A two-day training seminar on “International standards on Women Offenders: Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners” was organised on 14-15 April in Tsaghkadzor. The seminar aimed at enhancing the theoretical and practical knowledge and professionalism of the staff of the Human Rights Defender’s Office, including on National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) regarding custody of women and related legal issues and standards.

This training helped the NPM members and other participants to improve their working approaches in order to accomplish effectively their tasks regarding women deprived of their liberty, in particular by pointing out the need to apply gender-sensitive considerations to all activities, outlining the particular risks women face of being subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, the circumstances that increase such risks and the measures that can be taken to prevent torture and ill-treatment of women in places of detention.

Mr Arman Tatoyan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia took part in the seminar alongside 35 participants from his office, NGOs, Ministry of Justice, advocates and mass media representatives.

The seminar was organised within the framework of the Project “Supporting the criminal justice reform and combating ill-treatment and impunity in Armenia”, funded through the European Union and Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance.