The imbrications of top-down and bottom-up perspectives: Penitentiary policies, Rehabilitation Programs and Gender in Peru

This article undertakes an in-depth analysis of the intricate interplay between penitentiary policies, rehabilitation programs tailored for women, and gender dynamics in Peru. Recent studies on Latin American prison systems advocate for the concept of co-governance, where collaboration between penitentiary authorities and inmates is pivotal. To comprehensively grasp the governance of prisons, it becomes imperative to consider both the institutional-formal dimension and the customary-informal one. In this context, our argument suggests that unraveling the implementation of gender equality policies in Peru necessitates a dual examination of top-down and bottom-up initiatives. The institutional-formal dimension is intricately linked to top-down actions driven by formal authorities. To explore this facet, we focus on three key public documents from the Central Sede of the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE). These documents serve as the foundation for the resocialization process in Peru. Conversely, the informal-legitimized dimension aligns with a bottom-up perspective, encompassing the daily practices within the prison setting. Our analysis delves into the experiences of two women: Medalith, a former female prisoner who established her micro-entrepreneurship within the prison, and Sofia, a psychologist with INPE working in a female prison in Peru. From a top-down standpoint, we acknowledge the recent and inconsistent integration of gender into Peru’s formal-institutional dimension. While there is a discernible institutional effort to incorporate a gender approach through guidelines for prison rehabilitation actions, these efforts tend to limit the conceptualisation of gender to a traditional binary perspective, portraying female prisoners as passive recipients of patriarchal violence and reproducers of care. On the contrary, we contend that the experiences of Medalith and Sofia exemplify how daily practices defy and enrich the conceptualisation of female prisoners outlined in formal-institutional documents. Their narratives represent grassroots initiatives that, through bottom-up pressure in their daily lives, contribute to a more nuanced understanding of women within the prison system. This understanding restores agency and emphasizes collective connections and solidarity, thereby offering a more comprehensive view of female incarceration.