15 Years of the Bangkok Rules: A Journey Toward Gender-Responsive Justice (PID160)

4pm – 5pm EST, 19 February 2025 ‐ 1 hour

Plenary

As we approach the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Bangkok Rules in December 2025, this plenary session provides an opportunity to reflect on their significance and celebrate the progress made in advancing the rights and well-being of women in prison worldwide. Over the past decade and a half, the Bangkok Rules have played an important role in shaping gender-responsive policies and practices, ensuring that the unique needs of women in detention are recognized and addressed.  

This session will bring together a diverse panel of experts from government, academia, and civil society to discuss key achievements, persistent challenges, and emerging opportunities in the implementation of the Bangkok Rules. Through insightful discussions, the panel will explore innovative approaches to gender-sensitive prison management, alternatives to incarceration, and strategies for strengthening social reintegration. By fostering dialogue among stakeholders, this plenary aims to generate renewed commitment to gender-responsive justice and inspire collaborative efforts toward more humane and effective correctional system.

Speakers

Chontit Chuenurah

Director of the Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders, Thailand Institute of Justice, Thailand

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Claudia Baroni

Team Leader, Gender in Criminal Justice Team, UNODC, Austria

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Dr Phiset Sa-ardyen PhD

Executive Director, Thailand Institute of Justice, Thailand

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Olivia Rope

Executive Director, Penal Reform International, Netherlands

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Dr Barbara Owen

Independent Researcher, Owen Research and Evaluation, United States

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Chontit Chuenurah

Director of the Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders, Thailand Institute of Justice, Thailand

Chontit Chuenurah is the Director of the Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders at the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ). With over 15 years of experience, she actively engages in national, regional, and international advocacy to promote and protect human rights in prison settings, including gender diversity and inclusion.

In her role at TIJ, Chontit spearheads efforts to promote gender-responsive approaches to the treatment of women as well as LGBTQIA+ in prison in Thailand, and supports the global implementation of the UN Bangkok Rules. She is currently leading policy reform within Thailand’s Department of Corrections to enhance the care and protection of LGBTQIA+ prisoners. This includes aligning correctional practices with Thailand’s new same-sex marriage bill and evolving human rights standards.

Her research collaboration includes Tomboys' Pathways to Prison in Thailand: Insubordination, Support, Sacrifice, and Suffering (with Griffith University), which explores the unique challenges faced by gender-nonconforming individuals. Chontit also oversees TIJ’s technical assistance and capacity-building programs for prisons across Southeast Asia.

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Claudia Baroni

Team Leader, Gender in Criminal Justice Team, UNODC, Austria

Claudia Baroni is Team Leader, Gender in Criminal Justice Team, at the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer at the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section, Division for Treaty Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

She joined UNODC in 1994 an she has worked in different areas of work of the Office such as:
- corruption; 
- transnational organised crime; 
- strengthening criminal justice systems in post-conflict countries, including training of police component of UN peacekeeping missions; and
-  criminal justice reform, with a particular focus on victims assistance and gender in the criminal justice system (i.e. women victims and women offenders/prisoners).

 

Throughout the years, she has supported and lead the intergovernmental process that brought to the adoption of several key United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, including: 
a) the updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (GA resolution 65/228);

b) the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (i.e. Bangkok Rules, GA resolution 65/229; and 

c) the UN Principles and Guidelines and access to legal aid in criminal justice systems (GA resolution 67/187).

 

Likewise, she has coordinated the development of several criminal justice tools the most recent ones being the UNODC Handbook for the Judiciary on Effective Criminal Justice Responses to Gender-based Violence against Women and Girls.  
Currently she is managing the UNODC portfolio on gender in the criminal justice system.

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Dr Phiset Sa-ardyen PhD

Executive Director, Thailand Institute of Justice, Thailand

Dr. Phiset Sa-ardyen is the Executive Director of Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ). Under his leadership, TIJ is dedicated to enhance the rule of law and the Thai justice system through innovative, evidence-based, people-centered approach, as well as implement the UN Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) in Thailand and Southeast Asia, in affiliation with UN-PNI. Previously, Dr. Phiset served as the Director of External Relations and Policy Coordination at TIJ, responsible for coordinating all key activities to strengthen TIJ’s portfolio as an international research institute in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. Prior to joining TIJ, he served in key positions at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) including as the Director of Information and Communication Technology Center where he oversaw the implementation of key policy directives on digital transformation and cyber security across the MOJ, including its flagship project on big data analytics for recidivism prediction and offender rehabilitation.

Dr. Phiset’s educational background is in Bioengineering and Chemistry. He received a B.E. from Tokyo Institute of Technology and pursued his M.S. and Ph.D in Chemistry at New York University. Furthermore, he holds an M.A. in Translation and Interpretation from Chulalongkorn University and an LL.B. from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand.

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Olivia Rope

Executive Director, Penal Reform International, Netherlands

Olivia Rope was appointed as Executive Director of Penal Reform International in 2020, having joined the organisation in 2012 and previously leading on policy and international advocacy. She is an expert on a range of human rights and criminal justice issues, having authored key publications and training materials for PRI and worked extensively with UN and other institutional actors and partners. Previously, Olivia worked at Amnesty International. She completed her LLM in International and European Human Rights Law at the University of Amsterdam in 2008 and was admitted to the High Court of New Zealand as a Barrister and Solicitor in 2009.

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Dr Barbara Owen

Independent Researcher, Owen Research and Evaluation, United States

Barbara Owen is an international expert in the areas of women and imprisonment; improving operational practice in women’s prisons via research; and women’s prison culture. She has extensive experience in conducting mixed methods research, including participant observation, ethnographies, large-scale surveys, policy studies, and program evaluation. Internationally, her work involves implementing human rights protections in women’s prisons with the Thailand Institute of Justice, where she serves as a Senior Advisor. 
A Professor Emerita of Criminology at California State University, Fresno, she received her Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Berkeley in 1984.  Prior to returning to academia, Dr. Owen was a Senior Researcher with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.