A monster called justice: Female incarceration and motherhood in Mexico’s prison system

Abstract

Female incarceration has been growing at a higher rate than the general prison population around the world and Mexico has been no exception: between 2000 and 2022 the country has witnessed an increase of the female prison population by 100%, vs a 60% global tendency. The main cause for women’s incarceration is theft, followed by more serious crimes, such as kidnapping and homicide. Most women in prison come from poor households, have basic schooling and are primary or sole caregivers of small children. Despite a growing international and national attention to the issue of women in prison and the impacts of female incarceration on small children, the Mexican prison system is not legally designed nor practically equipped to uphold children’s rights and mainstream a children rights’ perspective in the adult criminal justice system. This paper aims at analyzing the conditions of female incarceration in Mexico and its impacts on children, with a focus on those living with their mothers. It is based on publicly available quantitative data and literature review as well as on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with women in prison from 2005 onwards and, more recently, with women detained in the country’s federal female prison “CPS femenil Morelos” in 2023. It also draws from the lived experience of formerly incarcerated women.