Amor entre mulheres: afetividades e violência no contexto prisional

Abstract

In this present article, we reflect on the possibilities of the existence of love and affection in relationships between incarcerated women as a powerful element to think about the representations of power and violence operated by the State, from the narratives of women serving time restrictive of freedom in the Talavera Bruce Female Prison, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The narratives of these women made through interviews, configure the meanings that may indicate the violent intervention of the State over these relations through the various actors that work in the prison. Non-heterosexual relations are common in these institutional spaces and, when we problematize the representations of bodies and practices that escape from the heterosexual norm, they ignite a series of assumptions about gender identities and sexual orientation, however, they break boundaries and call for their (re)cognition not only in that space, but also in all spheres of the larger society. In the fissures of the narratives of this universe it was possible to show beyond common sense that such relationships are constituted for various reasons, among which are affection, love, solidarity, and also interests of various orders, which is common in the narratives of prison guards and other prison workers about such relationships.

Keywords:  Female incarceration. Sexuality. Violence