Sign in

Support the Guardian

Fund independent journalism with $5 per month

Support us

News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle

Opinion Global development

I spent nine years in a Colombian women’s

prison. This is what I learned
Claudia Cardona

The system is failing women, with often devastating impacts

on our families, mental or reproductive health. But those who
have been inside can change it for the better – if we are allowed
Supported by

About this content

Tue 19 Sep 2023 08.00 BST

El Buen Pastor – the good shepherd – women’s prison in Bogotá. Most female prisoners in Colombia have
committed a crime out of economic need. Photograph: John Vizcaíno/Reuters

W
hen I started my jail sentence in Bogotá, Colombia, it was 2008
and I was 31 with a four-year-old daughter. I was imprisoned
for nine years and three months. I don’t tell people the reason
I went to prison. Not for me, but for all the free women who
face so many problems because of the time they spent in jail. My crime
doesn’t make me the person I am.
Most women in Colombia commit crime out of a need to provide for their
families. They are judged and punished without society or the justice system
taking the circumstances surrounding the crime into account.

When women go to jail for the first time, most don’t know anything about
prison. They have in their heads what they’ve seen in films; women have no
idea what will happen to them and go into prison very scared. No one
explains anything. You’re sent to the cell and it’s the other women who tell
you how things work.

Q&A
Guide – the rise in female prisoners around the world
Show

The food is terrible. I would get meat that looked as if it was decomposing; it
smelled and looked bad. Food was often burned and juices also smelled bad.
Soups were basically water. Everyone had to eat it – it was that or nothing.

The prison in Bogotá is one of the biggest in Colombia, housing 1,859

women. There is one doctor on duty during the day and another at night.
Women can’t get appointments. There are lots of sick people and a lack of
specialist care.

There is no one to treat gynaecological ailments. There is no one to test for

cancer, or to carry out breast exams. There are so many flaws in the system
in terms of reproductive and sexual health. I suffered uterine problems and
used to get strong cramps and heavy bleeding. I was given ibuprofen for the
pain and had to make do.

When I left prison and went to see a gynaecologist I was

scolded for not seeking medical attention earlier. I had to have a
hysterectomy because I had uterine fibroids that had gone untreated.

I was lucky I had work in prison and could afford sanitary towels. Other
women only got 10 sanitary towels every three months. That’s not enough
for one menstrual cycle. Women would cut off a bit of their mattress to use,
or would make tampons with wool or thread, which can cause infections.

Many prisoners experience mental health difficulties due to being apart from
their families. It is not like they stop being a mother, or a daughter, when
they get to prison. It causes anxiety and depression to have these roles but
be powerless to fulfil them. There are many suicide attempts and self-harm
is widespread because of this.

My daughter was involved in a traffic accident and had to go to hospital. I

was sent photos of her bleeding face and could do absolutely nothing but
cry.

When I got out, my daughter was a teenager. In as much as I went through

difficult times being denied my liberty and rights, she suffered by not having
a mother.

I was scared to leave prison because I didn’t know what I would do for
money. Fortunately, I was given a job by a human rights organisation
because of the experience I had as an incarcerated woman and as a
representative on the prison’s committee for human rights.

Sign up to Her Stage Free monthly newsletter

Hear directly from incredible women from around the world on the issues
that matter most to them – from the climate crisis to the arts to sport
Enter your email address
Sign up

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside
 parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

There are people
who think we are not
capable, but what we
lived through in prison
makes us experts by
experience
Most are not so lucky. Employers usually carry
out checks on people applying for jobs. If they
find a criminal record, they won’t employ her.
Banks view women with criminal records as a
risk and won’t let them open accounts. Doors
close everywhere.

Women continue to be denied access to health

services outside of prison. We have a subsidised
system in Colombia, but you have to be means-tested to access it.

When women leave prison, they often go to stay with a relative. So when
they are interviewed by the health service, they’re staying in a place with a
bed and furniture and are seen as being above the threshold for help.

For female migrants who don’t have the right documents, the situation is
even worse.

Women who manage to get informal work, at neighbourhood restaurants for

example, are often abused. We have heard of cases where women have been
groped and raped.

Bosses know the women would struggle to find work elsewhere. The victims
do not report their employers because they need the work.

I came to know about all these issues

in 2018 when I started holding
meetings for former prisoners. This
was the genesis of Mujeres Libres.
Now we are a group of nine women,
with 600 affiliated with us.

Mujeres Libres has been

Claudia Cardona’s work with Mujeres Libres
has helped change laws on provision of period
products in Colombian prisons. Photograph:
Courtesy of Claudia Cardona
campaigning about menstruation in
prison. In June 2022, law 2261, which
“guarantees the free, opportune and
sufficient delivery of articles of
menstrual hygiene for women
detained in prisons” was passed.
Article two states women are
entitled to 10 sanitary towels every
month.

In 2019, the Colombian congress, along with civil society organisations

including Mujeres Libres, started working on alternative sentencing for
women that would take into account their needs and seek to reduce the
impact of imprisonment on dependants. On International Women’s Day, a
new law was approved by the president, so women who have been
sentenced for minor crimes are able to substitute a prison sentence for
unpaid community service.

Women who have been in prison can make an impact, if we’re allowed.
People who make decisions about us know nothing about being in prison.
They make laws without listening. There are people who think we are not
capable, but what we lived through in prison makes us experts by
experience.

As told to Sarah Johnson. Claudia Cardona is director of Mujeres Libres, an

organisation dedicated to improving the lives of female prisoners

… there is a good reason why people choose not to support the Guardian.