USA: Degrading treatment for women at Valley State Prison
Amnesty International is calling on the California prison authorities to rescind a policy which allows male guards to
conduct intrusive "pat down searches" (clothed body) of female prisoners.
"Cross-gender pat searches -- which according to a state training video, involve guards touching intimate parts of the
inmate's body -- are inherently degrading and inconsistent with international standards and constitute a form of
violence against women" Amnesty International said.
Amnesty International's action was prompted by news that Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), the state's largest
women's prison, has recently reinstated the practice after banning it for several years. The new policy introduced this
year allows male guards to conduct unsupervised searches of female prisoners which involve touching the breast and
crotch areas -- a procedure that was banned in VSPW in 1998 after years of complaints by prisoners of groping and other
sexual abuse by male guards.
Research has shown that pat down searches and other intimate contact involving male guards can be particularly
traumatizing for women prisoners, many of whom have histories of being physically or sexually abused before their
incarceration.
In California, as in many other US states, female prisoners are routinely supervised by male guards, a practice which is
contrary to international standards and which the organization has long campaigned to change. US authorities have
justified the practice on the ground that the USA's equal opportunities laws provide that men and women should have the
same employment rights. However, some US jurisdictions have placed restrictions on the role of male guards in women's
custody facilities, without contravening these laws.
"Male guards should be barred from carrying out pat or strip searches of women prisoners and from routine access to
women's living areas. Such practices are open to abuse and violate fundamental rights to privacy and the prohibition of
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment set out under international treaties. These include the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the USA has ratified." Amnesty International said.
US practice has been criticized by international treaty bodies, including the Human Rights Committee, which monitors
states' compliance with the ICCPR. The Committee expressed concern in 1995 that allowing male officers access to women
prisoners in US detention facilities had "led to serious allegations of sexual abuse of women and the invasion of their
privacy". The Committee has also stated in a General Comment on Article 17 of the ICCPR on right to privacy that persons
subjected to body searches "should only be examined by persons of the same sex."
For more information, please see:
USA: The findings of a visit to Valley State Prison in California: http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabCfhaa1LrUbb0hPub/
USA: A visit to Valley State Prison in California (Dr. Silvia Casale) http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabCfhaa1LrVbb0hPub/