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Gender-Specific Risks and Needs Programme for Female Persons in Custody

Bureau / Department Correctional Services Department (CSD)
Objective To provide specialised psychological programmes to address the specific risks and needs profile of female persons in custody in order to improve their prison adjustment and change their offending behaviour.
Content CSD set up a ‘“PSY GYM” – Personal Growth and Emotion Treatment Centre for Women’ at the Lo Wu Correctional Institution in March 2011. Through the creation of a therapeutic community, a range of gender-specific systematic treatment programmes for needy female persons in custody is provided.
Groups / Persons Affected Female persons in custody with moderate to high re-offending risk and with specific treatment needs in relation to offending behaviour.
Impact CSD analysed sex-disaggregated data (e.g. clinical profile of the persons in custody) in designing the programme. The statistics indicated that female persons in custody have higher prevalence of psychopathology in comparison with the male counterparts and their risks and needs profile are also greatly different from the male group. It supports the notion that gender-specific programmes should be adopted to cater for this specialised clientele group. Accordingly, programme content and the delivery mode have been designed to match with the unique learning / response style of women.
Success Factor / Lessons Learned
  • Collected and considered sex-disaggregated data in designing the programme, the results of which informs the department of the proper programme design that caters the need of female persons in custody.
  • Gender specialists' as well as relevant experts’ views were gauged during the design process. The gender perspectives of the programme have been enriched.
  • The promotional content of this programme has been presented in a gender-sensitive manner. The medium of promotion is also effective in reaching the target group.
  • Specific working groups have been set up at the working level as well as headquarter level to monitor the programme.
  • External and internal training workshops on gender-specific issues and treatment have been arranged for relevant staff.