Gender Equality Behind Bars: A Feminist Approach to Penality Policies Worldwide

This book represents the first analysis of prison and immigration detention policies within the context of gender policy studies. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it provides a roadmap for better understanding penal policies from feminist and gendered perspectives. An introductory chapter examines the paradoxical relationship between gender equality and penal coercion, and sets out an agenda for future research. This is followed by ten case-studies, each of which examines gender and penal policies in different contexts. Issues including prisons, immigration, detention and criminalization are all assessed, in countries from both the Global South and the Global North. Combining theoretical and empirical evidence, the book will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, gender studies, anthropology and criminology, as well as those interested in penal policies, criminal justice and punishment.