Abstract

The present study aims to identify the prevalence of physical violence against female prisoners in Brazil, as well as related factors. This is a cross-sectional national survey conducted in 15 female prisons in five regions of Brazil selected in multiple stages. The following types of analysis were performed: univariate analysis; stratified analysis relating the outcome (suffer physical violence inside prison) to predictor variables, using the Pearson chi-square test; calculation of the Odds Ratio (O.R.); and multiple logistic regression. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used for analysis of goodness of fit and adequacy of the model. The prevalence of physical violence inside female prisons was 37.4%. There was a correlation between physical violence victimization in prison and the following variables: physical victimization prior to arrest (p = 0.013), solitary confinement (p = 0.000), mental suffering (p = 0.003), current or previous abusive intake of alcohol (p = 0.011), current or previous injection of cocaine (p = 0.002) and not performing prison labor (p = 0.003). Physical violence has become inherent in the Brazilian female prison system. Continued studies are needed to monitor the situation and to develop interventions to prevent physical violence inside the facilities.

Highlights

  • Physical violence inside prisons is a prevalent phenomenon worldwide[1,2,3]

  • The present study aims to identify the prevalence of physical violence against female prisoners in Brazil, as well as related factors

  • This is a cross-sectional national survey conducted in 15 female prisons in five regions of Brazil selected in multiple stages

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Summary

Introduction

Physical violence inside prisons is a prevalent phenomenon worldwide[1,2,3]. frequent reports uncover severe violations against female inmates’ emotional and physical integrity. More than 625,000 women and girls are held in penal institutions around the world for preventive reasons or for conviction[5], and this specific population experiences more frequent and severe situations of interpersonal violence than the general female population[6,7,8,9,10]. The Brazilian female prison population grew by 567% between 2000 and 2014, while the general growth rate of the prison population was 119% in the same period[11]. Among the specificities of the Brazilian prison system, the institutionalization of gender violence is a classic problem, arising from the imposition of a penal and prison system that is culturally androcentric[6,7,9,14,16]

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