18 bis rue de Châtillon

Ozakh Ahmed


During our time here in Rennes, Netflix released the fourth season of Orange is the New Black. As much as I wanted to shut myself in my room and binge watch all the episodes, I knew that I needed to balance that with spending time with my host mother. My solution was to relax on the couch in the sitting room and begin the series with Maman in the next room preparing dinner. She was naturally curious as to what I was watching and I was surprised that she never heard of the show. I told her about its provocative story line of women’s prisons, revolutionary introduction of NSFW topics into mainstream media, and how interesting it is to analyze the content, the actors, and the writers. As it turns out, I am currently living a short 10 minute drive away from the largest women’s penitentiary in Europe and the only women’s penitentiary in France. In fact, just a few days before this conversation, my host mom recorded a news special on the lives of mothers in that prison. She also had an article in Mlle Adele: Magazine feminin saved titled, “Des femmes derriere les barreaux,” or “Women Behind Bars.” The world moves in mysterious ways.

Constructed in 1867 and put to use in 1878, the hexagonal building seems to resemble a castle rather than a prison. 228 prisoners occupy the space, 70 less thanmax capacity. The women imprisoned here are serving an average of 20 years or more for serious crimes and are an average of 45 years old. Perhaps it is the lack of overpopulation that makes the prison seem fairly tame compared to prisons we see depicted in the news and in fictional portrayals on TV series or movie screens. According to Yves Bidet, the prison director, the women rarely engage in physical violence. The prison is clean, calm, and humane unlike it’s brother prison Vezin-le-Coquet for men (Mlle Adele).

  

In the documentary I watched, entitled Maman est en prison: l’absente, I noticed that many of the living spaces resembled college dorms. The women featured in the film with crimes ranging from murder to theft, were able to decorate their cells with tapestries, pictures, and outside items. The maternity ward was brightly painted green and pink and was quite a cheerful place to raise the children born in the prison. One mother, with one 18 month old and another baby on the way, was quite content raising her children there. Her and her daughter were at liberty to spend weekends with her husband in a designated apartment. He is also welcome to visit his family during visitation hours. It is quite common for the women to receive visitors. In fact, 60% regularly meet with family and friends. At other times, the prison offers them sporting activities, social and cultural education courses, and both a hair and beauty salon.

The descriptions of the prison described here pose an interesting opposition to descriptions of women’s prisons in the United States where there are countless organizations dedicated to improving the seemingly horrible lives of inmates of all genders and situations. I most often come across organizations dedicated to aiding pregnant and parenting inmates with their rights and wellbeing. In terms of this women’s prison, it would seem that France puts an emphasis on the rehabilitation aspect of prison rather than punishment. Perhaps this system took Michel Foucault to heart when he said, “There is no glory in punishing.” Rather, this prison works to shift the inmates away from crime and towards a more socially and culturally conscious way of living, which is an interesting model of restorative justice.