Behind bars: the burden of being a woman in Brazilian prisons
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(2020) 20:28
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Behind bars: the burden of being a woman in Brazilian prisons Priscila França de Araújo1* , Ligia Regina Franco Sansigolo Kerr1, Carl Kendall2, George W. Rutherford3, David W. Seal2, Roberto da Justa Pires Neto1, Patrícia Neyva da Costa Pinheiro1, Marli Teresinha Gimeniz Galvão1, Larissa Fortunato Araújo1, Francisco Marto Leal Pinheiro1 and Ana Zaira da Silva1
Abstract Background: Brazil 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. Methods: This 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. Results: The 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 drugrelated 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. Conclusions: Overall, given their backround and prison conditions they are unlikely to change the circumstances that brought them to prison in the first place. Keywords: Reproductive health, Prisons, Women, Community health
Background It is estimated that the global prison population is 10.35 million. Brazil has the third largest prison population when considering those serving house-arrest sentences [1]. Although men comprise the majority in the prison system [2], it is estimated that there are more than 714, 000 women in penal facilities worldwide [3]. The * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Public Health, Federal University of Ceara, Professor Costa Mendes, 1608 - Didactic Block, 5th floor Neighboor Rodolfo Teófilo, Fortaleza, Ceará 60.430-140, Brazil Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Brazilian female population incarcerated in 2014 was the fifth largest in the world. In 2016, the same population reached a total of 42,000, an increase of 656% over that recorded in the early 2000s. Such growth far exceeded that observed in the male population, of 293% [4]. This increase in female prisoners in Brazil brings to the foreground issues of gender equality, social costs, and on
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