I am a lawyer by professional background and work as a consultant with a focus on how to use human rights frameworks to improve the lives of those who face discrimination and disadvantage. Much of my work is aimed at preventing the ill-treatment of people who are detained in a variety of environments, including prisons, immigration removal centres, police cells, court cells and mental health wards.

Improving how detention facilities are monitored to pick up on early warning signs of potential harm to those detained within them is something I believe needs to be explored. One of my special areas of interest is how to identify when the organisational culture within a closed environment is one likely to increase the risk of harm to people who are detained. We know this is a problem from the numerous stories that hit the headlines about abusive environments in closed settings, although these only represent the tip of the iceberg.

I hope to develop an understanding about existing thinking and methodologies in this area and bring this learning back to the UK to help develop best practice in how to monitor detention facilities.