The 2,560 detainees in Venezuela, of which 82 are foreigners, are kept in “makeshift” spaces while suffering from overcrowding and, in some cases, sexual abuse, according to a report released this Wednesday (12) by the NGO Observatorio Venezuelano. of Prisons (OVP).
During an online forum in which violations of women’s rights in Venezuelan prisons were discussed, the general director of the OVP, Humberto Prado, denounced that there is only one female penitentiary in the country, with a “critical overcrowding of 187.14%”, and that the other spaces are annexes located inside men’s prisons, which limit the well-being of incarcerated women.
“The women’s annexes are makeshift spaces in men’s prisons, which don’t have a differentiated approach to meeting women’s needs,” said Prado.
In addition, he revealed that women do not have medical assistance, not even those who have children in prison, and that there are no dignified spaces within penitentiaries for maternity.
Carolina Girón, another leader of the OVP, lamented the lack of information about the situation of women in Venezuelan prisons, and said that the penitentiary system was created by men and for men.
“Most of these women are young and poor, who are also abused by colleagues and even prison guards (…). They are watched by men when they are naked, there is no respect for their modesty,” said Carolina.
The OVP also denounced that prisons in Venezuela were 64.19% overcrowded in 2022, with a prisoner population of 33,558, but with a real installed capacity of 20,438 places.
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