The crime of being a woman: Selectivity in the Brazilian criminal justice system

The phenomenon of prison overcrowding and the acknowledgment of the criminogenic effects of imprisonment are the key arguments that support the alternatives to prison approach, in relation to criminal and penal policies in Brazil . Such approach, question the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to its selectivity. The proposal of this paper is to discuss the selectivity of gender in the criminal justice system from the records of imprisoned women Brazil. There has been the increase of female prison population in the country, over the last decade. This phenomenon brings some questions as; is there a new pattern regarding on female crime? Or the appeal of the punitive demand (more social control, and criminal control in the country) has its effects over a portion of the Brazilian female population . Methodologically, will be used empirical data and public statistics, besides official documents from penal institutions and the criminal justice system, about the object of study. This paper seeks to show a panorama of female imprisonment in the overall prison population in the country, throughout the avaiable information in the Penitentiary Information System (INFOPEN) of the National Penitentiary Department / Ministry of Justice. Also, it searches for the matrix of discourses, which legitimise the increased of female imprisonment, and to discuss the fine line between criminal and social selectivity in the criminal justice system.