About Us
We are a group of LGBTQIA+ people working in detention monitoring. As queer people working in mostly straight institutions, monitoring settings where LGBTQIA+ people are at particular risk of abuse or ill treatment, we have created this dedicated space for us and our peers.
Our Aims
Create a Safe Space
Provide a supportive environment for queer detention monitors to come together and connect with peers who understand their unique challenges.
Facilitate Discussion
Discuss issues and challenges that arise within our working environments, offering peer support and collective insight.
Build Confidence
Share our experience to find better ways of addressing problems faced by queer people in detention, building our confidence to challenge poor practice.
Shape Policy
Consider and influence broader policy issues relating to queer people deprived of liberty and working in detention settings.
Our Principles
- Confidentiality & Safety: We acknowledge that not everyone can be openly queer in their workplace and that visibility can be dangerous for some. This is a space for queer peers to come together safely, in trust and confidence and in solidarity.
- Trans Inclusion: We acknowledge that trans and non-binary people are underrepresented within detention monitoring bodies, and that they face additional hurdles to gain employment and to come out in this context.
- Systemic Change: We are motivated by the need to bring greater understanding and visibility of the situation of queer people in all types of detention settings, who face higher risks of discrimination, harassment and violence. We strive to improve their conditions whilst they are deprived of liberty, but we also firmly believe these intrinsic risks justify greater efforts to seek alternatives to detention.
- Intersectionality: We acknowledge the multiple and intersecting identities of all LGBTQIA+ monitors and people in detention, and will consider the additional grounds on which they may be marginalised or discriminated against, including but not exclusive to: race, disability, neurodiversity, class, nationality.
- Global Context: We will work together in the context of a backlash against LGBTQIA+ rights in many areas of the world, acknowledging the challenges many face in their personal, public and professional lives in this context.
- International Standards: We note that international standards and recommendations (OPCAT Articles 5,18; UN Special Rapporteur on Torture A/HRC/31/57 paragraph 39) underscore the importance of LGBTQIA+ people being included and represented in detention monitoring bodies, and we will advocate for these principles to be upheld across National Preventive Mechanisms and international monitoring bodies.
Join Us
Who Can Join?
To join the community of practice, you should:
- Identify as queer (in its broadest definition)
- Be involved in practical detention monitoring work (or have past experience in this role)
- Be interested in contributing to reflection about practices and policies relating to queer people deprived of liberty
- Be committed to trans-inclusion and challenging multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination
We welcome and will proactively seek detention monitors working in non-Western countries, people from racial and ethnic minority groups, trans, intersex and non-binary people, and people with disabilities to join the group.
For the time being, English is the common language of the group. However, a limited proficiency in English should not be an obstacle. If the need arises, translation options will be sought.
What We Do
Online Support: Whenever you have a question, doubt, practical situation to discuss, or problem faced while visiting a place of liberty, you can contact the group for support and answers.
Thematic Discussions: We organise online community of practice meetings a few times each year to discuss topics of collective interest.
Future Work: We plan to engage in external meetings with detention monitoring bodies, expert discussions, blogs, publications, and advocacy work.
Get In Touch
Interested in joining? Have questions? Want to contribute?
Feel free to write in French, Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, or English.