Representatives from 12 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) across Asia-Pacific came together in Bangkok, Thailand, from 20-22 October 2026 for a regional programme on Preventing Torture and Ill-Treatment: A Gender and Intersectional Lens. The programme was jointly organised by the APF, the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Delivered through a blended learning approach, the programme combined online learning with a three-day workshop focused on gender-sensitive detention monitoring, trauma-informed interviewing, complaints handling, advocacy, legal reform and the use of NHRI mandates to prevent torture and ill-treatment.

Participants highlighted peer learning, practical exercises, trauma-informed interviewing techniques and the study visit as among the most valuable components of the programme. Many reported increased confidence in applying gender and intersectional perspectives to torture prevention and detention monitoring.

A key outcome of the programme was the development of NHRI action plans. Participating institutions committed to practical actions including strengthening gender-sensitive monitoring methodologies, improving complaint mechanisms for women deprived of liberty, integrating trauma-informed approaches into monitoring, pursuing legal and policy reform, and building the capacity of NHRI staff.

The programme concluded with participants identifying shared regional priorities, including strengthening gender-responsive monitoring, improving accountability mechanisms, and using NHRI mandates more strategically to advance legal, policy and institutional reforms related to torture prevention.

“The programme reinforced that effective torture prevention requires more than monitoring places of detention. It also requires NHRIs to apply gender and intersectional perspectives, strengthen complaint mechanisms, and use the full range of their mandates to drive meaningful institutional and policy change.”

The programme forms part of APF's ongoing efforts to strengthen NHRI capacity to prevent torture and ill-treatment and to promote human rights-based, gender-responsive approaches to monitoring, investigation and accountability.