Women in prison. Protecting women's human rights in the hypermasculine prison context
Women in prison. Protecting women's human rights in the hypermasculine prison context
Date
2023
Authors
Panneel, Margot
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Abstract
Throughout history, men have always made up the vast majority of the prison population, with
the result that prison as an institution has organised itself around a male norm. Ever since the
introduction of imprisonment as a way of punishment, female prisoners have been incarcerated
in prisons that are not designed for them and neglect their gender-specific needs, leading them
to often have a thougher time within prison than male prisoners. The current prison context is
rooted in patriarchal conceptions of society that are completely outdated, reinforcing
hypermasculine, heteronormative, cisnormative, gender binary views, making it very difficult
for (trans) female prisoners to find their way in this environment. The lack of focus on gendersensitive
policies in prisons leads to the continuous undermining of the (human) rights of female
prisoners and trans prisoners. Fortunately, the international level is not blind to these issues.
Several international and regional instruments have already recognised the specific position in
which female prisoners find themselves, which differs in many ways from that of a male
prisoner, yet the situation in practice seems far from perfect. This thesis aims to draw additional
attention to this issue in the hope that (trans) women prisoners will have their human rights
recognised in the future.
Description
Second semester University: University of Galway
Keywords
prison,
women,
gender discrimination,
prisoners