About Bangkok Rules
The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial
Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules)
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 21 December 2010, is the first international
instrument which provides specific and detailed guidelines on responding to the
gender specific needs of women in the criminal justice system, as well as of the children
of such women. After the adoption, Thailand, along with many other countries, international
organizations and criminal justice agencies working with women, place a strong emphasis
on putting these Rules into practice.
The concept of the UN Bangkok Rules stands on the principle that women prisoners and offenders have a different profile of risks and needs from their male counterparts. As women prisoners are not the majority population in the criminal justice system throughout the world, correctional facilities as well as treatment programmes in prison in many countries are likely to be designed for male inmates. As a result, most correctional facilities do not effectively respond to gender sensitivity of women prisoners such as hygiene and health care, children with mothers in prison, etc.
The change in the composition of the prison population in the past decades has highlighted the shortcomings in almost all prison systems in meeting the gender-specific needs of women prisoners. With the increase of the female prisoner population worldwide, there is a need to bring more clarity togender responsive treatment of women prisoners and ways in which their needs should be addressed in prison.
The “United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders” is not intended to give undue attention to the needs of women prisoners over those of men but to create gender equality in treatment. These Rules are not intended to replace the 1955 Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR), but rather to create an internationally accepted point of reference on the treatment of women prisoners for prison authorities worldwide, especially in relation to gender differences and unmet needs of women. Additionally, the Rules are not intended to grant women prisoners more privileges or better treatment than those of their male counterparts but to narrow the gap that exists so that the specific needs of women prisoners can be fulfilled.
The implementation of the Bangkok Rules is regarded as an addition to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs) 1955 and United Nations Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) that would ensure that the treatment of women prisoners and non-custodial measures for women offenders is carried out with dignity and preserves their human rights as much as possible.
The Bangkok Rules primarily focuses on gender sensitive issues and the specific needs of women. The text was developed based on numerous research studies on the treatment of women prisoners in many countries, including a number of related international standards. In order to cover the issues of female offenders and the appropriate treatment of women prisoners, including opportunities for communities to be involved in rehabilitation, the Bangkok Rules are divided into four parts as follows:
Part 1 - Rules of General Application cover the general management of all categories of institutions involved with women deprived of their liberty, including criminal or civil cases, untried or convicted women prisoners, as well as women subject to security measures or corrective measures;
Part 2 - Rules Applicable to Special Categories relate to the classification and treatment of special categories of inmates; for example, inmates who have been victims of violence, pregnant inmates, and ethnic and racial minorities or indigenous inmates. This part is separated into two sub-sections, namely Section A: Prisoners under Sentence, and Section B: Prisoners under Arrest or Awaiting Trial. The Rules in Section A are equally applicable to prisoners dealt with under section B, provided they do not conflict with the rules governing that category of women and are for their benefit;
Part 3 - Non-custodial Sanctions and Measures apply to women offenders who have committed petty offences and whose physical condition makes imprisonment inappropriate or inadvisable. These women include young female offenders and pregnant women who are covered under Section 2 of the Rules from the time of investigation through to post-sentencing.
Part 4 - Research, Planning, Evaluation and Public Awareness aims to encourage research into the behavior of women that often lead to their becoming offenders. This may include the impact of imprisonment of their mother or both parents on the physical and psychological development of children. In addition, there needs to be activities that will reduce the possibility of repeated offences which is a part of rehabilitation. Knowledge of these activities should be made known to the public with the help of mass-media agencies.
Thailand and the Bangkok Rules
The road towards the inauguration of UN Bangkok Rules originated under the strong royal patronage and leadership of HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha who has a keen interest in women and children involved in the Thai criminal justice system. Her desire to push forward the UN Bangkok Rules started when she visited female prisoners and children with mothers at the Central Women Correctional Institute in Bangkok in July 2001 and witnessed those women’s deprived lives behind bars. Her strong inspiration to help this specific group of women and children was carried out through various projects under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand.
The Kamlangjai Project, literally translated from Thai as ‘inspire’, was the first project launched on the 31st October 2006. The project aims to provide moral support, basic healthcare, and opportunities for women prisoners in Thailand, both while serving sentences and after their release, with a view to returning them back to society as good citizens, minimizing their chance of re-offending, and raising public awareness about giving a second chance to female ex-offenders.
In 2008, Thailand presented the Kamlangjai Project at the 17th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) in Vienna; the level of support from various countries was encouraging.With the outstanding success of the existing Kamlangjai Project, the Ministry of Justice of Thailand launched another project, namely, Enhancing Lives of Female Inmates, also known as ‘ELFI’. The main task of ELFI is to augment the wisdom of what would later become the Bangkok Rules, by developing a set of rules specific to the treatment of women prisoners which aims to narrow the gap of negligence so that the specific needs of women prisoners can be appropriately addressed. Ultimately, the successful establishment of both the Kamlangjai and the ELFI projects, coupled with HRH Princess’s willful determination and her lead support in the advancement for the livelihood of the women prisoners and offenders worldwide, the provision on the treatment of women prisoners was drafted by an international expert group and brought to UN’s consideration. Finally, the United Nations General Assembly at its 65th session adopted the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders in December 2010. The name ‘Bangkok Rules’ given was to honor Thailand which strongly reinforced the rules to the UN’s recognition.
Timeline Bangkok Rules
21 December 2010
is the first international instrument which provides specific
and detailed guidelines on responding to the gender specific
needs of women in the criminal justice system, as well as of
the children of such women. After the adoption, Thailand,
along with many other countries, international organizations
and criminal justice agencies working with women, place a
strong emphasis on putting these Rules into practice.
21 December 2010
is the first international instrument which provides specific
and detailed guidelines on responding to the gender specific
needs of women in the criminal justice system, as well as of
the children of such women. After the adoption, Thailand,
along with many other countries, international organizations
and criminal justice agencies working with women, place a
strong emphasis on putting these Rules into practice.
21 December 2010
is the first international instrument which provides specific
and detailed guidelines on responding to the gender specific
needs of women in the criminal justice system, as well as of
the children of such women. After the adoption, Thailand,
along with many other countries, international organizations
and criminal justice agencies working with women, place a
strong emphasis on putting these Rules into practice.
21 December 2010
is the first international instrument which provides specific
and detailed guidelines on responding to the gender specific
needs of women in the criminal justice system, as well as of
the children of such women. After the adoption, Thailand,
along with many other countries, international organizations
and criminal justice agencies working with women, place a
strong emphasis on putting these Rules into practice.
