Question 16944 — places of deprivation of liberty

Summary

Ms. Andrée Taurinya alerts Mr. Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, on the consequences of the deployment of millimeter wave portals at the Toulouse-Seysses penitentiary center. This device, installed in order to strengthen the fight against the introduction of prohibited objects into detention, is part of a policy of securing penitentiary establishments. However, it leads to disproportionate attacks on the dignity of families of prisoners, particularly women. Indeed, at Seysses prison, according to an article from France 3, a visitor was refused access to the visiting room after the portico was triggered in the area of ​​her private parts, due to wearing hygienic protection. Testimonies report instructions asking the women concerned to wear "clean" protection or to change it in the establishment's parking lot, which constitutes a deeply humiliating situation. Even if the Ministry of Justice indicated that it was not a question of a technical failure, but of poor knowledge of the protocol by certain agents, this response cannot be enough. Prohibiting women from visiting because of their menstruation leads to unacceptable discrimination. It goes without saying that the use of a hygiaphone visiting room mentioned as an alternative solution cannot be be an appropriate response to these situations. However, a similar event has already taken place at the Seysse remand center. In 2024, the State has already been condemned following events that occurred after a lawyer was forced to remove her bra in a parking lot to access a visiting room. Violations of women's privacy during access controls in detention cannot be justified by a lack of knowledge of the protocols. On the contrary, they reveal the persistence of insufficiently regulated practices, likely to undermine the dignity of all women entering a penitentiary establishment. She therefore asks what measures the Government intends to take to immediately clarify the protocol applicable to millimeter wave gantries and thus guarantee that no woman can be prevented from accessing the speaking simply because of wearing sanitary protection or bras and ensuring that safety requirements do not result in discriminatory and humiliating practices.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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