized that women
have been adversely affected by poverty, lack of empowerment, as well as social, economic
and political marginalization and exclusion from the benefits of education, health andsustainable development. These challenges have placed them at higher risk of delinquency
and violence. It is therefore crucial that States address the structural causes that contribute to
women’s incarceration, as well as the root causes and risk factors related to crime andvictimization through social, economic, health, educational and justice policies.
5. The efforts to address these challenges should be linked to those related to the prevention
and elimination of all forms of gender-based violence. Violence against women, in fact, isamong the causal factors for women’s involvement in criminal offences and subsequentimprisonment. In the report entitled “Pathways to, conditions and consequences ofincarceration for women” (A/68/340), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
4

General Assembly resolution 45/111, annex.
General Assembly resolution 45/110, annex. See also the Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa(Economic and Social Council resolution 1997/36, annex) and the basic principles on the use of restorative
justice programmes in criminal matters (Economic and Social Council resolution 2002/12, annex).
6
General Assembly resolution 65/229, annex.
7
The definition of “children in conflict with the law” includes children alleged of, accused of or recognized ashaving infringed the penal law as mentioned in article 40, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of theChild. See also General Comment No. 10 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
8
General Assembly resolution 69/194.
9
Roy Walmsley, “World female imprisonment list”, 2nd ed. (London, International Centre for Prison Studies,2012).
5-6-

causes and consequences notes that there is a strong link between violence against women
and women’s incarceration, whether prior to, during, or after incarceration, and that evidence
from different countries suggests that incarcerated women have been victims of violence
prior to entering prison at a much higher rate than is generally acknowledged by the legal
system. The report also notes that those women belonging to ethnic and racial minorities or
victims of intimate violence or with histories of poverty, mental health problems, sexual
victimization and/or substance abuse are much more prone to entering the criminal justicesystem than are male offenders or women in the general population.
6. Gender stereotypes 10 also play a significant role in women’s involvement in the criminal
justice system and in the way punishment for women offenders is administered. Genderstereotypes have been a source of substantive harmful effects on women offenders andprisoners, including patterns of increased sentencing and specific forms of physical,
emotional and sexual violence, compared with male prisoners. Gender stereotypes associate
women more with the private sphere and characteristics of submissiveness and weakness.
Men, on the other hand, are traditionally seen as belonging to the public sphere and areassociated with the characteristics of strength and assertiveness. That narrative holds that men
are violent and women are peacekeepers. This is one of the cultural explanations for society’s
tendency to be unforgiving towards women offenders and for the persistence of thesubconscious belief that women offenders need to be punished more than rehabilitated.
7. The adoption of punitive approaches seems to be the prevailing response to issues related
to juvenile justice. This has led to an increasing number of children being drawn into thecriminal justice system and deprived of their liberty. Research shows that the majority ofdetained children are awaiting trial and that a large proportion of these children are held forminor offences and are first-time offenders. Many of these children belong to groups thatshould not be institutionalized. These include children with mental health problems, children
with substance abuse problems, children living and working on the streets, children in need ofcare and protection and unaccompanied migrant children (see A/HRC/21/25). In most cases,
they are first-time offenders and/or have committed petty offences. It is therefore crucial thatcountries have in place appropriate measures to prevent detention, including throughalternative measures to judicial proceedings such as diversion and restorative justice.
Likewise, it is crucial that countries have in place proper measures to address the specificneeds of children deprived of their liberty, in particular as relates to health-care services,hygiene and environmental sanitation, education, basic instruction and vocational training,
rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. Children in conflict with the law, and especiallychildren deprived of their liberty, face a high risk of violence, including as a result of public
stigmatization and the prevalence of physical and psychological punitive approaches. Everychild in conflict with the justice system must therefore be treated in a manner consistent withhis or her rights, dignity and needs, in accordance with international law, bearing in mind
relevant international standards and norms in the field of crime prevention and criminal
justice.

10

The term “gender” is not interchangeable with “women”. Gender refers to both women and men, to theirrelations, the dynamic of their interactions and the distribution of power between them. See the guidance notefor UNODC staff entitled Gender mainstreaming in the work of UNODC (Vienna, 2013), p. 13.

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II. Relevant international standards on women offenders andprisoners and children in conflict with the law
A. Women offenders and prisoners

8. Historically, most prison facilities worldwide were designed primarily for male prisoners,
ignoring the special needs of women, the number of whom in prisons has increased
significantly over the years. Consequently, women have remained in a disadvantaged position
with respect to their treatment during their interaction with the criminal justice system. The
United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures
for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules) have been adopted with a view to improving thetreatment of women prisoners at all levels of their encounter with criminal law while
addressing the special gender needs that have gone unattended so far. They constitute asignificant advancement in the recognition and guarantee of women’s rights, as well as a
crucial step forward towards a modern gender-based approach for rehabilitation andreintegration of women offenders. The Rules also provide for the involvement of
non-governmental organizations in the design and implementation of pre- and post-release
reintegration programmes and extend the gender perspective to activities of capacity-building
for staff employed in women’s prisons. Furthermore, they advocate the application of
non-custodial measures for women offenders, particularly girl children in conflict with thelaw; reiterate the need to avoid institutionalization to the maximum extent possible for girlchildren in conflict with the law; and recognize the obligation to take into account thegender-based vulnerability of juvenile female offenders in all decision-making processes.
9. The first section (rules 1-39) of the Rules includes the rules of general application such asadmission, allocation, registration, gender-specific health-care services and programmes. The
second section (rules 40-56) refers to special categories of women and juvenile prisoners,
addressing classification and individualization, gender-sensitive risks assessment, special carefor women victims of violence or with a history of drug abuse, pregnant women, foreign
nationals and minorities and indigenous peoples, and prisoners under arrest or awaiting trial.
The third section (rules 57-66) entails non-custodial sanctions and measures, underlining theneed for developing gender-specific options for diversionary measures and pretrial andsentencing alternatives; while the fourth section (rules 67-70) deals with the promotion ofcomprehensive and result-oriented research on the reasons, impact, and characteristics thatforce women to confront the criminal justice system.
10. Violence against women has an impact on women’s contact with the criminal justicesystem and such violence may be a cause of women’s involvement in criminal offences andsubsequent imprisonment. With a view to assisting countries to strengthen their crime
prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women, in December 2010 theGeneral Assembly adopted the updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the
Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice, 11 which represent a comprehensive framework to assist States to eliminate violenceagainst women and to promote equality between men and women within the criminal justicesystem. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures provide a series of broad
recommendations organized around the following themes: criminal law; criminal procedure;police, prosecutors and other criminal justice officials; sentencing and corrections; victim
support and assistance; health and social services; training; research and evaluation; crime
11

General Assembly resolution 65/228, annex.

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prevention measures; and international cooperation. It should be highlighted that this
instrument specifically provides that in cases where women and girl victims of violence arecharged with crimes, relevant national criminal procedure laws should ensure that claims ofself-defence by women who have been victims of violence, particularly in cases of “batteredwoman syndrome”, are taken into account in investigations, prosecutions and sentences
against them. 12

B. Children in conflict with the law

11. In the Salvador Declaration on Comprehensive Strategies for Global Challenges: Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice Systems and Their Development in a Changing World,13
adopted by the Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,Member States recognized the importance of preventing youth crime, supporting therehabilitation of young offenders and their reintegration into society, protecting child victims
and witnesses, including efforts to prevent their revictimization, and addressing the needs ofchildren of prisoners.
12. All interventions aimed at children in conflict with the justice system should abide strictlyby the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 14 and otherrelevant international standards and norms. The Convention sets out the key principles that
apply to, and should be reflected in, a juvenile justice system, as well as specific due process
guarantees. Articles 37, 39 and 40 of the Convention pertain to children’s rights with respect
to juvenile justice and, more generally, the criminal justice system as a whole. Other articlesof the Convention set out the four leading principles that must be taken into account inaddressing the situation of children in conflict with the law, namely, (a) the principle ofnon-discrimination, irrespective of a child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin,property, disability, birth or other status (art. 2 of the Convention); (b) the best interest of thechild, which should be a primary consideration in all matters affecting the child (art. 3); (c)the child’s right to survival and development (art. 6); and (d) the right of the child toparticipate in decisions affecting him or her, and in particular, to be provided the opportunity
to be heard in any judicial or administrative proceedings affecting him or her (art. 12).
13. The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires States to promote the establishment oflaws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as,
accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law (art. 40, para. 3, of theConvention). This provision is regarded as imposing a progressive requirement upon States toestablish a juvenile justice system which takes into account the child’s age and provides
human rights and legal safeguards and to establish alternatives to judicial proceedings.
Furthermore, the Convention requires States to establish a juvenile justice system with due
process guarantees to be applied to all children under the age of 18 who are in conflict withthe law; the system should promote the child’s reintegration and help the child to assume a12

Battered woman syndrome is suffered by women who, because of repeated violent acts by an intimate partner,
may suffer depression and are unable to take any independent action that would allow them to escape the abuse,including refusing to press charges or to accept offers of support (see para. 15 (k), including the footnote
thereto), of the updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Womenin the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
13
General Assembly resolution 65/230, annex.
14
Adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989; entered into force on 2
September 1990.

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constructive role in society (art. 40, para. 1). The Committee on the Rights of the Child, 15 in
its general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice, 16 explains theneed for a general and comprehensive policy of protecting the rights of children in conflictwith the law based on the principles of the doctrine of comprehensive protection taking a
restorative and educational approach, as it provides the best conditions for effective social
rehabilitation and reintegration, preventing the recurrence of the behaviour. The Committee
also analyses the necessity of specialized justice and treatment for children in conflict withthe law to respect the principle of the best interests of the child.
14. The international normative framework related to children in conflict with the law alsobuilds upon a series of United Nations standards and norms adopted throughout the years.
15. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice(the Beijing Rules) 17 represent the internationally accepted minimum conditions for thetreatment of children who come in conflict with the law. They contain specific provisions
covering various stages of juvenile justice and stress that placement of a child in conflict withthe law in an institution shall always be a measure of last resort and be for the shortest
appropriate period of time. The United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile
Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) 18 set forth standards for the prevention of crimes
committed by children. They have a child-centred orientation and are based on the premisethat it is necessary to offset conditions that adversely influence and impinge on the healthy
development of the child. The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprivedof their Liberty, 19 which advocate the least possible use of deprivation of liberty, provide
specific principles that apply to all children in conflict with the law held in any form ofdetention and in any type of facility. They call for the separation of children from adults indetention and the classification of children according to their sex, age, personality andoffence type. They also set forth special provisions covering various aspects of institutional
life. Finally, the 1997 Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System 20
were adopted with the aim of implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child with regard to children in the context of the administration of juvenile justice andpromoting the use and application of relevant standards and norms.
16. The Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against
Children in the field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, recently adopted, aim at
improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in preventing and responding toviolence against children and of protecting children against any violence that may result fromtheir contact with that system. The Model Strategies are grouped into three broad categories:(a) general prevention strategies to address violence against children as part of broader childprotection initiatives; (b) strategies and measures to improve the criminal justice system’sability to respond to violence against children and effectively protect child victims; and (c)strategies and measures to prevent and respond to violence against children in contact withthe justice system. They place a strong focus on the complementary roles of the justicesystem on the one hand, and the child protection, social welfare, health and education sectors,
15

Established pursuant to article 43 of the Convention to monitor progress made by States parties in
implementing their obligations under the Convention.
16
CRC/C/GC/10.
17
General Assembly resolution 40/33, annex.
18
General Assembly resolution 45/112, annex.
19
General Assembly resolution 45/113, annex.
20
Economic and Social Council resolution 1997/30, annex.

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on the other, in creating a protective environment and in preventing and responding toviolence against children.
17. Finally, the Bangkok Rules adopted special positive measures for children’s rights in thefollowing areas: (a) children admitted with their mothers in prison, (b) children that are about
to be born (pregnant mothers), (c) breastfed children/infants, (d) children of imprisoned
mothers/children visiting prisoners, (e) children living with a non-resident foreign-national
woman prisoner, and (f) girl children in conflict with the law.

III. Meeting the unique needs of women and children, inparticular treatment and social reintegration: national
experiences
A. Women prisoners

18. Even before the adoption of the Bangkok Rules in 2010, Thailand had been committed toaddressing the specific needs of women in prisons and mitigating the impact on their families
and children through the implementation of the Kamlangjai project, which provided
assistance and opportunities to female prisoners while in prison and to those about to bereleased, and of the “Enhancing lives of female inmates” project aimed at raising thestandards for the treatment of female prisoners. 21 Currently, Thailand is engaged in ensuring
the widest use and application of the Bangkok Rules at the national level. In that framework,in March 2013 the Thai judiciary decided to apply the Bangkok Rules in court trials
nationwide, 22 particularly with regard to their provisions related to alternatives toimprisonment. The Thailand Institute of Justice, in cooperation with Penal Reform
International, launched the Toolbox on the United Nations Bangkok Rules, which includes a
guidance document and index of implementation, a short guide to the Bangkok Rules, a free
online course entitled “Women in detention: putting the United Nations Bangkok Rules inpractice”, and a guide to gender-sensitive monitoring of women in detention. 23
19. In Afghanistan, a project run by the non-governmental organization Medica Afghanistanoffers general legal advice to women and provides female prisoners with criminal defence incourt. Since the project began, some 8,000 women have benefited from mediation, legal
advice or criminal defence in court. About 2,000 women facing a court case were acquitted or
received a sentence lower than what the State prosecutors had demanded thanks to theassistance provided in court. 24 In Kyrgyzstan, as part of the project entitled “Support toprison reform in the Kyrgyz Republic”, jointly implemented by the European Commission
and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in the female prison in
Stepnoe village a course on soy milk production as an income-generating activity was set up
for women prisoners. Furthermore, UNODC provided support to the research project
conducted by Penal Reform International entitled “Who are women prisoners? Survey results
21

Nathee Chitsawang, “Key issues of women prisoners: lessons learned from Thai prisons”, in Annual Reportfor 2012 and Resource Material Series No. 90 (Tokyo, Asia and Far East Institute for the Preparation of Crimeand the Treatment of Offenders, August 2013), part two, Work Product of the 153rd International Senior
Seminar “Treatment of Female Offenders”,
pp. 106-118.
22
www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Bangkok-Rules-for-women-convicts-30202577.html.
23
Available at www.penalreform.org/priorities/women-in-the-criminal-justice-system/
bangkok-rules-2/tools-resources/.
24
Further information is available at www.wunrn.com.

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from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan”.
20. In Nigeria, the Kirikiri prison in Lagos is implementing a project on preventing
HIV/AIDS among female prisoners based on the following elements:(a) the organization of peer education training to raise awareness of the prevention of
HIV/AIDS among prisoners and prison personnel who act as caregivers;(b) the development, production and distribution of material to raise awareness;(c)the holding of pre- and post-test counselling sessions for prisoners and prison personnel;(d) the provision of relief materials for infected mothers and their babies; and (e) the
provision of drugs to infected prisoners. 25 In Sierra Leone, the non-governmentalorganization AdvocAid has produced a handbook on the Bangkok Rules to assist prison
officials, prisoners and civil society in promoting the enforcement of human rights
standards for girls, women and their children in the criminal justice system. 26
21. One of the interesting experiences in prison management and administration in the Latin
American and Caribbean region is the New Model of Prison Management in the Dominican
Republic, which covers 18 prisons: 14 for men and 4 for women. The self-assessment of the
new Model noted the following results: a zero illiteracy rate after six months; inmates wereactively participating in educational programmes and work, spiritual, sport and artistic
activities; prisoners had access to computer schoolrooms in all centres and no cases ofovercrowding; and well-trained and motivated prison staff at all levels. The Model is basedon strict compliance with the international standards and norms related to the treatment ofprisoners, including the Bangkok Rules, and other important elements such as mandatory
participation in educational and rehabilitation programmes.
22. Under the framework of a UNODC project on prison reform, Panama has achieved
significant results for the treatment of women prisoners. First, an inter-institutional working
group to improve conditions for female prisoners was established. Then, a specialized
programme focusing on the female inmates, designed in line with the Bangkok Rules, wasimplemented, and a special informative pamphlet for female inmates was prepared.
Regarding education and training, the University of Panama opened a branch inside thefemale prison in Panama City, and more than 60 inmates are currently participating indifferent university studies. Furthermore, the number and the quality of reintegration
activities for women have increased, including through new productive projects such as one
on hydroponics. Prison staff have received gender and human rights training, and UNODC
prepared an online self-paced course based on its Handbook on Women and Imprisonment.27
Several lessons can be learned from the implementation of this project. First, the project
showed that, because women make up a small percentage of the prison population andbecause the women prisoners rarely caused major incidents or problems, it was not easy forthe authorities and prison staff to immediately see the importance of developing specificprogrammes and services for women prisoners. Second, the establishment of an
25

For more information, see: www.wunrn.com/news/2012/01_12/01_16/011612_women2.htm.
For more information, see: www.advocaidsl.com/2011/12/09/advocaid-and-giz-producehandbook-on-unstandards-for-the-treatment-of-female-prisoners/.
27
Handbook on Women Imprisonment, Criminal Justice Handbook Series (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.14.IV.5).
26- 12 -

inter-institutional working group was an excellent way to address female prisoners’ problems
and needs through a holistic and integrated approach. Further, a crucial element for the
success of the project was the active involvement of the women prisoners in the design of the
programmes and workshops. Likewise, it was crucial to work with female prisoners andprison staff in parallel so that prison staff would not feel that their own needs were notrecognized or addressed. Finally, the successful implementation of the project also relied on
the sharing of information about offences committed by women and prison conditions for
women to sensitize criminal justice agents and community.
23. In Brazil, the Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the Federal Prison Department, hasestablished specialized schools for prison staff and postgraduate courses on prison
management with a gender perspective. In Ecuador, on the basis of the country’s Constitution,indigenous women have developed their own “rules for living together well”, in line withindigenous justice principles, addressing the rehabilitation and reintegration of women
offenders and children in conflict with the law. The rules ensure that no violence anddiscrimination will be used when exercising indigenous justice. In Haiti, the International
Committee of the Red Cross, working in cooperation with the national prison administration,
has just completed a new custody area in the civilian prison in the southern city of Les Cayes,
one of the most overcrowded detention facilities in the country, where more than 600 people,
including around 30 women, are being held. The new custody area had to be built as a matterof priority to give women the protection they required because of their special needs. The two
new cells will accommodate some 30 women and will be equipped with renovated sanitaryfacilities and an improved electrical and air circulation system. 28
24. After the adoption of the Bangkok Rules, several initiatives have been taken at theEuropean level to bring relevant policies, strategies, programmes and training in line with the
new instrument. In 2011, the Inspector of Prisons of Ireland published supplementary
documentation to give guidance to the prison services on best practices for the managementof women’s prisons. In 2012, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelanddeveloped and issued new criteria to evaluate conditions and improve the management of
women’s prisons; 29 while the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services(EuroPris) has started to organize workshops on “Education and training for values-driven
work: future concepts” and on gender, for prison staff. The programme “Education for
women offenders” has been successful in Europe. In Slovenia, women prisoners, who are few
in number, have the possibility of attending programmes at outside educational institutions,and the national system provides educational opportunities for each prisoner according to herneeds and wishes. In the Czech Republic, education for prisoners is guaranteed only to theend of the primary school level, while in Estonia education goes up to the secondary schoollevel. In Belgium, in response to the need to offer to women prisoners a type of security
system already in use with male prisoners, the first open prison for women will open in 2016,
with room for 100 female prisoners.
25. In the light of the need to develop gender-specific programmes and measures in prisons toensure equal access and equal rights for all prisoners, the European Institute for Crime
Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, and the Scientific Institute of the
28

International Committee of the Red Cross, “Haiti: new custody area for women in Les Cayes prison”, 21 May
2014. Available at www.icrc.org/.
29
Caroline Pradier, “Penal reform and gender: update on the Bangkok Rules”, in Gender and Security Sector
Reform Toolkit, annex, Megan Bastick and Kristin Valasek, eds. (Geneva, Geneva Centre for Democratic
Control of Armed Forces, 2008).

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Medical Association of German Doctors launched the project “STRONG: Capacity-building
on female prisoners with a history of violence and abuse” to identify existing European
programmes and practices addressing women in prison who have experienced childhood,
intimate partner or other forms of physical and sexual violence. The project has been
implemented in Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Scotland. Based on the inputs
gathered, a training programme for prison staff was developed with the aim of helping staff tobetter meet the needs of female prisoners who have experienced violence. In October 2012, a
national seminar and three prison training sessions were organized in Finland in cooperation
with the Training Institute for Prison and Probation Services to pilot the training material.
26. In the United States of America, in 2011 the organization Greenhope opened in New
York City the Kandake House, a community residential facility that enables women offenders
to carry out their sentence while remaining with their children. The facility can house up to
72 women, including 28 women with children, and takes a holistic, dynamic and flexible
approach to the care of women offenders. It has an alumnae association of women who havesuccessfully ended their involvement with the criminal justice system and can guide others.
The recidivism rate among women assisted by Greenhope is less than 10 per cent, while therate of successful parole completion is around 75 per cent, and the rate of job placement is 65
per cent. 30 In Australia, several good practices are in place in the management of the healthof women prisoners, including the establishment of a dedicated facility in New South Walesfor women with complex psychological issues. The facility provides the following services:
provision for the timely and relevant health screening (i.e., breast checks, cervical screening
and ultrasound scans); drug-free units; attending to the specific nutritional needs for women
who report being pregnant and/or lactating; and a broad range of on-site medical services
such as general medical assistance and psychiatry, dental, optical, podiatry and mental healthassistance during imprisonment and upon release. 31
27. States have taken different approaches to the issue of children whose mothers are theprimary carers. In Poland and Spain, prisons have special units to allow pregnant women andmothers to stay with their children under the age of three. Similarly, in Kyrgyzstan, women
who were incarcerated while pregnant can keep their young children with them until the ageof three. Germany allows mothers to have their children with them in prison until the childreaches the age of six years, while Argentina and Italy allow for house arrest if certain
conditions are met. Furthermore, Italy offers an alternative work programme for mothers withchildren under the age of 10 years. In Canada, a judge of the British Columbia Supreme
Court, in December 2013, ruled that imprisoned mothers have the constitutional right to carefor their newborn babies. The decision came as a result of a lawsuit brought by two former
inmates on behalf of all women incarcerated in the province, and the suit centred on a
programme for mothers of newborn babies at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in
Maple Ridge, which was cancelled by the government of British Columbia in 2008. The court
ruled that the decision was unconstitutional because it would separate mothers and babies
during a critical bonding period. 32

B. Children in conflict with the law

28. Several lessons can be learned from the UNODC experience in improving detention
conditions and the reintegration of child offenders. Good practices include, in particular, the30

Further information is available at www.greenhope.org.
L. Bartels and A. Gaffney, Good Practice in Women’s Prisons: A Literature Review (Canberra,
Australian Institute of Criminology, 2011).
32
For further information, see www.cbc.ca/1.2466516.
31- 14 -

adoption of a holistic approach and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders byfacilitating coordination and collaboration between international, regional and national actors,
including civil society organizations.
29. In its work to support the juvenile justice system in Jordan, UNODC partnered with
non-governmental organizations which organized rehabilitation programmes for children inthree juvenile centres together with staff training programmes. This partnership allowed all
stakeholders to benefit from the expertise and prior experience of the non-governmentalorganizations in implementing similar projects in the country and helped to avoid pitfalls andincrease efficiency. In Lebanon, UNODC supported the setting-up of a Youth Department in
the Ministry of Justice and the strengthening of the prison administration for juveniles. The
involvement of a wide range of partners was crucial to achieve results, starting with a detailed
assessment of the existing situation, to legislative reform, followed by information andawareness campaigns, training programmes and study tours. A key lesson learned withrespect to coordination and ownership was that various decrees, ministerial decisions andorders adopted by relevant national stakeholders contributed to the project’s implementation.
The participation of selected qualified adult prisoners in the rehabilitation programmes ofyoung offenders not only contributed to the development of vocational training for juvenile
detainees but also led to improved detention conditions of the adults concerned and opened
up possibilities for introducing rehabilitation programmes for other adult prisoners. In Egypt,
UNODC supported a juvenile correctional institution in the Marg area of Cairo, facilitating
vocational and literacy training and setting up a cinema club, a barber shop, a gymnasium, acomputer lab and a sports facility. The project reduced violence among children in detention
and improved relationships with social workers. The project also improved the capacities ofsocial workers to better handle difficult personalities and rehabilitation problems, andcontributed to more positive attitudes towards social rehabilitation among public officials. A
holistic implementation approach resulted in an integrated development model for thedetention conditions covering both social and physical aspects. Coordination was equallycrucial to the success of the project. The participation of all parties involved, including
officials from the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Interior, correctional
personnel, the children and youth in detention and UNODC, in conducting the assessment
study was crucial in identifying the appropriate rehabilitation activities to improve thedetention conditions. Effective coordination was achieved by placing the implementation of
relevant activities under the authority of the Ministry of Social Security, while theparticipation of the Ministry of Interior in the planning and implementation of activities
contributed to changing the attitudes of its personnel towards the social rehabilitation
component.
30. Work by UNODC on the reform of the juvenile justice system in Afghanistan has
highlighted the need to take the cultural context seriously. By training local trainers in Kabul,a group was formed of competent nationals, who could deliver the knowledge and skills they
had gained to the trainees in their own language. Given the language proximity and similarity
in cultural backgrounds, that resulted in a better understanding among trainees and easieraccess to new ideas.
31. Other important lessons can be drawn from the experiences of other countries that havedeveloped and implemented innovative approaches to the issues of treatment andrehabilitation/reintegration of children in conflict with the law. Albania, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Turkey and Ukraine, for example, have established police juvenile reception
centres, which have a broad range of functions, including temporary detention or shelter for- 15 -

runaway children suspected of offending and illegal migrants under the age of 18. In
Bangladesh, a local non-governmental organization, Aparajeyo-Bangladesh, promotes
alternatives to pretrial detention in selected districts through its juvenile justice project. In
that framework, social workers regularly visit target police stations to monitor children in
conflict with the law and negotiate the release of children from police stations. The legal
advisor and panel of lawyers represent the children in court and advocate for the release of
the child on bail. In some cases, Aparajeyo provides funding for a bail bond if the child’s
parents cannot be located or cannot afford to pay. In 2000, India introduced a partnershipapproach for the management of children’s institutions. One of the best examples is the
Prayas Observation Home for Boys in Delhi. Prayas, a local non-governmental organization,
made significant changes to the facility in Delhi, making it less prison-like and morechild-friendly. Prayas has a team of counsellors and probation officers that assess the children
and conduct family tracing and family reunification. All children participate in education andvocational training and regularly take part in recreational and cultural activities. In Nepal, thenational police and the United Nations Children’s Fund have developed an innovative
juvenile justice training programme for officers who are to be assigned to the newly createdjuvenile police units. The programme is practical, rather than theoretical, focusing on the coreskills, procedures and tasks that police need to know to deal with a child offender in achild-friendly way. Using case studies, the training programme encourages police trainees tofollow special procedures and to develop solutions within the national context for theprotection of children.
32. In South Africa, with regard to child offenders, the innovative one-stop Child JusticeCentres prevent young people from being pushed from service to service and thereby getting
lost in the system. The Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 envisages that one-stop Child JusticeCentres will be established to streamline the entire justice process, from arrest to the formal
court process. In Zambia, as part of the development of the Arrest, Reception and Referral
Services centres, officials have received training in South Africa on a fairly wide andintensive basis, with the assumption that they would implement the training in the pilot
projects. In Malawi, the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act states that the officer incharge of the police station has the power to caution and discharge a child offender with orwithout conditions. This may happen only if the offence committed was not serious, if there
is sufficient evidence to prosecute the child, and if the child voluntarily admits responsibility
for the offence.

IV. Conclusions and recommendations

33. Member States ought to act with due diligence to prevent, respond to, protect against andprovide redress for all forms of gender-based violence. As this type of violence has an impact
on the incarceration rate of women, by acting with due diligence in preventing andresponding to gender-based violence, Member States can significantly contribute to reducing
the number of women offenders and prisoners. In addition, Member States should endeavour
to address the structural causes that contribute to women’s incarceration as well as the root
causes and the risk factors related to crime and victimization. Likewise, Member States havean obligation to protect the rights of children in conflict with the law and ensure that they are
deprived of their liberty only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time.33
Member States must protect the human rights and best interests of children, as called for in33

See article 37 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and rule 13.1 of the Beijing Rules. See also
A/CONF.222/RPM.1/1, para. 26; A/CONF.222/RPM.2/1, para. 16; and A/CONF.222/RPM.4/1, para. 23.

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the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols thereto, 34 and in otherrelevant United Nations standards and norms.
34. In addition to respecting the provisions of the international human rights framework,
primarily the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Womenand the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is important that States address in an
integrated and holistic way the close interrelation between gender stereotypes, violence,
discrimination and the needs of women offenders and children in conflict with the law,guaranteeing their full reinsertion into society and the prevention of recidivism. That requires
a range of strategies including providing active support, training and assistance to local actors
and consulting and cooperating with prison staff in order to adapt policies and strategies tolocal needs.
35. The Bangkok Rules constitute an important achievement in providing a gender-based
response to the needs of women offenders and prisoners. Since their adoption, several
countries have adopted strategies, policies and programmes in line with this instrument, andefforts have been made to foster their use and application in the design and implementation ofpenal policies. The national experiences provide some general, key lessons upon which
Member States can draw in meeting the needs of women prisoners.
36. First, it is crucial to recognize that even if women prisoners represent a minority of theprison population, they do have special needs that must be catered for. Secondly, it isimportant that policymakers and relevant authorities recognize that in many cases women
who enter in contact with the criminal justice system are not violent offenders but that manyof them are victims of mental and/or psychological abuse. Therefore, as advocated by the
Bangkok Rules, national legal systems should provide for a proper system of gender-specificalternatives to sentencing for women offenders, particularly for pregnant women and womenwith child-care responsibilities, and should recognize women’s histories of victimization
when making decisions about incarceration. It is also crucial that countries address the
structural causes that contribute to the incarceration of women, as well as the root causes andrisk factors related to crime and victimization through social, economic, health, educationaland justice policies. Furthermore, it is vital to equip women prisoners, both from an economic
and an educational perspective, with skills that facilitate their reintegration into society after
release, thus preventing recidivism. It should also be recognized that specific policy guidanceon how to deal with foreign women prisoners should be developed, as they face additional
problems, including receiving fewer visits and less support from their relatives, difficulties inunderstanding the local language or adapting to the local culture, and being uninformed ofwhat is happening to their families while they are awaiting trial or serving a sentence abroad.
37. With regard to the treatment and social reintegration of children in conflict with the law,countries should recognize the need to integrate children’s issues in their overall rule of law
efforts, to pay particular attention to the issue of child justice and to take into consideration
applicable United Nations standards and norms for the treatment of children in conflict withthe law, particularly those who are deprived of liberty, and child victims and witnesses ofcrime, taking into account the gender, social circumstances and development needs of suchchildren.
38. Nowadays, there are several good practices for the treatment and reintegration of children,
34

United Nations, Treaty Series, vols. 1577, 2171 and 2173, No. 27531.

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in particular the adoption of a holistic approach and the involvement of all relevant
stakeholders. The experience of countries also indicates that not enough attention has been
given to the problem of girls in conflict with the law as, traditionally, the number of cases
was not large. Therefore, their particular needs had not been sufficiently attended to prior to
the adoption of the Bangkok Rules. Greater attention needs to be given to incorporating agender perspective in the implementation of all goals set in the Bangkok Rules for juvenile
female offenders. In particular, Member States should make sure that a broad range ofalternative and educative measures are available at the pre-arrest, pretrial, trial and post-trial
stages, in order to prevent recidivism and promote the social rehabilitation of female juvenile
offenders. Applying mechanisms for the informal resolution of disputes is crucial. In all thesedecision-making processes, not only the family but also the child should be involved, to theextent that such processes operate in favour of the best interest of the child offender. The
principle of minimum intervention must be respected at all times. Furthermore, in recognitionof the consideration that no crime prevention or criminal justice reform strategy is complete
without effective measures to address the problem of recidivism, it is important that acomprehensive strategy addressing children in conflict with the law takes into accounteffective social integration or reintegration programmes as essential means of preventing
recidivism and increasing public safety.
39. The experience of the past years indicates that one of the most important developments inaddressing the challenges of crime prevention and criminal justice has been the recognition of
the role played by civil society and the relevance of community involvement. Throughout theyears, community involvement has played a critical role in promoting the United Nations
standards and norms in support of an effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justicesystem. Community involvement approaches reduce opportunities for crime andvictimization, promote a proactive problem-solving approach to local crime problems, andsupport social reintegration to women offenders and children in conflict with the law during
their phase of re-entry into society, as well as the period starting from prosecution up to therelease stage.
40. Effective efforts to address today’s challenges in crime prevention and criminal justice,which take into account the particular vulnerabilities and risk factors for crime and thevictimization of women and children, require effective partnerships among internationalorganizations, Governments and civil society organizations, including indigenous and local
communities, local and national governments, the business community, academia and theprivate sector. Nowadays, several community-based rehabilitation programmes have beendeveloped based on mobilizing civil society for supporting valid initiatives of reintegration
programmes for women offenders and children in conflict with the law. 35 Similarly, theinvolvement of the general public and the community in campaigns and relevant training
programmes is crucial to combat attitudes that assign women and girls an inferior status andlegitimize discrimination and violence against them, to dispel negative stereotypes on women
offenders and children in conflict with the law and to systematize awareness-raising
campaigns on zero tolerance for violence against women.
41. Furthermore, creating a non-discriminatory environment for women offenders andchildren in conflict with the law requires strengthened political commitment, leadership andintensive training for the professionals involved. Efforts should be made to ensure that35

See UNODC, Introductory Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of
Offenders, Criminal Justice Handbook Series (Vienna, 2012).

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relevant staff are carefully selected, trained and supervised. Likewise, authorities mustencourage and recognize staff, particularly female staff, by establishing a gender responsive
promotion policy.
42. In conclusion, bearing in mind the objective to meet the unique needs of women andchildren, in a more effective, fair and humane manner, pursuant to the relevant United
Nations standards and norms, the Workshop may wish to consider the following
recommendations:(a) Member States should recognize the special needs of women and children as victims ofviolence and criminalize all forms of violence against women and children;(b) Member States should consider developing and implementing policies and measures toprotect victims, prevent the re-victimization of women and children and ensure reparation,in accordance with the requirements of due diligence;(c) Member States should adopt relevant policies and measures for women offenders andchildren in conflict with the law in line with the Bangkok Rules and relevant United
Nations standards and norms applicable to the administration of justice for children;(d) Member States should promote the use of alternative measures to judicial proceedings,
such as diversion and restorative justice, both for women and children offenders. The
attention of civil society and the media should be drawn to the importance and relevanceof using alternatives to imprisonment in the case of children;(e) Building on the successful outcomes of restorative justice programmes in some countries,
Member States should ensure that more resources are invested in programmes that have a
proven impact in reducing recidivism;(f) Member States should share information on good practices to reintegrate ex-prisoners andchildren who have been released from detention facilities into society and to build thecapacity of correctional officers and child detention centre personnel with regard torehabilitation and social reintegration approaches;(g) Member States should support awareness-raising and public participation in theidentification of solutions to prison overcrowding and effective measures for the social
reintegration and rehabilitation of offenders;(h) Member States should prioritize unrestricted access for all women and children deprivedof their liberty to the various levels of formal education and should offer incentives topersons who studied while deprived of their liberty;(i) Member States should recognize that education for incarcerated women must take into
account their specific conditions and situation which are often consequences of poverty
and/or their family situation. Furthermore, the presence of babies and children in prisonsmust be taken into account so as to ensure that education includes not only women but
addresses also the developmental needs of their children;- 19 -

(j) Member States should ensure that relevant training for women and child offenders takes
into consideration their individual capacities and vocations, as well as market demand. In
this regard, partnerships with the private sector should be pursued;(k) Member States should develop rehabilitation and social reinsertion activities andprogrammes for girls deprived of their liberty which are not based on traditional,
gender-biased occupations.
(l) Recognizing the specific problem of foreign women prisoners, who are at a particulardisadvantage for a number of reasons, Member States should be encouraged to develop
policy guidance on how to deal with such cases in line with the provisions of the Bangkok
Rules. Particular attention should be paid to the situation of women migrants held incustody, typically on administrative grounds, who are either asylum-seekers or irregularimmigrants awaiting adjudication of their claims;(m) Member States should consider establishing appropriate mechanisms to ensure prompt
access to justice for women and children held as suspects;(n) Member States should ensure compliance with the principle that the deprivation of libertyof children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate
period of time, as well as avoid, wherever possible, the use of pretrial detention forchildren, and provide support and services for children deprived of their liberty prior toand after release in order to promote their rehabilitation and reintegration into thecommunity;(o) Member States should recognize the specific challenges of dealing with unaccompanied
migrant children and should develop appropriate criminal justice strategies in line withexisting international instruments;(p) Likewise, Member States should recognize the specific challenges of responding tocrimes committed by minors against minors and should develop appropriate criminal
justice strategies in line with existing international instruments;(q) Member States should establish within the juvenile criminal justice system specialized
positions for judges, prosecutors and public defenders who are duly qualified in theadministration of sentences.
43. Furthermore, the Workshop may wish to consider the following additional
recommendations:(a) The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice should be invited to complete
the revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, inaccordance with existing mandates;(b) UNODC should facilitate, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights and its National Institutions Unit, a worldwide
dissemination of the Bangkok Rules, produce gender-sensitive tools for the monitoring ofprisons worldwide and facilitate the collection of data on prisoners disaggregated bygender;- 20 -

(c) UNODC should, in cooperation with relevant partners, conduct a global study on thestatus of children deprived of their liberty with a view to informing international andnational policymakers on global trends and patterns with respect to the size and thecharacteristics of the phenomenon and to developing and implementing appropriate
measures;(d) UNODC should provide comprehensive technical assistance, upon request by Member
States, on how to reintegrate into society women and children who are deprived of theirliberty.

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