Because of what the first woman-cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was jealous of the prisoners, and why there were no women's prisons before

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Women's prisons or dungeons appeared much later than men's ones, and there were reasons for that. Households, and in particular a legal spouse or father, could arrange a hard labor for a woman, a prison at the house, or even execute them altogether, without receiving punishment for this. The more rights a woman had, the more she became responsible for her actions. Earlier, in order to get into a cellar or a cut, a woman did not have to do something, she was sent there after her husband or if she was bored with her. When did the first women's prisons appear in Russia, how did they differ from men's and in what conditions the prisoners were kept.

Even before the advent of Christianity, there were no prisons for women; for women from the wealthy class, the monastery was often used as a way of imprisonment and deliverance. It happened that a woman, tired of her spouse, "suddenly" went to a monastery, such a marriage was considered to be over, the man could marry again. In the monasteries there were very different conditions of detention, sometimes the girls were not allowed out of their cells for years, they were not allowed to wash and were kept from hand to mouth. This was considered condescension, because a man could be executed for a similar crime, and women were only forcibly tonsured into nuns.

The most terrible crime for a woman was the murder of her husband, for this they could be severely punished - burned at the stake, buried alive. At the same time, the husband, who "for educational purposes" suddenly broke his wife's neck, was not even punished with rods.

The first women's prisons in Russia

Over time, dungeons for imprisonment were used less and less, and under Ivan the Terrible a stone prison was erected, but food at public expense was not provided. The prisoners begged for alms from passers-by, standing at the low windows. They often died of hunger and exhaustion. Peter the Great allowed the transfer of parcels from relatives, sometimes the prisoners were fed at the expense of the treasury.

The division of prisons into male and female prisons was introduced by Elizaveta Petrovna. From that moment on, men had to work, and it was hard physical labor, and women were sent to factories and spinning houses. Catherine II continued the reform, consolidating the division into those who committed minor crimes and repeat offenders. Meals were introduced at public expense, but very meager and lean. Meat and vegetable dishes on a regular basis were included in the prisoners' menu only by the middle of the 19th century.

However, there was a somewhat loyal attitude towards pregnant women and nursing mothers, they were fed more nutritiously, they were allowed to walk longer.

A truly significant event took place in 1887, when women overseers began to appear. Despite the fact that they were not introduced everywhere, this was the first step towards getting rid of the debauchery and violence against female prisoners that reigned in prisons both on the part of warders and other male prisoners.

The attitude towards criminal prisoners was more loyal, they even managed to have an affair (in prisons that were not divided by gender) and run on dates. But for political criminals, the supervision was much more severe. The same political prisoners who ended up in hard labor, on the contrary, found themselves in advantageous conditions in comparison with convicted criminals. They were called "young ladies", regardless of their origin. They were not woken up for checks, they were simply counted. The woman on duty was preparing tea for their awakening, breaking bread. But on the other hand, it was supposed to be quiet in the cell until lunchtime - they were forbidden to talk. Physical punishment was not applied to them, they could walk longer and did not wear official robes. They were the ones who most often had to sit with the children whom the prisoners gave birth to one after the other.

FPunishment and violence in women's prisons

The lack of a complete division of prisons into women and men became the cause of constant violence. In addition, the transfer to the place of detention implied a foot convoy, all went together. Male prisoners perceived women as their legitimate prey, and did not accept rejections. Any attempt at resistance was perceived as a comradely insult and a violation of prison dogmas. It is not surprising that the convicts were already delivered to the stage by pregnant women.

Only political prisoners spent their days idle, while the rest worked daily. Specific work was provided for women - cooking in the prison kitchen, sewing for other prisoners. Those who were sentenced to life in prison did all this in shackles.

In the spring of 1893, corporal punishment for female prisoners was abolished, but this was a forced measure, since the exiled women rebelled after they flogged Nadezhda Sigida with rods. She took poison, after such a punishment, and her comrades began to resort to mass suicide in protest. Although the punishment with rods and corporal punishment in general, were far from the only way of bullying women prisoners.

After the revolution, the situation in prisons became noticeably worse; camps for 300 people were set up in all cities. All detainees there had to do physical labor, political prisoners were no longer entitled to any indulgences. The attitude towards women has become noticeably worse. Upon admission to the camp, a humiliating nude examination was often arranged, and not at all for medical purposes. So the leadership of the camp chose concubines for themselves. Those who were not very accommodating were sent to the most difficult jobs, locked up in a punishment cell.

Sometimes the tipsy leadership of the camp could arrange orgies, rape women, the warders openly traded them. There are cases when women were brought to the camp, from where all the male prisoners had not yet been taken out. The latter destroyed the walls, made their way through the roofs to get to the female body.

Women began to be attracted to hard physical labor, often prisoners died while working. This, accompanied by poor nutrition, had the most negative impact on the health of women. In addition, the level of nutrition depended on the fulfilled plan. The less I did, I got less food. This turned into a vicious circle, because the more a woman was exhausted, the worse she worked and the less food she received. And so it went on until she died.

Pregnancy was the way to relieve themselves of hard work and eat normally, so women, driven to despair, did not give up sex at all, if given the chance. But after several years of camp life and previous unsuccessful childbirth, not everyone could get pregnant. For very young girls who ended up in the camp out of stupidity or for free-thinking - to find a defender in the person of a prison employee, sell themselves for food, become pregnant by deception and get better conditions - were the only way to survive. In addition, youth and health in such conditions, as well as beauty, flowed like sand through our fingers.

Those who became pregnant were sent to another camp with special conditions, and the children will be "state", but this will give her a year of relatively normal life and nutrition. Immediately after the Great Patriotic War, there were almost 15 thousand children and almost 7 thousand pregnant women in the Gulag.

Immediately after the Great Patriotic War, thousands of former soldiers who were in German captivity were in the camps. The presence of people with military experience in the camps could not but affect the general mood. Every now and then, unrest and protests flared up about the poor conditions of detention. In 1954, an uprising broke out in the camp of Kazakhstan, 12 thousand prisoners took part in it, including the women's department. To suppress this riot, the military and tanks were brought in.

Rabguzhsila

Since then, hard physical work for women has become the norm, no distinction has been made between male convicts and prisoners. At the same time, women had to continue to sew, work in the kitchen, but equally work in logging, construction of canals and power plants. For example, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs complained that women were delaying the construction of the Tsimlyansk dam, preventing full-scale work from being launched. As a result, they were transferred to field work. Which, by the way, were considered one of the easiest.

The women did not cope with the dam, but they were confidently entrusted with the construction of the road. In the 50s, the roads, for the construction of which the Main Highway Directorate of Roads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible, were built by prisoners of women's prisons. The lack of physical strength in women was compensated by the amount of effort applied. Piece by piece, little by little, but every day, in summer and winter, until you are completely exhausted. Despite the fact that the efficiency of such work was clearly not prohibitive, its extremely low price justified everything.

Often, women were literally harnessed to a horse-drawn carriage instead of horses. This not only difficult, but also humiliating work was entrusted to those who were disliked by the camp leadership. Too obstinate women always got the hardest and dirtiest work.

Correctional labor colonies as receivers of the GULAG

After Stalin died, the camps were converted into correctional labor colonies. This is not surprising, in the Union, in general, everyone and everyone was brought up and re-educated through labor. Not only the name of the institution has changed, the life of the prisoners and the conditions of their detention have been rebuilt. Thanks to this, the mortality rate fell sharply, women were no longer taken to hard physical labor. But it was not possible to get rid of all the traditions of keeping prisoners. It is not surprising, the people worked the same.

Until now, prisoners were intimidated by punishment cells, and women who were guilty were dressed in thin clothes and placed in a dank "solitary confinement". It was always cold in the punishment cell, and they changed into lighter clothes for the clarity of the educational moment. At the same time, women were allowed to wear ordinary clothes that they made themselves. But this quickly came to an end after Valentina Tereshkova arrived at one of the women's colonies. She, as a woman, was extremely offended by the fact that female prisoners were too fashionable and stylishly dressed.

The cosmonaut did everything to introduce a uniform uniform for female prisoners. The kerchief became obligatory, it was impossible to take it off at all, just to wash and during sleep. The rest of the time she had to be on her head. Apparently the hairstyles of the "prisoners" also turned out to be better than those of Tereshkova. The skirt and blouse were the same in summer and winter. There were no trousers or tights, women often caught colds.

The inability to wash was used as a form of punishment for women's colonies. Yes, there were officially showers, there was access to them. But there were always ways not to give the opportunity to wash - turn off the hot water, reduce the time in the shower. No one provided any hygiene products, pure cotton fabric, which was used during menstruation, was a special feminine currency due to the high deficit even for this. It's hard to imagine how humiliating a woman's own physiology became for a woman.

Yulia Voznesenskaya, a poet who was twice in prison and both times in the same prison, writes that since 1964 (the second time she went to prison in 1976), the cells have expanded, they have become 8-20 local, whereas before were designed for a maximum of 4 people. During the first trip, the prison was combined - both men and women were kept here. There were not enough places, they lay under the shanks, right on the floor. They installed toilets, now the guards did not take them out twice a day when needed. But this only worsened the conditions for the prisoners themselves. Because it’s not just an opportunity to go when needed at the right moment, but the feeling of being in the toilet.

Modern women's prisons - what has changed?

In Russia there are 35 prisons belonging to the category of women's correctional institutions, they contain more than 50 thousand prisoners, this is only 5% of the total number of prisoners in the country. Moreover, more than 10 thousand of them are minors.

Prisons are categorized according to the age and severity of the crime for which the woman was convicted. The first stage is the pre-trial detention center, here those who are accused of committing crimes are awaiting trial, verdict and its entry into force. There are only three female pre-trial detention centers - in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The conditions in them are, to put it mildly, cramped.

The jail cell accommodates 42 women, 21 bunk beds are provided for them. Here, in a fenced off room, there is a dining room and a toilet. The most difficult thing in the pre-trial detention center is not even the presence of a huge number of strangers and the tightness, but uncertainty, because a court decision is awaiting here.

For girls from 14 to 18 years old who have committed a crime, female juvenile colonies are provided. Only women can work in them as overseers. In these institutions, increased attention is paid to hygiene, educational and cultural activities. If a prisoner turns 18, and the term of imprisonment has not yet passed, then she can be transferred to a women's penal colony. In such institutions, the sentences are served by women who have committed grave crimes, but for the first time, or crimes of medium severity.

In a strict regime colony, they get caught for serious crimes, committed repeatedly, or in the presence of aggravating circumstances.

Despite the fact that the life of modern prisoners cannot be compared with the camp conditions, something has become even worse. For example, pregnant women do not have special indulgences, since it is believed that women are already transferred to light labor. Pregnant women in prisons do not receive the necessary medical care, and food is also very scarce. Of course, judging by the modern standards adopted in the field of health care and obstetrics.

After birth, the baby is sent to the baby's home, which exists right there, at the prison. Only a few prisons allow a mother and child to live together. In the rest, they can only see each other. The child is left up to 3 years old. If the mother's term is nearing the end, then the child can be left still, so as not to send him to an orphanage.

In order to get into a women's colony or camp, it was not at all necessary to commit a crime. Spouses and daughters of dispossessed people often ended up in camps that were created specifically for family members of traitors to the Motherland.… They were visited by many women of eminent names.