Sons of (in)justice

Abstract

The following article presents statements by pregnant or breastfeeding women to have been through custody hearings and criminal proceedings while released on bail, illustrating institutional responses to prenatal, childbirth, and post-natal care outside the prison environment. The aim was to document the possibilities for and difficulties of applying release measures, according to the women’s own narratives of violence. The qualitative research is based on an analysis of content and is organized according to thematic modules with an exploration of the material collected in interviews and field data. Several obstacles faced in the empirical study have been highlighted, as have the experiences of the women inside and outside the prisons, in terms of the exercise of motherhood, life with the child, the lack of state assistance, and the consequences of the imprisonment. The report from mothers to have been released on bail or placed under house arrest due to pregnancy demonstrates adequate pre-natal care and the children’s healthy development, although difficulties were still experienced during childbirth. The adoption of measures to release the women allowed for better access to healthcare, in line with the human right to safe motherhood. The satisfaction of being able to care for their children and live alongside family stood out as a positive factor. Situations of institutional violence still persist, given the insufficiency or absence of state protection.