The internal reality of prison is not the same for everyone. The punishment depends on the situation of the prisoner in the different systems of oppression. In the case of Basque women prisoners, the increase in the penalty is evident: instead of being a single, it is three and often quadruple. “The first is the criminal conviction, the prison for a crime in accordance with the law, to which must be added the one found as a Basque prisoner, that is, the emergency measures for political reasons, and the one that is increased by being a woman,” says Idoia Arraiza, of Bilgune Feminista. The Penal Code does not set it, but it is a warning that comes out almost systematically of the identity of women if we start talking about prison. “Patriarchal thinking wants us to believe that crime and women are incompatible and, in most cases, socialize us to be a good woman. When we leave that patriarchal script, they punish us harshly.” They are words of former political prey Rosa Iriarte Laset, who spent two years in Soto del Real prison.

52 Basque political prisoners and prisoners are currently dispersed in 28 prisons. It is clear from the head that there is no such thing as is not designated, that more and more of the penitentiary system is being talked about by taking women as subjects. A sign of this change are the writings, speeches and initiatives that are flourishing in recent times. This context and the visibility that feminism has acquired in recent years, have taken the step of some 60 former prey in Kalera Kalera to take the word public and collectively: In the words of Olatz Harmful obeitia Ceballos, “this climate has led us to make a proper site to this issue that until now we did not give it enough importance.” Harmful obeitia Ceballos spent six years in pre-trial detention between 2001 and 2005 and between 2007 and 2009 in the Madrid prisons of Soto del Real, Ávila, Villena de Alicante, A Lama de Galicia and Nanclares de la Oca de Álava. With a list of jail violence as women, in addition to inviting them to look at the consequences of the armed political conflict in Euskal Herria, they offered an invitation to “work other violence that is hidden in the shadow.” Aware of the responsibility of all of them, they intend to create a framework for collaboration between the different actors.

Because for a man
there's something to say. If we look at the third kind of punishment that was hidden, we see that it has multiple faces. Prison being a space and a moment imagined and constructed by man for men, discrimination and heterosexism are everyday themes for women. In fact, very little mention is made of women in the documents relating to prisons. Because they form a minority and they do not consider them important. They face discrimination that is reflected in the organization of space itself. When talking about it, there are plenty of examples, Teresa Toda Iglesia, who spent six years in the prisons of Soto del Real, Topas de Salamanca and Córdoba: “In the toilets of the Topas jail there are pixels standing and few sat... when the women were sent there nobody proposed their adaptation work. In Córdoba prison, there is no room for women in the nursing module. Recovery of a serious situation or operation must be carried out in the normal module.” If you look at the purple glasses, the proof is that in addition to the area, the atmosphere, the behaviors, the composition of time, the control, the sanctions, that is, everything is sexist.

Precisely,
the character of the fighting woman clashes with the stereotypes of a gender-based social organization. Being good, sensitive, sweet or generous are natural qualities, constructed characters that are considered temperament. But at the same time, man finds himself strong, energetic, determined and somewhere imaginable in jail. According to this binary reading, the fact that women are in prison is a fact that must be punished. “You turn back what is expected of you and the system punishes you,” said Arraiza Zabalegi. Oihana Etxebarrieta Legrand, a militant and elected feminist who has analyzed the relationships between prisoners and prisoners, says it is brutal: “It’s a space that greatly influences gender construction, in a way it becomes a gender jail.”

Damaging Beitia Ceballos adds that, in addition to penalizing, they are in the logic of taking the wrong path and putting it in the right direction: “Jail is a machine to make good bad women, always according to the values of the heteropatriarchy. In fact, its moralizing burden is impressive.” This means that the activities offered are absolutely stereotyped: they have tasks that rhyme with syntax, ceramics, painting, discretion and tranquillity. No football or boxing, that's men's deals. If they get jobs, the same thing happens to them. There too, with a much lower salary, it is dedicated exclusively to regular work aimed at women. He adds that, except in prison, the same applies to detention and interrogation: The tendency to focus on the denial of the political and militant status of women in the body, sexuality and stereotyped roles. The former convict gives some examples of “barbarities” that they have to listen to: That their contribution is limited to being male cooks or responding to sexual needs, which have taken the step of engaging by the male partner, etc.

In addition, Arraiza Zabalegi has warned that the criminal penalty is also tougher. Suppose that when prisoners are exalted, women will be repressed sooner than in a male persecution, because in their imaginary there is no revolt to a man, but to a woman: “Women are often judged by committing a sin more than by the law, it’s more a moral punishment,” says Bilgune Feminist. This is evidenced by the following significant number: women represent 13 per cent of the Basque political prisoners, but represent 63 per cent of the isolated members.

In a letter published on January 13, the political prisoner Itziar Moreno Martínez, in the prison of Fleury, regretted that the prison system carried out "the infantilization of the prisoner" and "the total control of sexuality". He has also warned that, although it is the case with prisoners, it is faster with women than with men. In fact, in recognizing that men have sexual needs, they provide the means to meet them, but in the case of women, these needs are not taken into account. Thus, pornography accessible to men has been censured in women’s prison; at the time of visits, sexual relations are rare, due to the inspection suffered, and control is “to the point of becoming a mere aggression”. Forced nudes, formed by “offensive” orders, lead to the conclusion that many of the “humiliations” experience it as a “violation.” The whole Church has also remembered that it has often felt uncomfortable at visiting times: "In-person inmates are almost public, prison officials already know when you're going to do it; sometimes you can feel pretty bad." He adds that the time devoted to love is very limited. Basically, the lack of intimacy is widespread and, in general, limits the possibility of developing and living sexuality. Iriarte Laset has warned that, as there are no possibilities to develop communication and relations between men and women, there is "a great risk of sick eating". If heterosexual relationships are harsh, homosexuals are even more severe. Because it's an absolutely heteronormative environment. Iriarte Laset has also lamented the tendency to “infantilize” or “take by play” Lesbian relations.

Arraiza Zabalegi affirms that the
fact that the role of custody cannot be fulfilled as much as it was, can be a quadruple punishment; that is what each puts himself. In fact, women are educated to cope with the needs of others, and, whether they like it or not, it is a deeply internalized attitude. “When they are incarcerated, they cause punishment for themselves, because they have failed their environment.” Bilgune Feminist believes that this feeling of guilt is a burden that many women feel.

Regarding surveillance, Moreno Martínez warns of another aspect: “When you go to men, who is in the waiting rooms? Mothers, wives, children... What about waiting rooms in women's prisons? Mothers, sisters, children...” She explains that finding women on most visits is “a sample of the role of caregivers.” That is, the ratio between the number of girls and boys going to visit the boyfriend and the number of boys going to visit the girlfriends girls is high. Arraiza Zabalegi says that this emotional support that women assure is "invaluable". In addition, Etxebarrieta Legrand has lamented that the resources to maintain healthy affective-sexual relationships are "absolutely limited." One of the examples is that communication spaces are scarce and fully controlled. On the road to the healthiest possible relationship, Etxebarrieta advises that not all affective and emotional needs are carried out in one person. That is, the prisoner also finds in the other prisoners that surround him protection networks and for him who is outside, that he finds other people who give him affection and care, besides his partner.

The whole Church says that
feminism, the prison of empowerment, is a “hard school” to discover the multiple forms of gender-based violence. In addition to the attitude of the workers of the penitentiary center, in the reality of the common prisoners is the “expression and raw attitude of machismo” and the “recognition” of the women who look at him also hurts him. In this harsh situation, despair occupies a place in the arts: “You often get angry with what you hear or see and feel a lot of helplessness.” It says that by having to survive in that space, they are manifested or accelerated by feminist gaze. Fundamentally, according to Harmful obeitia Ceballos, feminism can be a quick tool for empowerment: “It’s a great tool to understand and identify what we live, to cope with the different manifestations of this oppression.” It also says that it gives them the necessary solidarity and warmth in every process of liberation. However, the feminist perspective will depend on the experience, trajectory and awareness of each of them. Therefore, it cannot be said that it is an instrument of empowerment for all prisoners. Harmful Beitia Ceballos, aware that women do not create feminists, answers the following question: “The question would be what processes and resources the Abertzale left and the feminist movement of Euskal Herria have established to bring feminism closer to these women.”

One of Bilgune Feminist’s lines of work is to encourage feminist reflections on political conflict. The march to be held on 11 February in Valladolid prison is a sign of the decision to link to the issue. On the other hand, last year organized the feminist training, research and documentation centers Emagin, with the objective of directing the Feminist Schools. A further step has been taken and the necessary steps have been agreed to ensure that the prisoners are included in the discussion. “We have the objective of strengthening the relationships between them and us and creating alliances,” said Arraiza Zabalegi. So far they were in touch on time and to solve certain needs, and now they want to go further. In the march of prisons, in solidarity and after demanding the rapprochement of all prisoners and exiles, they will begin to reflect on the prisoners. On the one hand, they will be asked how they live in jail as women, and on the other hand, what tools of empowerment they have to cope with this reality. According to Arraiza Zabalegi, "they are also a subject to feel". From the words and experiences of the prisoners, Bilgune Feminist will continue to socialize the situation. Harmful Beitia Ceballos also shares the need to collect testimonies from prisoners: “So far we have not looked at the pains and resistance that each of the women who have been victimized has suffered. Consequently, we have not created collective stories or created collective learning”. Looking at the desire to look at the political conflict and the consequences of the conflict from a gender perspective, it seems that the elements to fill this gap are united.