The Women's Prison: A Portrait of Incarceration in the Regional Prison of Santa Maria/RS

The problem of the current prison system is a historical one, dating back to the dawn of civilisation, when effective methods of punishing and sentencing criminals were sought. However, the problem remains to this day, aggravated by the deficiency and precarious structural conditions of the prison system, both male and female. Given this worrying situation, this research was carried out with the aim of verifying the conditions in Brazilian women's prisons, especially in the Santa Maria prison, presenting the reality of this penitentiary, in other words, getting to know the experience of women prisoners in Brazilian mixed and women's prisons. Knowledge of the reality of the women's prison system was relevant to the work in the sense of making an association with the bibliographical information and legislation researched, due to its shortcomings and the growing number of women in prison, as well as the shortage of vacancies in women's prisons.