Mulheres mães em situação de privação de liberdade na penitenciária feminina da Região Metropolitana de Vitória–ES

Abstract

Most of the women imprisoned are mostly young, single, have children, have a low level of education and a low family income. In general, prior to incarceration, they had no labor stability, as they performed low-skilled and low-wage jobs or were in an unemployed situation. Some studies indicate that these populations bring with them life histories marked by poor family ties, early loss of parents, low levels of sociability and access to education, and various forms of violence. In addition, they make up a population at risk for sexually transmitted infections and chronic infections, as they often exhibit risky behaviors that include drug-related activities and the exchange of sex for drugs. This study is aimed to describe the profile of women deprived of liberty in the metropolitan region of Espírito Santo. This is an observational, quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2019. A validated questionnaire was applied in a previous study containing questions about socio-demographic, criminal, behavioral and clinical aspects; Data were systematized and analyzed by SPSS version 20.0. A total of 183 participants were included in the study. They had a mean age of 36 years (SD = 10.4), aged between 19 and 64 years. Of these, 79 (43.2%) are married or live together maritally and 70 (38%) are single. Regarding race, 135 (74%) belonged to the non-white race. As for education, most of them 93 (51%) have completed high school. A bivariate analysis was performed to assess the association between drug use and sociodemographic aspects. It was observed that there is a higher prevalence of illicit drug use among single women (p = 0.001) and among those who performed domestic activities (p = 0.004). . The most frequent variables in drug users, were not performing non-tubal ligation (p = 0.002), homosexual experience (p = 0.00007) at some stage in these women's lives, and prostitution (p = 0.006). The profile presented here represents the relationship between the population with the highest socioeconomic vulnerability, the entry into crime through the husband and drug trafficking as a pursuit of income. Given this, it is observed that the extent of their involvement with illicit drug use, seems strong and prevalent, and is related to sociodemographic, behavioral, clinical and criminal aspects; with access to sexual and reproductive health care; and the types of violence suffered by their own use. In this sense, interventions are needed to reduce the rates of women involved in crime and drug addiction