A new report is calling on the B.C. government to stop the practice of performing routine breast and pelvic exams on girls as young as 12 years old in B.C. prisons.

B.C.'s representative for children and youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, called the practice wrong, in the report released Monday.

"The breast and genital component of that examination should only be conducted when there is some medically necessary reason to do so," said Trupel-Lafond.

The representative called on both the Ministry of Children and Families and the Ministry of Health to make changes to their policies outlining when the sensitive exams are conducted on youth in custody.

"Only when there's specific medical evidence that suggests it would be important to understand their overall physical and mental health. And when that happens … they have a choice of male or female physician and that they be chaperoned," said Trupel-Lafond.

The report also calls on the Ministry of Health to improve its health support for youth in custody, a group the representative calls one of the most vulnerable in the province.

Complaints led to investigation

The concerns about the examinations arose in June 2007 when some teenage girls in custody complained to the advocacy group Justice for Girls that they'd been subjected to inappropriate breast and pelvic exams, as part of their court-ordered psychological assessment at the former Willingdon Youth Detention Centre in Burnaby.

The male physician at the prison was cleared of wrongdoing by police and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, but internal investigations showed it was routine practice to perform the exams on girls as part of their court-ordered psychological assessments.

After Justice for Girls reported the allegations publicly, the ministry barred the group from visiting girls in prison, spokeswoman Annabel Webb told CBC News.

"We are not allowed to have contact by telephone or any other means with women in the prison," Webb said.