Resisting COVID-19 and raising voices from behind prison walls: Analysis of public letters from women in prison in Lima, Peru

Bruce L.B.; Mellet A.H.; Risco A.S.C.; Llanos V.L. · Onati Socio-Legal Series (2022) · DOI: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1252

Resumen

Over the last few decades, an exponential increase in the prison population highlights the punitive turn that has led to a crisis in the penitentiary system and makes prisoners a vulnerable group for health emergencies such as the COVID-19. In Latin America, this vulnerability increases due to overcrowding and precarious living conditions inside prisons. This paper recovers silenced voices within the prison system. From a qualitative methodology, we analyze the claim actions of women prisoners at a prison in Lima-Peru during the first months of COVID-19. We identify that women deprived of their liberty position themselves to claim the State's abandonment from three self-identifying axes: 1. The sense of collectivity; 2. The resocialization process framed in the logic of prison categorization; and 3. Their role as reproducers of care. It is concluded that these are strategies for the deployment of agency and proactive actions of imprisoned women.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú