Percepciones de operadores de justicia sobre el derecho a la salud mental de mujeres privadas de la libertad, Cuenca, 2023-2024

Abstract

Women inmates have been rendered invisible by public administration, complicating the recognition of their specific psychological well-being needs. The interpretation of the right to mental health for incarcerated individuals by legal operators could either ensure its exercise or lead to violation and undermining of women's rights in prison. Therefore, this study aims to understand how justice operators perceive the right to mental health of women deprived of liberty. The research adopts a qualitative phenomenological approach and was conducted in Cuenca, Ecuador. Seven justice operators were interviewed, and one file of penitentiary guarantees was revised using the content analysis method. Grounded Theory Analysis tools were used to process the information. The findings reveal that justice operators perceive mental health services for women prisoners as deficient, emphasizing the poor quality of psychological reports, which is associated with the precarious and violent internal situation of correctional centers. Furthermore, the limited knowledge of legal regulations concerning women prisoners and their right to psychological well-being underscores the need for training and/or updating among professionals. Thus, it is evident that the prison system requires the allocation of resources by the State to address these aforementioned issues, which act as obstacles to the timely access of psychological well-being for women inmates.