How do women live in prison? details of a difficult life. What jargon do Russian convict women use?

HOW WOMEN LIVE IN PRISON? DETAILS OF A COMPLEX LIFE
How do women live in prison? Details of a difficult life

What is a women's prison and who are the women in prison, what do they do, and how do they live with it. We will talk about this and much more in this article.
WOMAN IN PRISON - WHO IS SHE?
It's hard to imagine a woman in prison. At first glance, these two words are incompatible. Society is more accustomed to the fact that the prison is for male prisoners.
Women's crimes are different from men's, because women are much more emotional, so most often the victims of their violence are their husbands' mistresses or even the husbands themselves.
Women during arrest During an arrest, women usually do not resist. They behave calmly while they are led to the place of trial. But, despite this, the police treat them cynically and rudely.
Women are humiliated, insulted, sometimes even pulled by the hair. Compared to men, women are not tortured.
If law enforcement officers take physical punishment, they are only trying to evoke emotions that make it impossible to lie.
In the temporary detention facility, women and men are placed separately. After the verdict, when a woman ends up in a pre-trial detention center, it turns out that she is not at all ready for prison conditions, although now enough films are being written and shown about women's prisons.
Naturally, when a person goes to prison for the first time, he experiences a lot of stress. Surprisingly, her cellmates help the woman to return to her normal state, because communication and stories about her fate and troubles calm her down.
Relationships between inmates develop in different ways, but mostly without conflict. After some time, women form groups in the form of families, within which they communicate or discuss some problems.
PRISON - FEMININE
Women in prisons remain women. The women's prison is like a boutique, because of the natural passion for shopping for clothes. It sounds a little strange, because in prisons there is neither money nor goods.
But women constantly change their things for someone else's, thus imitating the acquisition of something new. Sometimes there are cases of exchanging a new thing for an old one, the goal is still the same - updating the wardrobe.
Foreign cosmetics, if transferred by relatives, are exchanged for domestic ones. Police officers are not against such barter relations, they themselves help to transfer things from one cell to another.
Women's prisons are not equipped with psychological assistance facilities and are notorious for their lack of sanitary hygiene. Sometimes there are not enough personal hygiene products, clothes. There is no designated area for washing in the cells.
Anti-sanitary

It is terrible to imagine the conditions in which women live in prisons. If a woman has a child over four years old, then he lives with relatives or in an orphanage.
Even if the child is less than three years old, the mother must live in isolation, and spend only a couple of hours a day walking with the baby.
As a rule, in women who are in prison for more than 3-4 years, social perception is disturbed, psychology changes, all this has a negative impact on later life, which may soon return the woman back to the prison cell.
But this does not mean that all women who have served time are spoiled and do not have any good future life. Among the prisoners there are also talented individuals who dance beautifully, sing, compose poetry, draw, and so on.
During the term, they usually continue to do what they love, developing skills, so they leave prison with powerful potential behind them.
Cells of the general settlement All people dream of solitude, unfortunately, in women's prisons this can be forgotten. Women do not manage to be alone if they are serving time in a cell in which there are 40-60 people.
For this reason, an irritated feeling often arises, which often leads to conflicts of a domestic nature.
All conflicts end peacefully, mostly no further than raising the voice. Fighting in women's prisons is almost non-existent.
If one of the inmates needs to appear soon at a court case, then a festive mood reigns in the cell. They try to dress the woman in the best clothes that are in the cell, to make a beautiful hairstyle and make-up.
Even in prison, they do not lose their self-esteem: “How can you go out into the world without putting yourself in order?”. A special attitude is shown to the prisoner who killed her child.
Basically, such women are ignored and considered plebeian, since the task of every woman on earth is to give birth to a child, not to kill him.
Sometimes there is a tradition when a woman who kills children is cut baldly with an ordinary razor, while leaving cuts and scars on her head.
Basically, police officers punish participants in violence, although they perfectly understand the reason for such behavior. As for living conditions, there is no women's prison in the prison, and there can be no warm water.
They heat water with boilers. Showers happen once a week, or even once every ten days. The administration takes care of the comfortable conditions of the prisoners. Now every woman has her own bed.
The cells have been refurbished, and it is not uncommon to find wallpaper in bright colors. Even if a pregnant woman ends up in prison, she remains in the common cell and eats food, like everyone else.
BIRTH IN PRISON
Childbirth in prison If a pregnant woman has her first contractions, she is immediately taken to the hospital under guard, and sometimes even in handcuffs.
She returns to work in the colony immediately after giving birth, and the child is returned to the mother in 5-6 days.
Already with a child, a woman is transferred to a separate specially designed cell.
It only houses breastfeeding mothers or pregnant women, due to detention laws.
The administration takes care of mothers who cannot feed their children and provides artificial nutrition for their babies.
In women's prisons, the mother is separated from her baby only when he is taken to the hospital for examination, in other cases he is constantly with the mother, so she sometimes even gets tired.
Only after the child is three years old is he separated from his mother. That is, in general, we can say that the conditions for children in places of deprivation of liberty are terrible.
For some reason, from the side of state defense, imprisoned mothers are shown a contemptuous attitude, they often claim that women give birth to make life easier for themselves in prison, and in fact they do not need children.
MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON
Motherhood in PrisonAnd yet for such women there are certain conditions to raise a baby: walk twice a day, cook food right in the cell, receive additional baby food and sometimes diapers.
When a mother and baby stay in a colony, a method of adaptation of the child is observed.
He is taken away, allegedly because of the quarantine, but in fact, in this way, the child is weaned from the mother.
Today in Russia there are approximately 700 mothers with their children under three years of age and pregnant women in women's prisons.
Of course, even with all the amenities provided, not a single mother feels comfortable, but all for the same reason - lack of will.
Motherhood in a Women's Prison Instead of being outside for a long time with a child, they sit in cells that are deprived of any light except daylight, although this is prohibited by law.
Therefore, one should not think that it is much easier for mothers in prisons to live than ordinary prisoners. Living conditions for women with children are not much different.
Now imagine that almost all women are in the same conditions, regardless of whether they have a child or not. Will it be easy for the mother for the first three years, until the child is taken away?
We invite you to watch a film about a women's prison, about how, sometimes foolishly smart and beautiful girls and women end up in prisons.

In the criminal universe there is a special galaxy - women's prisons. The "concepts" by which the world of criminals lives are absent in the women's colonies.

There are unspoken rules that everyone must follow. For example, in each cell there should be a “senior” who keeps order so that there are no prohibited items and that the cellmates keep order.

Hierarchy in the chamber

Women's crimes are different from men's. Women are less likely to commit acquisitive crimes, robberies, and robberies. They are more likely to commit murders, and cause serious harm to the health of a domestic nature. This is due to the fact that women are more emotional, and the mind does not always guide the behavior of a woman, especially in moments of rage.

Husbands, lovers, husband's mistresses become victims of female violence. When arrested, women do not resist and do not run away.

Mutual relations of convicts, as a rule, are neutral. This is not a male cell where there is a struggle for leadership. The hierarchy in the cell is like a beehive - there is a uterus - the "eldest", assistants to whom the eldest delegates her unspoken duties and the rest of the girls.

Most of the cells are designed for 40-60 people, in which there are beds in two rows, which are called "bunks". There is a bed that is at the end of the chamber, without a second shelf. It is called "glade" - the "older" sleeps on it. The cell also has a kitchen and a toilet with a shower. The kitchen, toilet can be used for an unlimited time, and clothes can be washed only on certain days. The chamber is cleaned daily, three times a day.

The cleaning schedule is drawn up in advance, and it is impossible to refuse duty - the only exception is those who “sit” for a long time. Poor duty is punished with additional cleaning days. The duty can be "sold" for two packs of cigarettes or for groceries. Girls are not allowed to enter the kitchen if there is a “senior” and her assistants. In order to maintain a calm atmosphere in the cell, girls are forbidden to swear and use derivative words, so there is often absolute silence in the cell.

The eldest is responsible for "training" the newcomers. The process of getting used to a new life takes a week or two. The eldest in the cell allocates places, and the newcomers get places near the entrance, the so-called "brakes".

Hierarchy on the zone

After the verdict is passed, the woman is transferred to the pre-trial detention center. For the female psyche, this is a huge stress, because it is impossible to prepare for the prison environment. "Driving in prison", women lose their sense of reality.

The operational worker is engaged in the distribution of cells. Usually they try to “pick up” a camera for a newcomer, but this is done not for the sake of a woman, but for the sake of the employees’ peace of mind - there are fewer conflicts, which means that it is easier for the administration to work. Therefore, accountants and officials are in one cell, “collective farmers” are in another. This principle is violated only if accomplices are imprisoned - always in different cells.

In the zone, “who you are”, your position in society before prison is of great importance. For example, whether you are a Muscovite or not, how often you receive programs, how many letters they write to you, what you wear and what you eat - your own food or prison food. Thus, the attitude of the prison society is formed. Although the status is formed not only with the help of the "pre-prison" position, but also depends on the individual.

Conflicts end with raised voices, but there are practically no fights, and if they happen, then without serious damage. Murder is generally a rare case in the women's cell. If the prison administration finds out about the conflict, the guilty will be punished, and finding the instigator is easy. Therefore, they try not to conflict without a weighty reason.

When it comes to places where people are serving sentences for a crime, it seems that the conversation should be about a prison or a colony for men. However, one should not forget about another disaster for Russia. This is an ever-increasing female crime. It also requires punishment and restriction of freedom.

Women's zones in Russia are 35 colonies in which 60 thousand people are serving their sentences. This number is five percent of the total number of prisoners in the country. Women's zones in Russia, the list of which is very small, are far from being in all districts. That is why most criminals have to serve their sentences far from their home.

What are women sitting for?

The conducted studies convincingly prove the fact that the fair sex is committing crimes that are more and more close to "male" in nature. In recent decades, there has been an increase in hooliganism, in which the fair sex took part.

Also, women are imprisoned for fraud, shoplifting, burglaries, selling and transporting drugs, buying and selling stolen goods, stealing cars,

The number of youth gangs, whose members are very young creatures aged 15 to 19, is also growing in the country. Such criminals in skirts are especially cruel, killing their victims without any reason. Many of these girls have drug problems that cost a lot of money to use.

It is worth saying that those who are serving sentences could be twice as many. However, women's zones, like men's, are regularly released thanks to amnesties. Reduces the number of those serving sentences and rather soft legislation. However, the problem of society does not become less urgent because of this. After all, thirty percent of convicts who are sent to women's zones are deprived of their liberty for especially serious crimes. As a rule, they are committed on a domestic basis, when a dispute develops into a fight with bloody consequences. The crimes of the rest of the mass of women are theft and distribution of drugs. And only a small percentage of convicts are ladies who have committed economic crimes.

Correctional institutions for the weak half of humanity

Where are women's zones in Russia? They are scattered throughout the regions of the country. Moreover, each of the colonies has its own characteristics. For example, there are women's zones in which children's homes are equipped. These are the following correctional institutions:

• Kemerovo;
• Moscow;
• Sverdlovsk;
• Vladimir regions;
• Khabarovsk and Krasnodar Territories;
• Nizhny Novgorod;
• Samara;
• Chelyabinsk;
• Mordovia.

There are women's zones in which minors serve their sentences. This is 21 thousand girls. Almost one and a half thousand of them are placed in educational colonies. One of these correctional institutions is located in Bryansk (Komarov St., 30).

For dangerous recidivists, women's zones in Russia are also provided. Where are they located? One of these colonies is located in (Berezniki, Lenina Avenue, 81), and the second - in Orlovskaya (village Shakhovo).

Almost twenty thousand women are kept in the pre-trial detention center. Especially for women, pre-trial detention centers were opened in Moscow (Shosseinaya St., 82), St. Petersburg (Arsenalnaya St., 11) and Yekaterinburg. How are criminals kept in other regions? There is a zone for women in the prison. Such pre-trial detention centers are of a mixed type.

There is also a women's zone for foreign criminals on the territory of our country. It is located on the territory of Mordovia. 12,000 foreign citizens are serving sentences in this correctional facility, 500 of whom are residents of far abroad countries.

As for pre-trial detention centers, they are located in cities. Most often in the center of the village. This is explained by the fact that most of the pre-trial detention centers were built before 1917 in Tsarist Russia. And in those days, prisons and prisons were the most important city public services.

As for the PS, the women's zones in the regions of Russia were built, as a rule, in Stalin's times. Until the early 60s they were called camps. Such institutions were built away from the main roads. That is why today it is very difficult to get to many of them by public transport.

Where exactly are women's zones in Russia? Addresses and locations are listed above.

Types of PS

What could be the women's zone? First of all, it should be said that penitentiaries belong to the criminal correctional system of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. With the help of colonies, punishments are executed, which are expressed either for a certain period or for life. The penitentiary also contains those sentenced to death.

A zone for women can be a correctional or educational colony, a prison, as well as a medical correctional institution.

Types of IS by modes

As a rule, the Russian women's zone is It contains persons who have already reached the age of eighteen. The criminal correctional system of Russia includes four types of colonies. Their difference lies in the existing modes. Among them are the colonies:

• settlements;
• general regime;
• strict regime;
• special regime.

However, not all of these correctional facilities are for women. What is the regime on the women's zone? To serve their sentences, criminals are sent only to settlement colonies, where they can live on a common territory with men, as well as to penitentiaries of general regime. In the latter institutions, convicts are separated by gender. Is there a women's zone, a strict regime or a special one in which is applied to convicts? There are no similar correctional institutions for criminals.

Referral of convicts

In what colony will a criminal or a criminal serve his sentence? This is decided by the court. So, the general regime is intended for women who have committed serious and especially serious crimes in case of any relapse. In addition, the court, when considering the case, carefully examines the identity of the perpetrator. And taking into account the circumstances of the committed crime, a decision can be made to send a woman who has committed an illegal offense through negligence to a correctional colony. Here, those criminals who must be punished for an unintentional criminal offense, as well as for an act of medium and small gravity, can also serve their sentence. In this case, the crimes must be committed for the first time.

A women's prison (zone) for juveniles is an educational colony with the same general regime. In these institutions, light and ordinary, as well as strict and preferential terms of serving time are established. Juvenile delinquents have one single privilege. In case of conscientious performance of labor duties and the absence of penalties that must be confirmed within the first three months of imprisonment, the administration can transfer them to the usual mode of stay.

Criminals can be sent by the court to settlement colonies, as well as to medical institutions of the law enforcement system. In the territory of these PSs, there is no differentiation by gender. Here, men and women live in buildings located on the same territory. At the same time, separate rooms are provided for them.

A women's prison (zone) is a place where criminals with young children (up to 3 years old) can serve their sentences. The court sends such mothers to colonies where a children's home is opened. Not only women with children, but also pregnant women get into such institutions.

Internal distribution

Directly in the correctional facility, convicted women are settled by the administration. So, criminals who are serving their sentences for the first time are kept separately from those who have already been in the colony before. Women who have received their term for dangerous and especially dangerous criminal offenses are also kept isolated from others.

The administration of the penitentiary places these categories of convicts in separate areas. However, the fulfillment of such conditions becomes not always possible due to the lack of housing, as well as the lack of the necessary organizational and material and technical base.

The women's zone (see photo below) provides for the creation of ordinary, light and strict conditions for convicts. In 2003, some amendments were made to the Federal Law relating to these PSs. They touched those ladies who are serving their sentences in facilitated conditions. Thus, since 2003, such women have been allowed to live outside the territory of the colony together with their families if there are six months left before the end of their sentence.

In general, the law does not regulate the conditions of detention in a general regime colony based on gender. Women are granted only minor privileges in the form of an increase in living space (3.5 square meters instead of 2).

In addition, convicted pregnant women and those who have reached the age of 55 can be involved in unpaid work only with their consent. These categories of convicts, as well as minors, must be credited to their personal account with at least fifty percent of their earnings.

According to the penitentiary rules, women can:

• use cosmetics;
• purchase necessary things, clothes, etc. in the store on the territory of the institution

In addition, a hairdresser and a photographer work in the correctional colony for convicted women. Women must pay for their services with their own money.

Places of residence

Cells for female convicts can be of various sizes. However, most of them are designed for 40-60 people. Bunk beds are for sleeping. They are installed in two rows. In the people, such sleeping places are called "bunks". Only a few beds, which are set in the opposite corner from the cell doors, can be without a second shelf. This place has its own name - "glade". Here lives the eldest and women close to her, who have long been serving their term.

The cell also has its own kitchen, as well as a toilet with a shower. They are located separately from the main room. Despite the fact that the time for visiting the shower for women is not limited, they can wash their clothes only on certain days.

The camera is cleaned daily. And they do it in the morning and in the evening. On weekends, a mandatory attribute is the general cleaning of the living room, kitchen and toilet. This is done by duty officers who are appointed according to a specific schedule. Refusal to clean is not possible. The only exceptions are those convicted women who have been serving sentences for more than a year.

For poor cleaning, punishment is sure to follow. A guilty woman is assigned additional duty outside the schedule.

Motherhood behind bars

There are maternity wards in the women's zones where children's homes are open. They are created in order to provide medical care to pregnant women serving sentences in a colony. According to the legislation, the administration of such institutions must create all conditions for the normal development and residence of the children there. A convicted mother can communicate with her child in her free time from work. However, they are allowed to live together.

After the baby is three years old, with the consent of the mother, he is transferred to the upbringing of relatives or other persons. Otherwise, the child will be sent to a public child care institution.

A woman is given a short leave to arrange her baby. Its duration is fifteen days, excluding travel. Subsequently, for the same period, the administration of the colony provides the mother with a child intended for a visit.

In the event that the convicted mother has less than a year left to serve her sentence, a three-year-old baby can be left in the orphanage. Here he will wait for the release of his mother. However, such a right is granted only to those women who are distinguished by impeccable behavior.

Pregnant women and women with children under the age of three are entitled to all the rights and benefits provided by Russian law. In addition, they can purchase basic necessities and foodstuffs, health equipment, special clothing and footwear without any restrictions. Payment in this case is made at the expense of funds stored on the personal account of the prisoner.

Employment

The administration of any penal colony has one very important responsibility. It should provide convicts with employment. This takes into account the age of the woman and, if possible, the specialty.

Working convicts are entitled to paid annual leave. Its duration is twelve days, excluding weekends.

Juvenile offenders who are in an educational institution are granted longer leave. It is eighteen business days. The same leave is due to those women who have reached the age of 55.

It is noted that convicted ladies work more diligently than men. Only a small percentage of women do not want to work or treat their duties in bad faith.

In order to diversify the monotonous work of convicts, who are usually employed in the clothing industry, the administration of the penitentiary often offers them new areas of employment. This is knitting and lace weaving, folk crafts, etc.

Leisure

What do convicted women do in their free time? These are, as a rule, minor household chores, satisfying personal needs, writing letters, participating in amateur art activities, playing sports and reading literature. In addition, women are actively involved in religious activities. They help the ministers of the church to conduct the appropriate ceremonies.

Many of the convicts emphasize the importance of unlimited correspondence, as well as the possibility of using a computer network and telephone communications to communicate with close relatives.

What is the hardest part of being in prison?

A woman is assigned a certain social role in society, and other functions are destined than those of men. In addition, representatives of the weaker half of humanity are always distinguished by a way of life and a historically determined place in the system of human relations. And this is not to mention the biological and psychophysiological characteristics of women. What happens to them in places of detention?

Getting into the violator of the law is all alone. The fact is that women are rarely placed in temporary detention facilities, and those who end up there are placed separately from men. Such conditions from the first hours are perceived very painfully. The lack of communication with people has a depressing effect on the female psyche.

Further, when an arrest warrant is issued, the violator of the law is transferred to a pre-trial detention center. Prison reality becomes a complete surprise for women. Sometimes this makes the offenders lose their sense of reality. And this is not surprising. After all, every person who finds himself in prison for the first time experiences the strongest stress. And if in the temporary detention center it seems that this whole nightmare will soon end, then in prison it becomes clear that the imprisonment will last at least several months or even more than one year. Informational hunger also influences the psychological state of a woman. It begins to seem to her that her relatives have forgotten her, and her friends have completely abandoned her. This greatly increases the suffering of the prisoner.

In such a situation, only conversations with cellmates have some psychotherapeutic effect. Feminine nature allows you to calm down a bit, sharing at least someone with a sudden misfortune. However, every person sometimes feels the need to be alone with himself. But it is not possible to do this in the chamber. The constant presence of strangers simply begins to annoy and cause anxiety. When such a psycho-emotional state of a woman reaches its maximum level, inevitable conflicts arise. Fortunately, for ladies, they are limited to petty domestic issues and end with conversations in raised tones. Fights in the cells where the ladies who violated the law are located are extremely rare.

After the verdict is passed, the women's zone awaits the criminals. Photos taken in the colony convincingly confirm the fact that there is a lack of personal space here too. Whether it's a building site, a production facility, or a bedroom, prisoners are always in the crowd. In addition, the administration of the colony suppresses any attempts to decorate a nightstand or bed with any pictures or photographs. Even drying underwear on the back of the bed in the daytime can end in punishment.

For a person accustomed to a free life, it will also become difficult to comply with the general regime of lifting, hanging up and eating. It is not easy to spend in common places and free time from work.

Prison clothing negatively affects the psyche of a woman. This is usually a blue or gray skirt or pants, as well as a blouse. For the street, a padded jacket and a scarf are issued, which should be on the woman all day until she returns to spend the night in the barracks. It is this accessory that irritates those serving sentences very much.

What is the meaning of restrictions? They make a woman understand that her usual actions are dangerous. And in order to avoid risk, it is necessary to adopt established rules. Through established discipline, the administration seeks to fit all prisoners into one pattern, forcing them to obedience and performance. A person deprived of his personal life begins to lose control over his actions. He is losing the habit of being independent. Often this leads to the fact that, once free, a woman cannot adapt to the ordinary life of society.

The media has recently paid a lot of attention to the problem of women in prison. Television and newspaper reports, analytical articles, interviews with officials of the penitentiary service are devoted to this topic ...

However, journalistic research suffers from an obvious one-sidedness, they show only the "facade" side of the problem. It would be naive to think that a prisoner, to whom a journalist holds out a microphone in the presence of citizens of the chiefs, will be sincere and direct in her assessments of prison reality. One can hardly count on the frankness of an employee of the pre-trial detention center, who still has to serve and serve ... In this sense, the information received from professionals who have recently parted with the prison system, are well versed in its complex organization and at the same time are able to think freely and speak is valuable. without regard to the authorities. As the famous character of the film “The meeting place cannot be changed” said: “You, boss, ... write books.”

Childbirth in prison

If you happened to give birth in prison, then you got an exceptional opportunity to find out a lot of such details that other women did not even dream of: is it possible to give birth in handcuffs and is there security during childbirth; how long a woman in labor stays in the maternity hospital and how she is taken back to the isolation ward; whether a baby is searched when he goes to court with his mother; whether a pregnant woman is persuaded to have an abortion; whether a mother can raise her child if she was allowed to take him to a colony, and much, much more.

Pregnant women are kept in common cells - stuffy, smoky - they are fed the same food. A woman in labor is usually taken to the hospital at the first contractions, if the prisoners have time to inform the administration about this. They are transported in a paddy wagon or ambulance, but always under escort. In some cases, a woman giving birth can be delivered in handcuffs. After giving birth, a woman held in a labor colony must start work in two months. The child stays in the hospital for the prescribed time - 5-6 days, and then, if he is healthy, he is returned to his mother. From this moment, or a little earlier, the mother begins to live in a separate cell adapted for such cases, in which only pregnant or lactating women can stay. So it is written in the “Detention Act”. But, like many other things provided for by this act, most often it remains a simple declaration, a good intention, one of those with which the road ... to hell is paved.

motherhood in prison

“Mommies” or “mothers” are the most odious part of the female prison population. They are spoken about with slight irony, or even completely disapprovingly. They are considered a heavy burden of the penitentiary system - after all, according to the law, they are not required to work in order to feed themselves; they cannot be placed in a punishment cell or punishment cell, even for serious offenses; they cannot be handcuffed when; they need special cells and special conditions.

Woman in prison - who is she?

Women's crime in nature is markedly different from men's. Women are much less likely to commit crimes for profit. Robberies, robberies, murders with the aim of taking possession of other people's property are not women's crimes. But grossly violent acts of a domestic nature: murders motivated by jealousy, revenge, grievous bodily harm - typically "women's share" in criminal statistics.

Everyone knows that there are women's zones in Russia. This fact is not hidden from anyone, but it is somehow not customary to discuss it in the media. We can say that this topic is embarrassed, it is something conditionally taboo. Society does not want to know what happens to women who are behind bars. They are outcasts of this society, having a chance to return to normal life only after serving their sentence. The women's prison is not a place for the weak, its own laws and orders reign here. That's what we'll talk about in this article.

Women's zones of Russia: general characteristics

According to the latest data, there are thirty-five colonies and prisons for women in our country. They contain about sixty thousand of the fair sex, which is approximately five percent of all convicts in Russia. If we compare all these figures with the total number of inhabitants of the country, it turns out that there are forty convicted women for approximately one hundred thousand Russians.

Underage girls who are behind bars make up a fairly significant percentage of prisoners. There are about thirteen thousand of them in Russia, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service.

There are three types of female colonies:

• general regime;
• strict;
• settlement colony.

Most often, women are determined in a general regime colony and settlement. For minors there is an educational women's zone. A strict regime is provided only for recidivists, there are two such correctional institutions in Russia. They are located at the following addresses:

• city ​​of Bereznyaki;
• Shakhovo village.

Usually, female killers who have repeatedly or repeatedly committed this criminal act fall into such zones. For theft or robbery, they rarely get into a strict regime.

Women's zones are not the only place where women are kept. There are approximately twenty thousand representatives of the fair sex in pre-trial detention centers. They are awaiting trial and sentencing. In case of a confession of guilt, the woman is sent to a correctional institution by stage. It is worth noting that pre-trial detention centers in our country are mixed, but recently there has been a tendency to reform the system of serving sentences. In this regard, three women's pre-trial detention centers have appeared in the country, located in the following cities:

• Moscow.
• Ekaterinburg.

Why do women go to jail?

The most common article according to which Russian women find themselves behind barbed wire is the possession and distribution of narcotic substances. Such convicted women make up more than sixty percent of the total. Thieves come across, they are not very liked in the zone. They are able to steal from their own, which is severely suppressed by the rest of the convicts. Female killers make up no more than six percent of all imprisoned. Most often, their article is classified as "negligent homicide" or "exceeding the level of permissible self-defense." Such cases are very common.

A special contingent in the zone is made up of female prisoners serving sentences for fraud, sometimes on an especially large scale. These ladies are usually quite well-groomed and are released on parole after serving a little more than half of the term appointed by the court.

Russia: which region has the most women's colonies?

Mordovia is traditionally called the camp region. Twenty correctional institutions are located here, three of them are women's zones. Mordovia is a rather difficult place to serve a sentence, former convicts talk about difficult living conditions, cases of bullying by the administration, poor food and lack of basic hygiene items. Even uniforms are not always issued here or not in a complete set.

The list of women's correctional institutions in Mordovia is as follows:

• IK-2 (Yavas village).
• IK-13 (Partsa village).
• IK-14 (Partsa village).

In each of the colonies there is an industrial zone, in some of them their own subsidiary plots are built.

Life sentence: are there such colonies in Russia?

Whatever the conditions of detention for the women's zone, the ladies will not have to serve their sentence for life. The fact is that, according to Russian law, women are not assigned such a measure of punishment. Not a single crime committed will lead the fair sex to a life sentence. This rule also applies to persons under the age of eighteen at the time of the crime, and men who have reached the age of sixty.

SIZO: features of waiting for the court

The only women's pre-trial detention center in Moscow has a bad reputation among similar institutions. To get here means to slightly open the gates of hell for yourself and, possibly, stay in it forever. The prisoners call this institution very eloquently - "SIZO 666". And this is quite fair, because there are no such inhuman conditions even in strict regime colonies. Judge for yourself: social activists come here almost weekly and sound the alarm, but the situation has not changed so far - the conditions for women remain incredibly monstrous. It is simply not possible to leave the pre-trial detention center as a healthy person.

According to last year's data, 1,357 people are kept in the Moscow pre-trial detention center, and the upper limit of the institution's occupancy ranges from 892 women. Can you imagine what happens in the cells where the prisoners are kept with such overcrowding? If not, we will tell you.

Each cell holds seventy to eighty people, while the norm is fifty. There are not enough beds for everyone, so women sleeping under the beds and on the floor of the cells have become a familiar sight in this pre-trial detention center. This has not bothered anyone for a long time, the guards are also used to the fact that the prisoners lie on the floor, covered with a thin blanket. No one can solve the situation, because even folding beds will not lead to a cardinal solution to the problem. No one can imagine how to put them in cells where it is impossible to even turn around.

Add to this state of affairs terrible unsanitary conditions. Women do not have a proper toilet, and showers in such cells are not provided at all. If the prisoners are lucky, they will be able to rinse their hands and face with water heated in a kettle. It is not available in all cameras. Hordes of cockroaches crawl over the women sleeping under the beds. There are more and more of them every year. It is difficult to find a square meter of space where several dozen of these mustachioed insects would not sit.

A special problem for women in pre-trial detention centers is medical care. We can say that it does not exist at all, all requests for help will be answered with one answer - they will give out aspirin. Many women enter the institution absolutely healthy, but leave with tuberculosis or syphilis. Picking him up in the cell is easy, because new arrivals do not even withstand the quarantine. No one takes a blood test from them and does not do a fluorography. In emergency cases, it is impossible to wait for medical help, even pregnant women may not be examined throughout the entire period. Such negligence leads to a high death rate among prisoners, even young and strong women cannot withstand such conditions.

The food also leaves much to be desired. As the prisoners themselves say, they eat expired food, and parcels from relatives are not delivered in full.

Of course, this information is just a light sketch of the everyday life of the prisoners of the Moscow pre-trial detention center, but even he already inspires horror from the situation in which, perhaps, even innocent women are.

Orders in the women's zone

Judging by the reviews of former convicts, the zones are radically different from each other. Some of them resemble hell, while in others life can be quite tolerable and tolerable. Of course, if you have money and the ability to constantly receive parcels. Life in the women's zones directly depends on the amount of money, for which you can buy yourself an indulgence in the regime, tasty food and a relatively calm existence without vigils and harassment from cellmates. But let's talk about everything in order.

Women live in the barracks, designed for approximately forty people. Typically, such cells are large in size, they have a shower, a designated nook for a toilet and a fenced-off small kitchen area. In conditions where it is almost impossible to retire, such a layout allows you to at least sometimes be away from the noisy crowd of people. It is much more difficult to stay in smaller cells, they do not have a separate kitchen, and the TV is always turned on at the request of the elder.

Each unit has four separate beds. Only a select few sleep on them. Usually this is the eldest and those whom she herself appoints. A sleeping place can be redeemed for money or cigarettes. The fee depends on the person in charge of the detachment, she sets the rates and the number of days when you can use the special position.

The eldest is always chosen by the general vote of women, but her candidacy must be agreed with the administration of the colony. In general, a person in charge can also be appointed directly by the administration, she is responsible for everything that happens in the detachment. The slightest violation of the regime, disorder or fights immediately become a reason for punishing the eldest, and she, in turn, will begin to ask tough questions from her cellmates.

In order to maintain cleanliness, the elder draws up duty schedules. In this, women's zones differ significantly from men's - here, almost every action is regulated by a schedule. Even washing and drying clothes takes place in every woman on her day. The duty is not considered something shameful, but alone it is quite difficult to clean the entire territory of the cell three times a day. Many women who have money give their duty to cellmates for cigarettes. Together with tea, they are the most popular commodity.

Fights and showdowns in the cells, of course, happen. But still they are not as frequent as they show in the movies. Many women live in "families", but such groups do not have a sexual connotation. It's just that a few people keep a joint household and communicate, usually the whole detachment eventually breaks up into such groups. People communicate only within the "family", singles can communicate with anyone.

Cases of rape, which, according to journalists, abound in female colonies, are in fact extremely rare. Lesbian couples usually form among women who have been incarcerated for more than ten years. This is not particularly welcomed and advertised, but no one will force cohabitation.

The order of life in the colonies

Naturally, a women's prison is not a sanatorium. Here you need to work, and work a lot. What are they doing in the zone? Mostly women sew overalls, even those who have never sat at a sewing machine and never picked up a needle do this.

According to the schedule, the rise in the zone begins at six in the morning. An hour is given to those sentenced to hygiene procedures; at seven o'clock they must stand at the entrance to the industrial zone. The working day lasts in each zone differently, as well as the work schedule. In some zones, women work twelve hours with an hour-long lunch break and one day off a week. In others, there is a two-by-two schedule, but it is quite rare in correctional facilities. Convicts have a daily work rate, for failure to comply with which the entire detachment can be punished, so absolutely everyone tries to work well and quickly.

In addition to sewing, there is the work of cleaners, cooks and dishwashers. Some colonies built their own bakeries, where women also work. There are clubs in many correctional institutions, they raise the status of the institution in the eyes of the inspecting authorities. Women usually organize competitions, put on performances and hold holidays themselves. No one forces them to do this, but from the lack of emotions and vivid impressions, they themselves are ready to somehow brighten up their gray everyday life.

Uniforms of convicts

With this, there are no uniform standards in the colonies either. According to the law, every woman should be given a set of clothes and underwear for a period of one year. But in reality, this rule is almost never observed.

According to the stories of the convicts, one can judge the state of affairs with the provision of clothing in the colonies. For example, in Mordovia, convicts are often given the following set of uniforms:

• shirt;
• skirt or trousers;
• handkerchief;
• quilted jacket;
• one set of underwear.

Typically, such a set is worn for about three years, or even longer. In addition, in the conditions of winter frosts, women do not have the opportunity to wear a sweater or T-shirt under a thin shirt. Women freeze in cold sewing shops, and they generally do not have the opportunity to take off their headscarves until the lights out. He must be on his head all the time, which is extremely inconvenient.

In other colonies, women receive only trousers and a quilted jacket in winter, which significantly complicates the life of women who are unable to receive parcels with things from home. They have to buy clothes from inmates or wear rags. This leads to unsanitary conditions and a large number of colds.

Having a baby in prison

This topic is perhaps the most painful and difficult. After all, the miracle of the birth of a new life is overshadowed by being in gloomy dungeons and the lack of the opportunity to see your child. Not all women manage to bear a child in a colony. Many pregnancies end in miscarriages, this is due to difficult living conditions and poor medical care. Prison hospitals do not have the necessary equipment and medicines. Even if there are professional and kind-hearted doctors in an emergency, they will not be able to provide the necessary assistance to maintain the pregnancy. In addition, many doctors do not bother examining expectant mothers, they may be out of medical supervision during the entire period.

Not every colony allows a mother to be close to a child under three years old. Most often, the mother may not see the baby after birth - he is immediately transported to the children's department of the hospital, and then to the baby's home. In other cases, the baby is kept in a neighboring building, and the mother has the opportunity to see him for only a few hours a day while walking. After three years, the child is sent to an orphanage or to be raised by relatives, if they agree to accept the baby.

Women's zone: reviews of former convicts

It is difficult to summarize the opinions of prisoners about their life in the colonies, because they vary greatly. But thanks to these reviews, it is possible to identify common problems in women's colonies that almost all prisoners had to face. The list of problems looks like this:

1. Unsanitary conditions

Every woman mentioned terrible unsanitary conditions, because many convicts do not have the opportunity to get hygiene products and even ordinary soap. In addition, prisoners are not always able to wash and retire to the toilet. All intimate procedures take place in full view of the team, which significantly breaks the psyche and turns a woman into a weak-willed and submissive creature.

Unfortunately, not all colonies have the opportunity to walk and even breathe fresh air, which creates additional difficulties and serves as a source of infection.

2. The inhuman attitude of the guards

Of course, among the guards there are also excellent employees who treat the convicts with great attention and see people in them. But, unfortunately, the percentage of such employees of the colony is extremely small. Basically, the guards (the women themselves, by the way) try in every possible way to humiliate the convicts and practice various bullying.

3. Poor nutrition

Despite the fact that the diet of prisoners is quite balanced, in reality it looks very poor and poor. In addition, many colonies buy products of poor quality, which affects the health of women. If someone has money, they do not eat prison food, but cook for themselves from food sent from home by relatives.

4. Lack of medical care

In Russian women's colonies, as in men's, there are high cases of tuberculosis and HIV infection. There are about fifty percent of such convicts. Women are not provided with medical assistance in time, many are not treated at all, while the situation still needs to be corrected.

5. Commodity-money relations among prisoners and administration

Almost all convicts note that it is impossible to exist in a colony without money. For them, you can buy a phone, additional visits with relatives and relaxation of the regime. In addition, in some colonies there are rumors about the possibility of getting out on parole for a fixed amount of money. Of course, there is no official confirmation of these rumors, but still there is no smoke without fire. In addition, everyone knows that for a fee, convicts can get into prison beauty salons, get manicures and pedicures, and even walk all day with makeup. Some prisoners said in an interview that there was a make-up artist in their squad who daily put in order young ladies with a good financial situation.

All of the above problems are maximally generalized and do not reveal the full state of affairs in all women's colonies. But, according to the former convicts themselves, having left the zone, it is difficult to feel like a full-fledged person again. After all, inhuman treatment kills and cripples the soul, which leads to cases of relapse and return to the colony under new articles.

Conclusion

Prison is for many women a terrible experience that they do not want to repeat. In just a few months, she turns a self-sufficient person into something completely different, ready to obey and betray. After all, the convicts themselves say that in the colonies there are only two types of people - those who "knock" and those who are "knocked on."

It cannot be hidden that the penitentiary system in Russia needs a serious reorganization. It must be radically changed, because only in this case women will not lose their face and charm in these correctional institutions, and money will cease to play such a significant role, and all convicts will be equalized. But, unfortunately, today the situation in this area remains very, very deplorable. And we believe that this should be discussed as often as possible.