How life works in a women's colony (22 photos). Women in prison Love and children

As employees of women's correctional institutions testify, there are now practically no female thieves, or Baghdadok, as they used to say. But there are authoritative prisoners, mostly multi-walkers. Unlike their “colleagues” - male authorities, they actively cooperate with the administration and often cause real chaos in the zone. Another difference from the stronger sex is the desire to get out to freedom as quickly as possible, for which all means are good. The best way is to “knock” as actively as possible. Let's tell you more about authoritative women in prison.

Police statistics show: female crime is growing by approximately 5% per year. Moreover, the beautiful half of humanity does not waste time on trifles: up to 30% of “female” crimes are murders. Sometimes very, very cruel. It is curious that the victims, as a rule, are men. And these are not only husbands, cohabitants or drinking buddies. The fair sex has also learned to be a remarkable thief in relation to the stronger sex.

If a woman has not yet had children before entering the zone, correctional workers say, she often becomes a repeat offender. The husband (if he is not the victim, of course) in most cases abandons her, and nothing else connects the criminal with “civil” life. Once in the zone, a woman will certainly encounter authoritative inmates who can turn her life behind bars into a real hell.

Who are they, female authorities? As employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service say “over a tape recorder,” there are practically no criminal prisoners left in Russia now. In the middle of the last century they still existed and now on the beach you can see cute grandmothers with tattoos “I will die for metal!” or “The CPSU is the enemy of the people!” They were called Baghdadki (the exact origin of the term could not be established). Nowadays, modern convicts hardly remember this word.

Female authorities are called simply - multi-walker. But in principle, one sentence (sentence) is enough if the convict is physically strong and psychologically aggressive. This is precisely one of the differences between the women’s zone and the men’s zone - often in women’s zones, authority is gained through brute force, in a fight. Whereas for men - intelligence and impeccable behavior from a point of view.

And as for concepts. Unlike thieves, female authorities work in the zone (though they don’t really bother, but the principle itself is important). In addition, they “knock.” And how! In women's zones, the administration uses the eternal female craving for gossip to the fullest. There is a line of informants, so to speak. Why is that? Only “cooperation” can allow the convicted person to gain authoritative status. The influence of the administration in women's zones is great (unlike men's), and therefore disobedient ones are broken off at the moment.

Kobla in prison

As one of the convicts told me, multi-walkers are favored by the administration primarily for material benefits. This includes quiet, dust-free work, an overtime date, or the opportunity to have a cell phone and much more. There are other “barters” for valuable information about neighbors. First of all, female authorities differ from thieves in that prison is not their home after all, and they really dream of getting out into freedom. And as soon as possible. Therefore, the best payment for “cooperation” on the part of the administration is a recommendation to the court for parole. And this is the difference from thieves - a proper prisoner must sit from bell to bell.

It is no secret that many “authorities” are “cobles”, that is, “men”, lovers of same-sex sex. In one of the zones where I visited, the head of the colony swore that they did not have “couples.” And this, they say, will never be allowed. But, as it turned out in a personal conversation with convicts, there are “couples”. It's just allowed " woman's love“not to all prisoners, but to selected, close, useful ones. So the right to be a “coble” must be earned by careful observations of the other inmates.

As for the employees of women's correctional institutions, it is clear that they are more than satisfied with this state of affairs. Total surveillance of each other eliminates the possibility of escapes and even all sorts of minor violations of the established regime. Such an example. In one colony, where it is forbidden to bring tea from the canteen to the barracks, one of the prisoners did so. It was very cold and I wanted to warm myself up somehow. Within minutes they came to her. It is clear that such a nervous and unhealthy environment created by multi-walkers provokes scandals and conflicts between convicts. Moreover, they are women. It is well known that even two “beautiful halves,” even if they are related, do not get along in the same kitchen. And here are several hundred.

As convicts in one of the colonies said, conflicts between prisoners on everyday grounds arise every day. If we continue to compare different-sex authorities, then men try to prevent anything like this: maintaining a certain order is one of their tasks. Multi-walkers are a different matter. They can beat someone up simply because bad mood. On such critical days there is no respite from them, say the convicts who spoke with me.

So, one of them, let’s call her Olya, said the following: “The only thing that saved me was that I was a little frostbitten myself. She was put in prison for committing robbery.
on men. Finding myself here, I was stunned by the atrocities of the multi-walkers. They immediately tried to subdue me. Under no circumstances should you obey, this is my advice to beginners. Otherwise you will end up in real slavery. One of the authorities called me scum. I made a “turn”: I pierced her shoulder with scissors. After that, they left me behind, but not everyone is as determined as me.”

Prisoner Alla echoes her: “If you are “warming”, then it’s okay, they tolerate you. But no one sends me anything: that’s why they can beat me for nothing and force me to do some dirty work.”

The convict Elena says that despite the fact that on a bathing day in their colony only an hour per detachment is allotted for washing, the multi-walkers wash first and for about forty-five minutes. The rest get out as best they can in a meager 15 minutes for women.

As for the position of the colonial administrations regarding this, they pretend that nothing like this exists, because it simply cannot happen. It is clear that the colony staff know everything, but, in their opinion, it is better to choose the lesser evil. After all, mass and organized riots of prisoners are much more unpleasant for them. Here the stars from the shoulder straps can fly off. Oiled multi-walkers will never allow this.

The snow was falling in thick flakes, as if the southern winter was in a hurry to immediately lay out its entire annual supply of lace snowflakes... The comparison is romantic, although the women's “zone” (IK-18, Azov), which begins immediately behind the green gate, is terribly far from romance. Someone's face in a gray woman's scarf peeked out from behind the bars. The prisoner glanced at the dressing room, where I stood with my camera, and went back to the “zone” on some business. Young, pretty looking. Why is she imprisoned, how much does she have left? Are they waiting for her in the wild? And the most important question for a woman: how old will she be when she leaves this gate? I came here to see how classes were going on in the psychological laboratory of the colony (there is one). Women's psychology is directly opposite to men's, and if prisoners look at a psychologist as the same "godfather" who sleeps and sees how to recruit you as an informer, then prisoners willingly attend such trainings. Classes with a psychologist relieve stress, make your character more balanced, and help you come to terms with life in captivity.
The psychological laboratory is a cozy room with upholstered furniture and paintings on the walls. Ladies in colonial robes stand in a circle. The first task is to say something nice to each other. “You are beautiful, smart, talented” - and so on. Hearing something like this addressed to you is undoubtedly pleasant, and being able to give compliments is the goal of this training. The class is taught by Internal Service Lieutenant Zoya Oleynikova, a staff psychologist at the correctional colony. She is studying at the St. Petersburg Gestalt Institute, collecting materials for her Ph.D. dissertation.
This is Irina, 28 years old (all training participants gave their permission to take photographs and publish them), she has an eight-year sentence for drugs. There are two years and two months left. He admits that he was imprisoned for a reason: distributing drugs is an evil for the entire society. But she is not hurting for herself. When she was imprisoned, her one and a half year old daughter was left in the wild. When Irina sees her again, the girl will be almost ten years old. She spent her childhood without a mother, Ira also lost the joy of raising her child.
Elena Vasilievna (right) is a former entrepreneur. Convicted under Article 105 “Murder”. She served two years, the main term is ahead. He speaks briefly about what happened: “It was necessary.” According to her, she endured the captivity easily, because she knew what she was getting into and was internally prepared for it. In the “zone” she was put in charge of the library, taking into account her incomplete higher education. Her husband comes to visit her, and her adult children are waiting in the wild. This gives great moral support, although time, as Elena Vasilyevna admits, flows very slowly behind bars.
Varvara Vladimirovna, 55 years old, has a higher legal education, and in the past she is the head of a law office in Grozny. She converted to Islam 18 years ago and knew no problems in the mononational Chechen Republic. She married a Chechen - her client, and because of him she came under the article “Fraud”. She served four years, with one and three months left. Not long ago I learned that her husband hanged himself in a correctional colony. He has a philosophical attitude towards being in captivity. When she knew for sure that she would be imprisoned, right in the courtroom she took off all her gold jewelry and gave it to her family. Neither in the pre-trial detention center nor in the “zone” did she shed a tear, although she knew that she was set up by the man she loved. Everyone will be rewarded according to his deeds - this postulate is equally recognized by both Christianity and Islam.
Diana, 30 years old, is a former bartender and waitress. Seven years for drugs. Two and a half years left. “When I was locked up in a pre-trial detention center, I sobbed and climbed on the wall,” says Diana. “It seemed unfair to me: all my friends smoke weed, but only me was imprisoned. I thought everything would work out, they would release me, but I found myself in prison. Psychological balance was restored. , here I learned to be a seamstress, I work as an equipment adjuster at a polypropylene site where bags are sewn.” Diana has a very lively personality: she takes part in various competitions, sews a lot using her own patterns, and makes crafts. Last year, the “Olympic Hare” she made took first place in a creative competition for convicts, which was held by the regional GUFSIN. There are about 600 women in IK-18. The colony opened not long ago, and is now the only penitentiary institution for women throughout the Rostov region. But ladies often break the law, and they are imprisoned equally with men. But if previously convicted women from Rostov were sent to serve their sentences in Krasnodar Ust-Labinsk, or even farther away, now they are sitting next to Rostov, in neighboring Azov. It is more convenient for relatives (who have them) to come on dates. And psychologically, it’s even easier to sit on your native land. Solid advantages... As part of the reform of the penitentiary system, they are going to rebuild the colony into a European-style institution, where convicts are kept in cells. Now the number one topic in the colony is discussing whether it is good or bad when, in the Western style, prisoners are locked in cells in twos and taken out for walks according to a schedule. Now the convicts live in a detachment - a large common room similar to a barracks. They have free access to fresh air in the courtyard, relative freedom of movement in the local area. The “European” prison assumes that most of the time the prisoner will be locked in a small room with a cellmate. Most women are inclined to believe that such changes will tighten the regime. What if your cellmate turns out to be a slob, a bore, or even worse, an aggressive person? A prison is harder than a colony, the new orders will definitely become stricter than the existing ones. In principle, only the Muslim Varvara Vladimirovna is in favor of chamber content. The main thing for her is that her cellmate does not smoke. As for the rest, any person is subject to re-education. I believed it when I met Varvara Vladimirovna’s steely gaze...
Psychological trainings are voluntary. The colony's staff psychologists conduct many more conversations at the request of the operational services, and such meetings are held regardless of the wishes of the convict. An interview is required if a person is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, prone to aggression or suicide. This is serious and necessary work... Internal service lieutenant Zoya Oleinikova hands out sheets of paper and colored pencils to her charges and invites them to draw the first thing that comes to mind. Women choose light-colored pencils and draw the sun, trees, and children. Then they sign the drawings, wishing everyone happiness, and themselves to see their loved ones as soon as possible. This is positive. A woman can never feel like a criminal; it goes against nature. A woman has no place in prison - this idea is repeated by all participants in the training. Immediately adding: with the exception of child killer mothers. One of the drawings: fish, smile, sun, flower, butterfly A woman in captivity - how is she different from a convicted man? It turns out that gender differences greatly influence the situation in men's and women's colonies, and the very attitude of convicts towards their imprisonment in captivity. The prison “yin and yang” deserves a whole study. For example, the attitude towards the mentioned child killers. In men's groups, rapists and murderers of children, to put it mildly, are not favored. Women have a different attitude: she punished herself, now let her answer to God. One of the fundamental differences between the women’s “zone” and the men’s is that there is no such strictly structured hierarchy here as among the representatives of the stronger sex. The female team is more inclined to gather in separate groups, according to mutual sympathies, and build relationships within their own “family”. There are “mothers” and “cobbles”, and couples in love, and real scenes of jealousy. Psychologically it is more complex and colorful. The male team, no matter how you turn it, in the end still turns into a barracks. For convicted women, it is very important whether they are expected to be released, and how their family and friends feel about the fact of their conviction. Communication with the will is a much more important factor for women than sending messages from there (for men the situation is rather the opposite). In the women's units (and in the cells of the pre-trial detention center) there is a certain coziness: curtains on the cabinets, pictures on the walls, handkerchiefs on the bedside tables. Although convicts are not allowed to use cosmetics, they try to show imagination in their hairstyles and wear their uniforms more carefully. In men's squads - short haircut, army filling of beds and statutory order in bedside tables... “Recently, convicted women began to give concerts in men’s colonies on holidays, and guests from the “other side” also come to us,” says Elena Vasilyevna. “I was surprised by the behavior of the men: they are relaxed, having fun, laughing, as if they were free. Women in this sense are more constrained: they are haunted by the idea that they are not free."
At the end of the training, the women stood in a tight circle and began passing the ball to each other with warm wishes. I would not be able to imagine this in a harsh male team. Women, they are different, even behind bars... Alexander OLENEV. After reading this post, our friend, poet and composer composed a poem "Prisoners", specifically to set it to music. These are the lines: Girl, beautiful and thin, Apparently your guilt is burning you, Only, she’s so blue-eyed Born for love and affection. I’ll delete the word convict from the speech and Let me sum it up: You will move your chiseled shoulder, And the whole world will fall at slender feet. CHORUS: Daughters, sisters, mothers! Birds cannot sing without the will: Are the birds in prison or in the camp? They just scream in pain. Mothers, sisters, daughters, They remember you and love you. Long nights for bitches They amuse themselves, but they will retreat. A woman who is to blame for her misfortune - Stepdaughter of stepmother-fate, Lay down on your unbearable burden The verdict of a seasoned judge. Know, dear, life is the same mill, There is a beginning and an end to everything. Everything will pass and the grief will grind away, This is what a wise man said long ago.

In Russian places of deprivation of liberty for women, the hierarchy of prisoners and life in general differs significantly from men's zones and prisons - there, as a rule, there are no concepts and thieves in law do not rule. However, there is a certain caste division in the “ladies’” MLS. The outcasts here have the same qualities as everywhere else.

Those who will pass a priori The most despised prisoners in women's MLS are somewhat different from representatives of the lower stripes in men's zones and prisons - here the hierarchical ladder has its own steps. First of all, in a women’s prison, what matters is the personality of the convict, and not her track record of time served and previous criminal “merits.” Strictly speaking, in women's zones and prisons there are almost no specific categories of prisoners who are initially and fundamentally oppressed and pressed - everything depends mainly on the personal qualities of the convict. Outcasts in women's MLS are mostly simply shunned. Some of the most despised in women's MLS are heroin addicts, drug addicts with extensive experience. These are morally emasculated individuals who can sell and betray literally for a pinch of tea, a bar of soap or a cigarette. They try to “monetize” any worthwhile information coming from a new acquaintance by contacting the MLS administration. In the zones and in the cells of the pre-trial detention center, inmates try to live in “families” - make a friend (friends) due to misfortune and do common simple housekeeping with them.

This has nothing to do with lesbian inclinations - it’s just easier to survive in prison this way; women are driven to such a method of settling down in special conditions by the instinct of nepotism inherent in the fairer sex from the very beginning, from above. Heroin addicts are loners, no one accepts them into the “family”. Women, unlike men, are by definition more talkative, so some nurses may not even deliberately, but “out of simplicity of heart.” Such people are also shunned in zones and prisons, but they are not particularly oppressed - the “elder” knows all the informers in the cell or in the detachment, and it is considered that it is better to be “one of our own” than a new one sent, from whom you do not know what to expect. Child killers and the sick Killers of their children in the women's zone can easily be beaten and then constantly humiliated - these are initially outcasts among the convicts, perhaps the main category of inmates who are destined to pay in captivity for their past. In women's zones and prisons there are many people with HIV (diagnosed with human viral immunodeficiency), patients with sexually transmitted diseases or cancer. These people are also shunned out of a sense of disgust and fear of getting infected.

You have to work or you'll get screwed. In the lower caste, anyone can end up in the women's zone if she doesn't fulfill the production task. A woman (girl) who is unable to master sewing machine and giving out the daily quota “on the mountain”, there is a threat of serious showdowns in the detachment, up to and including beatings: the entire team suffers from its production. Members of the detachment can have their hair pulled out, their teeth knocked out, and in the punishment cell they will be beaten with batons. Even if the nurse has a good “warm-up” from the outside, but she does not know how to sew, she most often still cannot avoid “cradles”. Lost In the women's zone and prison, it is especially important for their “guests” to maintain physical cleanliness, which is not so easy compared to conditions in the wild. They don’t like people who are sick and have neglected themselves and are avoided. It is not for nothing that one of the most valuable real currencies in such MLSs, along with cigarettes and tea, is a simple bar of soap. Not everyone manages to receive good transfers from outside, and therefore many prisoners are hired to be on duty for others for a couple of packs of cigarettes, tea or shampoo - duty can always be bought. Such convicts are not despised by others if they keep themselves clean and do not make mistakes; they are simply in a hopeless situation.

Every year in our country the number of crimes committed by women increases. At the same time, the number is growing. Next, we offer a look at how the life of prisoners in women’s prisons works.

The daily routine is the main document in all correctional institutions
Here is a standard day for prisoners using the example of the Mozhaisk women's colony (IK-5 - Moscow region).

Women's colonies are not divided by type of regime into general, "strict" or special. Everyone sits here together - murderers and petty thieves, drug addicts and major dealers, former law enforcement officers and women who have been hiding from justice for decades.

Most of the convicts work in the clothing industry. They sew into uniforms for the Federal Penitentiary Service and the police. Sometimes, trying to get away from the everyday routine, they sew women's dresses

These women will definitely not disappear in the wild!

And this is footage from a women’s colony in Atyrau (Kazakhstan)

Prisoners are participating in the 28 Loops project, in which they knit clothes for premature babies from perinatal centers. Women know that something knitted with their hands can save a life small child. Many prisoners say they see it as atonement for past sins.

As for leisure, in women's colonies they arrange sporting events, and concerts with disctheques

The heads of the colonies believe that women should remain women in the zone. Then they go out into the world, and the task of the correctional institution is to teach them to be full members of society. Therefore, all appropriate conditions are created for them, and women are punished for sloppiness.

There are even beauty contests held in women's colonies.

Another feature of women’s colonies is that some of them contain children born in captivity.

For prisoners with children they create special conditions, and also go towards easing the regime. At three years of age, children are handed over either to relatives or to Orphanage.

Prison is a scary place. Just look how much suffering is in those eyes...
Ekaterina, 28 years old. Crime related to drug trafficking, sentence 4 years 6 months, served 4 years.

Tatyana, 54 years old, was convicted of a crime related to drug trafficking. Of the total sentence of 4 years and 3 months, she served 2 years and is in a rehabilitation center in a colony.

Yana, 28 years old. Convicted of a crime related to drug trafficking, sentence of 5 years 6 months, served 2 years.

Anna, 25 years old. Crime related to drug trafficking, sentence 8 years 1 month, served 4 months.

Anastasia, 26 years old. Convicted of murder to 6 years in prison, served 3 years.

The law is harsh and does not spare anyone: any criminal, be it a woman or a man, is punished. Although, of course, it is worth noting that the Criminal Code provides for certain relaxations for the weaker sex. Thus, women are not shot, they are not sentenced to life imprisonment, and very rarely they are sentenced to more than twenty years in prison (the maximum term provided in Belarus is 25 years).

Women commit different crimes, but personally I came across mostly murderers or drug dealers. Moreover, judging by the stories of prisoners who came from the stages, they also mainly encountered these two categories of representatives of the fairer sex among the prisoners.

To each his own

In general, as I understand it, in order for a woman in Belarus to get into a zone, she must commit a serious crime, but in other cases, judges try to confine themselves to “chemistry” (an open correctional facility) or a colony-settlement (something in between a zone and “chemistry”) . Therefore, the camps are mainly filled with murderers, drug dealers, robbers and repeat offenders.

Moreover, among the murderers, the majority are those who took the lives of lovers or husbands out of jealousy, betrayal or beatings.

I remember they told me about a woman who, in order to take revenge on her ex-lover, burned down his house while he was on a business trip. And along with the house - and all his relatives: mother, brother, brother’s wife along with their newborn child. She simply arrived at the house with a can of kerosene, propped the door open, doused the walls with fuel and set it on fire. They said that this woman was given one of the maximum sentences in Belarus - more than twenty years, but even after hearing the verdict, she shouted to her former lover that she would come out and take revenge on him. The deadline did not bother her, but when she heard the amount of the claim, the woman fainted.

Among the prisoners there were also women who cut off the manhood of their husbands because they used them on the side.

And there were a lot of those who killed their husbands and cohabitants due to constant beatings. Moreover, the stories of these crimes seemed to be written according to the same patterns: the husband or lover beat-beat, beat-beat, beat-beat... The woman endured and endured, sometimes tried to contact the police, but in this area our legislation is very poorly developed, and it’s good if the man was imprisoned for “a day,” after which he often began to beat his wife even harder. And our women are resilient people and usually endure to the last, but then, sometimes, they can’t stand it and kill their torturers.

In general, I believe that the state should tighten penalties for “domestic” violence and control the situation more seriously, since relationships in families where a man beats a woman over time develop into a kind of race: who can kill their partner the fastest! Not only were there many women who killed their husbands for assault, but also men who beat their wives to death.

But there is a category of murders common among women, which I practically never encountered in men's areas. This is the murder of their young children. Of course, men also took the lives of their offspring, but they killed mostly adult children during joint drinking sessions or when they took pensions from old people.

For women, it was the opposite: they predominantly took the lives of newborns and small children, whom they either miscarried or strangled. Most often this was done by young single mothers who accidentally became pregnant, missed the time for an abortion and had absolutely no idea what to do next. In the women’s zones they were despised and “lowered”, making them “pickers” (akin to “lowered” in the men’s camps - the lowest caste, the type of their main occupation is clear from the name).

As prisoners told me, the drug trade among the gypsies was organized in a unique way: in families, women and children usually sold the potion. And even if men were involved in the sales, wives tried to take the blame, many of whom were sent to prison as if they were going to work.

"Pickers" and more

In women's areas, as in men's areas, there is a strict division into castes. As prisoners told me, these are “thieves” or “blatnyachki”, “cobles”, “dumpsters” and “pickers”.

According to the stories of the same prisoners, in women’s pre-trial detention cells and zones there is much more cruelty and lawlessness than in men. Perhaps this is due to the greater emotionality of women, which bursts out in such a hysterical way, but humiliation and sexual harassment, for example, towards “picking” women are much more cruel and sophisticated.

The prisoners themselves do not hide in their conversations that lesbian relationships are common among them. Sometimes “cobles” (active lesbians, practically men in skirts) start whole harems of “pickers”, whom they then become jealous of and because of whom they sort things out. Women need love, feelings and emotions, the lack of which they try to compensate for in such a perverted way.

As far as I know, the transition from lower castes to higher ones is just as impossible for women as it is for men.

Love and children

Women in prisons really lack male warmth, so, for example, when a prisoner receives a package, the guards cut sausages, cucumbers, and carrots into small pieces. Women put them back together, putting them in bags.

It used to be that in the summer, men in the pre-trial detention center, coming from the temporary detention center, where they were taken for questioning by the investigator, told how the police, in order to make the cells less stuffy, opened “feeders” (small windows in the doors where food is served). And if women were sitting opposite, they would happily demonstrate what they pay a lot of money for in strip clubs. In return, they wanted to see only one thing, which the prisoners willingly showed them.

On Volodarka, a huge number of women’s “malyavs” (notes) that prisoners exchanged along the “road” (inter-chamber communication) were love notes. Men found “girlfriends” in women’s cells and began to have whirlwind correspondence romances.

One convict could flirt with a huge amount men. In the letters they were all young and beautiful houris, but most often such correspondence was carried out by aunts who had passed more than one term, old, seasoned and had seen life. Although the men, for the most part, were a match for them.

In addition to plans for a bright future, the ladies sent their erotic fantasies in letters, which the prisoners kept and read behind a curtain in a specially designated place.

Many women in the zone tried their best to get pregnant, since children are the most reliable way to get an amnesty and go on parole. Much has been said and written about seducing security guards. But few know how prisoners, having read women’s revelations, sealed what they got after reading them into bags and sent them to their “beloveds,” and they used these bags in attempts to “get pregnant.”

The fate of children who were born only in order to be freed as quickly as possible is, in most cases, unenviable. Of course, there were women for whom the maternal instinct prevailed. But there were also many who, having been released, left their children at train stations, near shelters, or simply abandoned them wherever necessary, because many were alcoholics before imprisonment, and prison rarely cures this weakness.

The men's and women's zones are practically similar in terms of the regime of detention: they say that women, just like men, do not even have hot water in taps. And, naturally, such a “school of life” leaves deep scars in the soul. But, looking at the prisoners serving out their sentences after prison in women's "chemistry" (it was relatively close), I saw that they all wanted to be attractive and were trying to become women again. And despite all the efforts of the penitentiary system and the fact that they lost much more in the zones than men, some succeeded. Although they were much less shy about everything.