Women in Belgian prisons: a minority and devalued status.

On the basis of empirical research, this article aims to document the treatment of women in Belgian prisons. Observations and interviews were conducted with women inmates in seven prisons across the country, as well as with members of staff from both internal and external services. The authors first analyze the consequences for women of their minority status in detention, combined with the principle of gender-segregated imprisonment. Secondly, they show how gendered representations at work in prison practices give women an inferior and devalued status within an institution designed by and for men.