Project profile — Women and prisons: a gender-sensitive approach

• Togolese Republic (12.50%)
• Rwanda (12.50%)
• Panama (12.50%)
• Mexico (12.50%)
• Morocco (12.50%)
• South Africa (12.50%)
• Maldives (12.50%)
• Brazil (12.50%)

• Government And Civil Society, General: Human rights (15160) (100.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)

This project supports increasing the protection of women against torture and ill-treatment in the criminal justice systems in 8 priority countries. Project activities include: (1) developing and conducting gender-sensitive monitoring capacity-building programs for independent oversight institutions; (2) providing technical advice to independent oversight institutions on gathering and analyzing data with a gender-sensitive approach; (3) working with independent oversight institutions in developing a framework to analyze law and policy relating to gender-sensitive criminal justice systems; (4) supporting independent oversight institutions in developing and undertaking awareness-raising campaigns on risks to women in detention and alternatives to detention for women; and (5) engaging with judicial and legal actors and the public on the need to address the risks to women in detention and to implement alternatives to detention.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) strengthened ability of independent oversight institutions to influence policies and laws based on accurate and reliable data on women in contact with criminal justice systems in priority countries; and (2) increased ability of criminal justice actors to prevent risky practices leading to torture and ill-treatment of women in criminal justice systems, including the implementation of alternative measures to detention in priority countries.

Results achieved as of February 2025 include: (1) officials of 76 national independent oversight institutions reported an improvement in their skills in applying a gender-sensitive monitoring approach; (2) international and regional bodies and their members released 11 public statements, showing their commitment towards protecting women in criminal justice systems; (3) 52 national and local independent oversight institutions from 46 countries cooperated with the Association of the prevention of torture on the Global Report on women in prison. They contributed specific findings, recommendations, or reports; (4) 17 national and local independent oversight institutions engaged with families of detainees and other relevant associations; and (5) 200 civil society organization representatives learned about the national independent oversight institutions’ mandate.

• Proactive disclosure