Blog

Introduction to the ‘Mandela Rules’ with Andrea Huber

On 22 May 2015, at the UN Crime Commission in Vienna, states agreed on a new set of prison standards – a new and updated version of the well-known and well-used Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR). Andrea Huber, PRI’s Policy Director, was involved in the revision process and was present in […]

Andrea Huber15th June 2015

25 years preventive monitoring of places of detention – has the CPT achieved its goal in Europe?

In 1989 the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came into force, establishing the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). The CPT was the first system with a mandate to conduct visits to places of detention on a regular […]

PRI at the Crime Congress 2015Julia Kozma, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture25th November 2014

No escape from violence: childhood abuse, offending and women in prison

In 2012, a small but innovative, participatory study with women prisoners in South Africa found that 38% of participants reported physical abuse as a child, with 29% reporting sexual abuse, and 67% experiencing physical or sexual abuse as an adult. The study also found a strong link between childhood sexual abuse and rape and violent […]

PRI at the Crime Congress 2015Dr Lillian Artz, University of Cape Town24th October 2014