Women’s imprisonment in Spain

Even though Spain has one of the highest rates for the incarceration of women in Europe – 9 per cent of the total prison population – women’s imprisonment is one of the most neglected subjects of academic study and research in Spanish universities. The purpose of this article is to contribute cross-national evidence from Spain to support the claim of researchers in other countries that the needs of women in prison are different from those of men. It is divided into four main parts covering: the increase in the size of the female prison population in Spain since the 1980s; the differences in men’s and women’s prisons and between male and female prisoners ’ needs; profiles of women in prison in Spain; and myths and motherhood. Much of the argument is based on research conducted by the author into women’s imprisonment during two periods of time, namely, 1995–6 and 2000–1. Key Words motherhood • prisons • Spain • women Even though Spain has one of the highest rates for the incarceration of women in Europe – 9 per cent of the total prison population – women’s imprisonment is one of the most neglected subjects of academic study and research in Spanish universities. The reports on women in prison that began to appear in the 1990s consisted mainly of brief articles or papers presented in the context of seminars on prison systems in general (Miralles