Uruguay, transgenders in ad hoc prisons

Among the latest measures of the Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou there is the signature of a agreement Of public-private partnership for the construction of a new one women’s prison with accommodation for transgender prisoners.

The structureas reported by the MercoPress agency, will be built in Montevideo in front of the current prison of Tip of Rails thanks to an investment of approximately 45 million euros. The initial capacity will be 846 prisonerswith the possibility of expanding to 1.015explained the Minister of the Interior Nicolas Martinelli.

And intervention significant, presented more than a year ago, which is now preparing to start. The worksitein fact, should be open within a couple of weeks, probably before ballot presidential election between the two most voted candidates in last Sunday’s first round: Alvaro Delgado (National Party – centre-right) e Yamandù Orsi (Broad Front – centre-left coalition).

The government aims for the “zero overcrowding” objective

It will therefore be the new government to carry on the project which has the objective of achieving the “zero overcrowding” in the penitentiary institutions. The new structure, estimates ithe Ministrycould be operational in the first half of 2026 and, for the South American standardswill be innovative: there will be specifics spaces suitable for rehabilitationlike a pre-release form, multi-sports areas, workshops, an infirmary and a orchardas well as improvements to access control e all’administration.

Furthermore, it is expected that the 6% from the population of the center will work in activity that they will give the inmates a new opportunity after release. According to Martinelli, the new prison building will represent a paradigm shift in these centers.

The new structure «will generate a safe environment and adequate for the rehabilitation of donne private of freedom», the Uruguayan presidency also underlined in a note on its website.

The country has a high incarceration rate

Uruguay has a incarceration rate Of 408 people every 100,000 inhabitantswhich places it first in Sud America and tenth in the world, according to the World Prison Brief. The prison population last year it saw around fifteen thousand prisoners, of which 1100 were women behind bars. According to the data of Parliamentary Commissioner for the penitentiary system there were 28 donne e 9 men trans, inmates who will soon have a dedicated space.

“Be the person trans enters the system has the right to decide if he wants to go to one men’s prison o female», stated the director of the INR, the National Institute of rehabilitationLuis Mendoza, who explained how, currently, trans women are placed in women’s prisonsbut coexistence is often difficult.

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