Behind bars: the burden of being a woman in Brazilian prisons

BMC International Health and Human Rights

Larissa Fortunato Araújo¹  Priscila França de Araújo¹  Marli Teresinha Gimeniz Galvão¹  Roberto da Justa Pires Neto¹  Ana Zaira da Silva¹  Ligia Regina Franco Sansigolo Kerr¹  Francisco Marto Leal Pinheiro¹  Patrícia Neyva da Costa Pinheiro¹  David W. Seal²  Carl Kendall²  George W. Rutherford³ 

[1] Department of Public Health, Federal University of Ceara, Professor Costa Mendes, 1608 - Didactic Block, 5th floor Neighboor Rodolfo Teófilo, 60.430-140, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil;School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Tulane University, New Orleans, USA;University of California, San Francisco, USA;

关键词: Reproductive health;    Prisons;    Women;    Community health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12914-020-00247-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundBrazil has the third largest prison population in the world. In 2016, the female prison population totaled 42,000, an increase of 656% over the population recorded in the early 2000s. The objective of this study was to describe the socialeconomic and reproductive health of women in Brazilian prisons, and the specific assistance received within the prison system.MethodsThis is a first of its kind national survey conducted in 15 female prisons in eight Brazilian states between 2014 and 2015. The sample consisted of 1327 women in closed or semi-open prison regimes. Data collection used Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI). STATA v.15. Was use in analysis. The study was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Ceará, under CEP protocol No. 1,024,053.ResultsThe population was overwhelmingly Black or Brown, poor and little educated. When women worked previously, they had worked as domestic servants and were the sole source of income for their families. Most were mothers, with 39% having children less than 10 years old, now in the care of others. Most were in jail for drug-related crimes. Prisons were crowded, with more than 2/3rds of the inmates sharing a cell with 6 or more inmates. Services were provide, but women had not had a cervical cancer screening within the past 3 years and breast cancer screening was not conducted.ConclusionsOverall, given their backround and prison conditions they are unlikely to change the circumstances that brought them to prison in the first place.

【 授权许可】

CC BY