Abstract
It is up to the State to promote appropriate measures to “guarantee fundamental rights and freedoms and the respect for the principles of a democratic law State”, in accordance with Article 9 (b) of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. Our objectives were to examine how the Portuguese legislator is attentive to the particularities of being a woman in matters such as hygiene, health, motherhood and parental education during the execution of sentences and we wanted to investigate the mechanisms triggered by the State for protection, as a preventive measure, of women as victims of crimes. We made research, in numerical terms, to know the rate of constituted women accused in criminal proceedings, as well as the number of convicted, from a set of recent and of reference official documentary sources, based on the existing statistical resources. We also made an analysis of the pertinent legislative diplomas, among them, the aforementioned Code of the Execution of Penalties and Freedom Deprivation Measures and the General Regulation of Prison Establishments. The fulfilment of a prison sentence implies vast and varied consequences, from personal to familiar, passing through social and professional consequences, among others. We concluded that compared to the male universe, the number of women accused and convicted is clearly lower. On the other hand, it is women who make up the largest share as victims of certain offenses. According to the 2019 Annual Report, authored by APAV, female victims amounted to 8,394.
Highlights
The fulfilment of a prison sentence implies vast and varied consequences, from personal to familiar, passing through social and professional consequences, among others
We have examined in what terms the Portuguese legislator takes into account the particularities of the female condition in matters such as hygiene, health, maternity and parental education during the enforcement of sentences
With regard to drug trafficking, the study of Torres & Gomes (2005) reveals that women are arrested mainly for drug trafficking offences, sentenced to high sentences, while men are convicted more of criminal offences committed associated with drug use
Summary
The fulfilment of a prison sentence implies vast and varied consequences, from personal to familiar, passing through social and professional consequences, among others. It is women who make up the largest share as victims of certain offenses, as is the case with domestic violence. In this sense, some figures on female reclusion reveal the situation in Portugal. Given the low percentage of female prisoners compared to male prisoners, Cunha (2007) says that: “their specific needs tend to remain in the background of penitentiary policies” This numerical difference in terms of incarceration has been explained by means of arguments that contemplate the type of education that prints a model of differentiated roles to be played in society by men and women, especially in the most disadvantaged environments (Torres & Gomes, 2002). This numerical difference in terms of incarceration has been explained by means of arguments that contemplate the type of education that prints a model of differentiated roles to be played in society by men and women, especially in the most disadvantaged environments (Torres & Gomes, 2002). Beleza (2004) expands the explanation, among other invocations, to the “important role that the processes of criminalization and victimization have in strengthening or defining gender relations”
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