Abstract
Numerous researchers have documented the gendered impact of the United States’ domestic war against drugs. Women incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses are the fastest growing segment of America’s prison population because of the harsh penalties for using, selling and transporting illegal substances. The impact of U.S. drug policy on women in other countries, in contrast, has been overlooked. This paper argues that the greatly increased imprisonment of women in Ecuador for drug-related offenses is collateral damage of the U.S. war on drugs. The impact of the expansion of women’s imprisonment in Ecuador appears to be particularly damaging to the inmate’s children who frequently join their mother in prison. U.S. policy should not be exported to other countries before having a clear picture of the unintended negative consequences.
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Notes
Mules knowingly smuggle goods while goats unwittingly transport drugs or other items that have been hidden in their belongings.
This is in sharp contrast to eradication during the same period in Colombia (172,026 aerial spraying; 43,051 manual), Peru (12,688 manual) and Bolivia (5,070 manual). (Crop Monitoring 2008).
A number of authors have already discussed the negative impact of the “male model of criminal justice” on drug addicted women. See Covington (2003) “A Woman’s Journey Home: Challenges for Female Offenders; Norton-Hawk Pathways to Prison Among Females: Implications for Gender Specific Interventions.
See Massachusetts Department of Corrections Visitor Regulations.
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Norton-Hawk, M. Exporting Gender Injustice: The Impact of the U.S. War on Drugs on Ecuadorian Women. Crit Crim 18, 133–146 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-009-9093-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-009-9093-9