A “Guerra às Drogas” e seus impactos na escalada do encarceramento feminino no Brasil

Abstract

This dissertation examines the implications of the “war on drugs” on the increase and deterioration of incarceration conditions for the female prison population in Brazil, considering the context of neoliberalism, with more significant implications for black women. In recent years, the country has experienced a hypertrophy of the incarceration agenda, with the black population as its main “target subjects,” and with a notable increase in the female prison population. Thus, the general objective was to analyze some of the implications of the so-called “war on drugs” on the progression of the female prison population in Brazil. The specific objectives were to understand some of the socio-structural determinants of female incarceration and its connections with the racist-patriarchal-capitalist system; to explain the impacts of the Drug Law on the increase and blackening of female incarceration in Brazil; and to map the current profile of incarcerated women and the conditions to which they are subjected in the Brazilian prison system. This was a bibliographic and documentary study, with an epistemological approach based on historical-dialectical materialism, given its process of successive approximations with the socio-historical determinants that shape the reality of the object under study. The methodological data base was supported by information presented by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety (FBSP) and the Criminal Information Report (RELIPEN) of the National Mechanism for the Prevention and Combating of Torture, reports from the Prison Ministry, reports from the Brazilian Bar Association, and other documents, with the aim of collecting data on profile, criminal classification, conditions of incarceration, age group, level of education, and other data. This data will be analyzed in light of theoretical references on the subject and will allow us to outline an overview of female incarceration in Brazil. As a result, the data collected shows that in 2024, the female prison population is, in absolute numbers, eight times larger than it was in the 2000s. In terms of profile, 62% of them are black; 30% are between 35 and 45 years old; 39% have only incomplete elementary school education; 83% are imprisoned for drug trafficking; 59% are single, and 24% of them were serving sentences of 4 to 8 years. Another finding is the scenario of permanent violation of rights, highlighting the racist-patriarchal character of the Brazilian state, which operates through the incarceration of women. It can be concluded that ethnicracial status, as well as socioeconomic vulnerability, are predominant factors in women's entry into the prison system, highlighting the direct relationship between gender, race, and class, which end up being reproduced in the prison environment. Furthermore, the data reveal that drug trafficking is the criminal offense for which these women are most often arrested, demonstrating that their involvement in illicit activities is related to the socioeconomic vulnerability resulting from their class conditions. Finally, with regard to the material conditions of women's incarceration, data from the MNPCT (2025) confirm the state of “chaos” in the Brazilian prison system and highlight how gender inequalities exacerbate the situation of women and other vulnerable groups, whose daily lives are marked by violations of fundamental rights and disrespect for their specific needs.