Women in detention live like men in maximum security”

“Women in detention live like men in maximum security”

The number of convicted prisoners in Russia is lower than in the 2000s and 2010s, but the share of women among them has been rising since the start of the war in Ukraine and has reached a record level, according to Verstka. The number of convictions for drug-related and “political” cases is also increasing. At the same time, more children under four are living in colonies with their mothers.

According to human rights activists and former inmates interviewed by Verstka, conditions in women’s penal colonies involve hunger, cold, and “slave labor.” In addition to factory work, women perform duties such as janitors and loaders, while receiving minimal food.

All women’s colonies are “red” (controlled by administration), meaning less inmate-on-inmate violence than in men’s colonies, but stricter oversight by authorities. Unlike in men’s prisons, obtaining contraband—such as a mobile phone—is nearly impossible in women’s detention facilities, according to the “Women’s Term” project.

“Women’s colonies are a hundred times worse than men’s because women are not treated as human beings,” said former political prisoner Olga Bendas.

Women are treated differently, “they are monitored in a completely different way,” said another former political prisoner, Sasha Skochilenko.

Read more about the conditions women face in Russian prisons on Verstka’s website (with VPN):

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Verstka

Women’s sentence: why the number of convicted women in Russia is growing

Women are increasingly prosecuted for drugs, fraud, and treason