Jakarta (Indonesia), 19 October 2023 – UNODC and Indonesia's Directorate General of Corrections (DGC) conducted an assessment of the implementation of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders, also known as the Bangkok Rules.
As part of the assessment, UNODC and DGC visited several women's prisons in Indonesia, namely, Jakarta Women's Prison, Surabaya Women's Detention Centre and Malang Women's Prison. During the visit, focus group discussions with corrections officers and prisoners were held to identify existing challenges in managing female prisoners and efforts to enhance the treatment to ensure that gender-specific rights and needs are fulfilled in line with the Bangkok Rules.
The assessment report and several policy recommendations were disseminated through a roundtable meeting on 28 August 2023. The roundtable meeting convened officials from various government ministries/agencies and civil society organisations. Representatives from the DGC, Directorate General of Human Rights, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Women Empowerment, all women's prisons in Indonesia, the National Commission on Violence against Women and the National Commission on Child Protection attended the event.
Some key recommendations included the development of a regulatory framework for treating female prisoners in Indonesia, developing security procedures to handle female prisoners during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum stages, and developing a pre-release preparation programme and post-release service. The assessment also identified the need to strengthen interagency cooperation in supporting female prisoners' transition and social reintegration by involving other agencies, such as the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Women Empowerment.
During the roundtable meeting, UNODC reaffirmed its commitment to continue working with the Government of Indonesia to ensure the fulfilment of gender-specific rights and needs of female prisoners and promote the use of non-custodial measures for female offenders in line with the Bangkok Rules.
