A/HRC/20/24 8. Groups of migrants with particular protection needs (a) Women 36. Women migrants who are detained are vulnerable to sexual violence, which may be committed by male detainees or guards. They should therefore be separated from men and be guarded by female warders. Pregnant women who are detained have particular needs. Article 12, paragraph 2, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Committee‟s general recommendation No. 26 (2008) on women migrant workers require States parties to ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period. The UNHCR Revised Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers3 (hereinafter, the UNHCR guidelines) affirm that as a general rule, the detention of pregnant women in their final months and nursing mothers should be avoided. 37. The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), which supplement the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, provide that account shall be taken of the distinctive needs of women prisoners. Inter alia, the accommodation of women prisoners shall have the facilities and materials required to meet women‟s specific hygiene needs; the health screening of women prisoners shall determine, inter alia, mental health-care needs, including post-traumatic stress disorder and risk of suicide and self-harm; the reproductive health history of the woman, including current or recent pregnancies, childbirth and any related reproductive health issues; and sexual abuse and other forms of violence that may have been suffered prior to admission. The Bangkok Rules furthermore provide for genderspecific health care, individualized, gender-sensitive, trauma-informed and comprehensive mental health care and rehabilitation programmes for women with mental health-care needs. Children4 (b) 38. Children in immigration detention will often be traumatized and have difficulty understanding why they are being “punished” despite having committed no crime. According to article 37 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Article 37 (c) states that every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child‟s best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances. Article 37 (d) provides that every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action. Children deprived of their liberty also have a right to appropriate medical treatment (art. 24), education (art. 28) and recreation and play (art. 31). 3 4 10 While the Guidelines relate to asylum-seekers specifically, they may by analogy provide useful guidance for the detention of migrants. A child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier (art. 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child).