A/HRC/35/30/Add.3 41. Although the Special Rapporteur only had data on the number of women in federal penitentiaries (7.03 per cent of the total inmate population, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service), she received reports that the overall number of women in detention had been increasing in the past few years.48 Reportedly more than 50 per cent of the women deprived of their liberty were imprisoned for breach of Law No. 23.737, which governs drug trafficking, and the investigations appeared to focus on prosecuting women who were being used as “mules” to transport different illegal substances. The implementation of Law No. 23.737 at the provincial level had led to an overrepresentation of women imprisoned for that offence in the correctional services, in particular in Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Salta Provinces. 42. Many of the imprisoned women were mothers and heads of households. Although Law No. 26.472 (2009) on custodial sentences provides for the possibility of women with children to serve their sentences under house arrest, that option was underutilized. 49 The Special Rapporteur received reports that, in the Province of Buenos Aires in particular, there had been repeated cases of degrading and violent body searches of women and forced nudity in prison, and that complaints against such ill-treatment had resulted in reprisals. 5. Women with disabilities 43. The Special Rapporteur received reports that women with psychosocial disabilities faced significant obstacles to accessing justice, such as the widespread practice of indefinite institutionalization in public or private mental institutions that sealed off relations with other people and limited access to complaints mechanisms; the prevalent practice of restricting the exercise of legal capacity, making it impossible to bring actions or participate in legal proceedings on their own behalf; and the prejudices of public officials who tended to doubt the credibility of their testimonies. Although Argentina had ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2008, and adopted Law No. 26.657 on mental health, in 2010, those had not been fully implemented. 44. The Special Rapporteur received reports that services for victims of domestic violence were often not accessible to women with physical disabilities, shelters were not equipped to receive women in wheelchairs, and the 144 helpline could not be used by deaf women. IV. Incorporation and implementation of international and regional frameworks on violence against women A. International framework on violence against women and human rights 45. Article 75 (22) of the Constitution gives international treaties precedence over national laws and allows for their direct application by the authorities and domestic courts. Argentina has ratified the international women’s rights treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol and the other core United Nations treaties on human rights, namely, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its Optional Protocol, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its three Optional Protocols, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as well as the multilateral 48 49 Ibid. In October 2016, there were at least 3,125 women deprived of liberty; in the past 15 years, the number of women prisoners has increased by 32 per cent. Ibid. 11