The Experiences of Black and Colombian Female Offenders With the Police in Ecuador: Understanding Minorities’ Intersecting Identities

Abstract

Female offenders’ experiences with the police in Ecuador have been very diverse but also have been largely overlooked. This article attempts to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between minority female offenders and the police, by examining how the intersected identities of Black and Colombian female offenders shaped their experiences during the arrest process and while in police custody. It also looks at the police’s views and perceptions of the aforementioned groups of women. The study is based on 51 oral testimonies from female inmates and 50 in-depth interviews with police officers.

Keywords

intersectionality female offenders discrimination stereotypes police

Police officers perform a critical role in the criminal justice system (CJS); their decisions and actions are essential to determining who will be admitted into the system and regarded as a criminal (Young, 2011). It has been shown, however, that the power police officers possess has negatively affected historically marginalized ethnic, racial, and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) groups, as well as certain groups of immigrants, unemployed persons, and youth (Alvarez, 2015; Brunson & Miller, 2006; Gabbidon, Higgins, & Potter, 2011; Lam & Ávila, 2013; Salcedo, 2014; Smith & Visher, 1981; Solis, Portillos, & Brunson, 2009; Stinson, Liederbach, Brewer, & Mathna, 2015; Visher, 1983; Young, 2011).

The police have been accused of constructing stereotypical beliefs about the criminality of certain ethnic groups (Chan, 1997). Stereotyping, as Reiner (2010) noted, “is an inevitable tool of the suspiciousness endemic to police work” (p. 121), but it can be dangerous, as it may result in prejudice and discrimination.

Societal negative stereotypes about different social groups persist in Ecuador, with many detrimental consequences in a range of settings. This research indicates that the multiple identities of some women made them prone to stereotyping, stigmatization, and discrimination by police officers during the arrest process in this country. Many women who reported a negative experience with the police were, in fact, members of those marginalized groups that officers tend to describe as the most violent and as more inclined to commit criminal activity. These groups comprise Colombian immigrants and refugees as well as Black people. More importantly, this research shows that the stereotypical views of women who belong to the aforementioned groups are negative and, in certain cases, uniquely based on the combination of their gender with their race, ethnicity, or nationality. These negative stereotypes subjected these women to police suspicion and, in certain instances, adversely affected their experiences with the officers.

Using an intersectional approach, this article will address two questions. First, how did the intersected identities of Black and Colombian female offenders shape their experiences during the arrest process in Ecuador? Second, how did police officers describe Black and Colombian female offenders, and is there a relationship between officers’ perceptions of these women and the treatment women experienced during their arrest process and while in police custody?

This study is divided into four parts. The first part explains the theoretical framework of the study and provides contextual information regarding the common stereotypes that link Blacks and Colombian immigrants and refugees to crime in Ecuador. The second part briefly describes the methods and participants of the study. The third part focuses on the findings. It reviews the oral testimonies of female prisoners, specifically Colombian and Black women, regarding their perception of and experiences with the police. It also looks at the police’s views and perceptions of these women based on their different identities. In the fourth and final part (“Discussion and Conclusion”), connections are drawn between the views of the officers and the discrimination experienced by the aforementioned groups of women during and following their arrest.

Conceptual Framework

Intersectionality and Police Stereotyped Views of Minorities

Intersectional theory contends that systems of power, such as race, class, and gender, and others do not work alone when shaping our experiences but rather these “are multiplicative, inextricably linked, and simultaneously experienced” (Burgess-Proctor, 2006, p. 31). No person or group of persons can be completely privileged or completely oppressed (Burgess-Proctor, 2006), but a person who belongs to various underprivileged groups at the same time, can experience aggravated and specific forms of discrimination and inequality. This discrimination might stem from the prejudices and stereotypes formed around a person or a group’s different and/or multiple social identities.

Stereotypes are “beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups” (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996, p. 240). Although stereotypes can be positive and neutral, negative ones can lead to discrimination. Discrimination can be understood as “behavior that creates, maintains, or reinforces advantage for some groups and their members over other groups and their members” (Dovidio, Hewstone, Glick, & Esses, 2010, p. 10). Discrimination involves inappropriate and unfair treatment or active negative behavior directed toward one or more individuals due to their group membership(s) (Dovidio et al., 2010).

Previous qualitative studies show how specific discourses that construct and stereotype criminals are embedded in intersectional and marginalized social identities defined by race, class, and gender. For example, Brunson and Miller (2006) found that young Black men in the United States, specifically in St. Louis, Missouri, felt they were constantly treated as suspects in their neighborhoods and were subjected to more aggressive policing. The majority of the young men interviewed, even some who were not involved in serious illegal activities, reported being harassed by the police at all hours. Young Black women, on the contrary, were concerned about police sexual misconduct (Brunson & Miller, 2006).

Similarly, a qualitative study conducted by Kessler and Dimarco (2013) found that poor young men and women living in marginalized and stigmatized neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were constantly treated as suspects in their neighborhoods and were subjected to more aggressive policing. The young men interviewed claimed that officers regularly treated them disrespectfully and women complained about being inappropriately touched by the police during body searches (Kessler & Dimarco, 2013).

A study conducted in Ecuador¹ showed how men of color daily dealt with police stigmatization and discrimination in a marginalized neighborhood located in the capital city, Quito (Alvarez, 2015). This study demonstrated that the association of poor, young Black men with violence and criminality is also a common practice among police officers in Quito. In addition, the research found that cocaine consumers and Colombian immigrants were also vulnerable to police repression.

In general, research in different contexts has shown that poor, young, and adult Blacks show less confidence in the police, and they express more dissatisfaction with them than Whites due to perceived racial bias and unfair treatment (Dottolo & Stewart, 2008; Lam & Ávila, 2013; Solis et al., 2009). It is also important to note here that, according to other studies, factors such as the seriousness of the offense and the demeanor of the suspect also influence the police’s use of force (Black & Reiss, 1970; Moyer, 1981).

Women who violate normative sex-roles and the police

Although it has been argued that women receive more leniency than men when confronted with CJS officials (Spohn, 1999), previous research has found that lenient sanctions are not systematically granted to all women, but, instead, leniency is received by select women (Visher, 1983). According to the chivalry hypothesis, women have been constantly stereotyped as passive, weak, and needing protection. This hypothesis is rooted in the belief that women have been placed on pedestals and the CJS has protected them with more lenient treatment (Franklin, 2008; Zaplin, 2008). Contrary to the chivalry hypothesis, the concept of selective chivalry or the “evil woman thesis” posits that women who break normative gender-roles are treated harshly or are given harsher sanctions (Embry & Lyons, 2012).

For example, when women engage in stereotypically “masculine” crimes, they are punished more harshly than women found guilty of more feminine offenses (Kruttschnitt & Savolainen, 2009). The seriousness of the offense might influence the treatment a suspect receives by the police, but it has been noted that women in particular may be punished twice for committing a more “unfeminine” or serious crime. In those cases, women are punished for transgressing the law, like men, but they are also punished because they violated normative sex-roles (Kruttschnitt & Savolainen, 2009).

In this connection, leniency is also less likely to be granted to women who are viewed as less respectable (Kruttschnitt, 1980-1981). For example, prostitutes are found to contradict traditional gender expectations (Daich & Sirimarco, 2014; Novich, 2016). As a result, they experience violence, and other gender-specific forms of abuse by police (Nichols, 2010). One study conducted in Buenos Aires revealed that police officers often demanded bribes from women who exercise prostitution. These women also experience threats and physical or verbal abuse by the officers (Daich & Sirimarco, 2014).

Finally, it has been noted before that LGBT people also have negative perceptions of, and experiences with, the CJS. Lisa Pasko’s (2010) study is an example of how youth corrections limit the sexual identity of lesbian, bisexual, and questioning youth, as well as their relationships within the institutions. Moreover, deadly violence, prejudice, and discrimination faced by the LGBT community are widespread in practically all of the countries on the American continent (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2015). A report revealed that individuals with different sexual identities and orientations regularly suffer from police verbal, sexual, and physical abuse, and in certain instances are murdered by law enforcement officials (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2015). In addition, LGBT people of color have been more vulnerable to police abuse and violence, due to the intersection of their racial background and their sexual identity or orientation (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2015).

There are several studies on the CJS responses toward women offenders, but, to the best of the author’s knowledge, there is no single study contrasting the police’s views with those of the female offenders who felt affected by discrimination or police bias. There is a small but growing body of literature that considers the accounts of convicted minority women regarding their experiences with police agents. Cobbina and Morash’s (2016) analysis is an example. See also Tatar, Kaasa, and Cauffman (2012) and Baker et al. (2013). As the female prison population continues to grow in Ecuador—its percentage of women behind bars is one of the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean²—it is important to focus on these women’s experiences with the CJS.

The situation of Colombian immigrants and refugees in Ecuador

Natives often attribute several social problems to the presence of immigrants (Tonry, 1997). This is more common in periods of high population movement³ (Tonry, 1997). In the Ecuadorian context, Colombians, among those immigrants and refugees living in the country, are particularly regarded with suspicion by the public and by criminal justice officials.

According to figures provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador has recognized 60,253 refugees, most of whom (95.2%) are Colombians (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016). Colombian refugees, in particular, have encountered a diversity of challenges upon their arrival in Ecuador, such as fierce discrimination, difficulties integrating into the host country’s society, and xenophobia (Salcedo, 2014).

Especially throughout the 2000s, the increasing presence of Colombian refugees in urban areas, and not only in the borderlands, resulted in certain social tensions (Salcedo, 2014). Then, the media and certain politicians started to associate the presence of these individuals with increased crime and insecurity, which thus shaped public perceptions regarding the massive arrival of Colombian refugees (Salcedo, 2014).

According to official figures, 24,597 individuals were arrested in the country between January and August 2015, and 724 were Colombians (Ministerio del Interior del Ecuador, 2015). In January 2016, the Judicial Police apprehended 3,471 individuals, of which 96% were Ecuadorians and 2% were Colombians. The remaining 2% corresponded to citizens of other nationalities (“3.471 Ciudadanos nacionales,” 2016). As can be noted, the number of Colombians that pass through the CJS is low compared with the number of Ecuadorians who are arrested and imprisoned; however, Colombians are often blamed for the violence and insecurity in the country.

Colombian male refugees and some immigrants are commonly viewed as the heads of criminal organizations, involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, and contract killings, while Colombian women are often stereotyped as “easy” and linked to prostitution (Andreetti Vélez, 2009; Ospina, Santacruz, & Vallejo, 2012). Many of these images and prejudices are rooted in the discourses of many Ecuadorian citizens, including police officers (Salcedo, 2014).

Women are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and violence for several reasons, such as gender, a disenfranchised condition for those who are refugees, nationality, and ethnic origin (Salcedo, 2014). According to several studies, these women are more susceptible to labor exploitation, gender-based violence, and sexual harassment (Andreetti Vélez, 2009; Ospina et al., 2012; Salcedo, 2014).

Method

This qualitative research is based on 10 months of fieldwork conducted in Ecuador.⁴ For the study, qualitative data were obtained from the oral testimonies of 51 women prisoners and in-depth interviews with 50 active and retired police officers. These interviews were conducted in the most populated female prisons in the country, currently located in Latacunga and Guayaquil, for the former group and in police stations in Quito and Guayaquil for the latter group.

At the beginning of each interview, the participating woman prisoner or police officer was provided with an informed consent form to read and sign. The interviewer also notified the participant about the purpose of the study, as well as the use of audio or video recording. All interviews were videotaped or tape-recorded, transcribed, and then coded by the author. The women prisoners’ participation was voluntary. All participants, women and officers, were promised strict confidentiality; therefore, pseudonyms are used for them.

The interviewer used semistructured and open-ended questions designed to extract information regarding the women’s perceptions of and experiences with the police. The women were first asked to share information about their personal lives prior to their arrest. They were also asked to describe the offense leading to their arrest and conviction. Then, they were asked about what happened during the arrest and while in police custody. They also were encouraged to discuss difficult police incidents they had witnessed while in police custody.

The author was given the opportunity to visit the aforementioned prisons for two periods of 3 to 4 months from 2014 to 2016. The testimonies were between 30 and 90 min in length. Women interviewed were charged for violent and nonviolent offenses.⁵ All had committed at least one of the three most common types of crimes among women in Ecuador, namely, drug offense, murder, or robbery (Naranjo Álvarez, 2015), and all had been convicted and sentenced.⁶

The in-depth interviews with police officers were also semistructured with open-ended questions designed to collect information regarding their personal and professional perceptions of the women they have arrested. They were asked about their beliefs of, experiences with, and responses to female offenders. They were also asked about their perceptions of and relationship with minority groups, and minority female offenders. There were two pivotal factors in the selection of police officer participants: (a) They should have been working in Quito, Guayaquil, or both during the research period; and (b) they should have been working in special police units where they were in frequent contact with the community and possible criminal suspects.⁷

The interviews were conducted in the police station at prearranged times scheduled by the police commander. The police commander took into consideration the factors outlined above for the selection of police officer participants, but he reserved the right to decide who the participants were, their ranks, and how many of them were going to be interviewed. The researcher interviewed the officers individually and without any direct supervision.

Participants

Female inmates

Fifty-one women participated in this study: 34 Ecuadorian and 17 foreigners. Thirty-five identified as mestizas (people of mixed American Indian and European descent); six as White; seven as Black or mulattas (people with European and Black African roots); two as indigenous; and one as Asian. Among the foreigners interviewed, seven were Colombian and 10 were of other nationalities. Twenty-seven were arrested and convicted for drug-related offenses; 17 were convicted of murder; five for their participation in both robbery and a drug offense; and two for their participation in both a sexual offense and robbery. All these women were convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from 5 to 25 years imprisonment.

A limitation to the sample was that the researcher did not have complete control over the composition of the sample prior to the interviews.⁸ Participation was voluntary, so even when it would have been convenient to have a sample that included a balance between nationals and foreigners, the result depended on who wanted to participate. Therefore, the number of foreign participants is not representative of the percentage of the foreign population in Ecuadorian prisons.

Police officers

Fifty police officers participated in this study: 47 men and three women.

Few policewomen participated in this study because most claimed that their work was mostly limited to administrative duties and on some occasions, they worked on the “frontline.” By 2014, there were roughly 44,000 police officers in the country, a little more than 10% were women (Ministerio del Interior del Ecuador, 2014). Forty-four identified themselves as mestizos, four as Black, and two as montubio (on the Ecuadorian coast, montubios is the term given to the inhabitants of rural areas). Forty-seven were currently serving as police officers and three were retired.

Findings

Intersectional Identities and Perceptions of Improper Treatment

The results of this study indicate that certain women arrested in Ecuador underwent diverse experiences of oppression, discrimination, and privilege. Their experiences depended on their social location, during the arrest process or while in a detention facility.

Twenty women out of 51 in the sample reported being victims of verbal abuse. Of those 20 women who reported verbal abuse, 13 were Ecuadorian and seven were foreigners. Four of the Ecuadorian inmates were women of color. Five of these foreign prisoners were Colombian nationals.

Nine women out of 51 reported physical abuse. Of these, three were Colombians and two were women of color. More importantly, the vast majority of women in the sample (45 out of 51) reported at least one irregularity occurred during the arrest or while in police custody. These irregularities were often illegal, and sometimes violated the detainees’ Constitutional rights and due process guarantees. Most of these women said they were extorted by the officers, or that the police did not read them their rights. In many cases, women reported that police officers stole their personal belongings during the arrest. Some were not allowed to contact their relatives or lawyers for several days or months, while in other cases, women claimed police officers threatened them while in custody to obtain a desired confession. There were more than 20 different types of irregularities reported by women that affected their perceptions of police legitimacy.

Regarding their crimes, all women in the sample arrested for murder or robbery were either physically or verbally abused, or reported irregularities occurring during the arrest or while in police custody. On the contrary, six out of 51 women reported a favorable experience with the police. All of them were convicted for drug offenses.

Colombian refugee women and the police

Colombian refugees were among the women who reported more negative encounters with the police in Ecuador. Their nationality and other social identities, such as gender, class, and sexual orientation, shaped their experiences with the first filter of the CJS. Out of 51 women in the sample, all seven Colombian participants had an unfavorable experience with the officers. They were either verbally or physically abused, or were affected by the irregularities which occurred while in police custody.

The case of Lucy serves as an example. Lucy was arrested with a Colombian female friend for murder. Both were under 25 years old when arrested. By the time the police arrested her, Lucy’s application for refuge was being processed. She mentioned feeling discriminated against and criminalized by society in general as soon as she entered Ecuador.

There are good and bad people in every country, but people tend to generalize. If you are a Colombian woman you are labeled as a prostitute . . . [you] always hear proposals and awkward comments e.g. “In which night club do you work? . . . ” If you are a Colombian man you are a trafficker or a contract killer . . .

Lucy’s testimony shows that intersecting gender and nationality stereotypes contain unique elements that shape the profile of Colombian male and female deviants in different ways. For example, Colombian men are associated with drug trafficking and contract killings while women are associated with prostitution. The automatic association of Colombian women with prostitution gives them a more disadvantaged social location where they are more prone to experience gender-based violence and sexual abuse (Andreetti Vélez, 2009; Ortega & Ospina Lozano, 2012; Viviel Castellanos, 2006).

Lucy reported being mistreated as soon as she and her friend were arrested. She remembers that both policemen treated them as if they were guilty without any prior investigation of their alleged participation in the crime. She sees the policemen’s behavior as a clear sign of criminalizing herself and her friend simply for being Colombians. Later, the intersection of Lucy’s nationality with her other identities became more evident in that particular context.

As soon as we were in the car they beat us, they insulted us. Two GAO [Operations support group]⁹ agents that . . . um . . . they did not know us at all. They called us murderers and told us, “you Colombians come to our country to do what you can’t do in your country” . . . We were considered guilty without any previous investigation just because we were Colombians. They took us to a house with no official status . . .

She was taken to a different room. I heard how they tortured her . . . I had 10 guys in front of me forcing me to confess that I killed the guy . . .

She remembers that, during the time they were interrogated, they were constantly called prostitutes, and because the policemen believed this was perhaps their real profession, they felt empowered to make sexual advances to her friend. In response to this situation, Lucy opted to declare she was not a prostitute because she was a lesbian. In relation to that she said,

When they said I was a prostitute who supposedly killed a client [the man who was found dead] I felt the need to emphasize that I am a lesbian. I said I don’t like men, and . . . um . . . with their expression . . . um . . . they showed that . . . um . . . they were disgusted by my sexual orientation. They said, like, I was disgusting. Whereas, they touched my friend and although she wasn’t raped she was sexually harassed by them . . .

It is clear that, although the policemen responded negatively to her sexual orientation, this allowed her to avoid being sexually harassed by the officers. They actually said they felt disgusted by her. On the contrary, the all-male police officers sexually objectified her friend, who was not a lesbian and was regarded as a prostitute because of her nationality. In that particular context, her friend’s gender and nationality intersected in a way where she became more at risk to being sexually victimized by the agents, while Lucy’s sexual orientation served as a self-preservation mechanism.

Mary, another Colombian, was imprisoned in the 1990s because she was caught smuggling drugs at the airport. She served her 8-year sentence, and 20 years later, she was incarcerated again for robbery. Before her more recent arrest, Mary felt targeted and watched all the time by police officers in her neighborhood. She believes her nationality and social class bear some relation to the constant surveillance by the police.

The police used to see me in the street searching for plastic bottles and they used to take me to police stations . . . There they told me to get naked . . . They always did this. They thought I was trafficking drugs in La Marín, but I did not. They never found anything on me . . . I remember one day they stopped me and they asked where I was from . . . They always asked me this. One day I lied and said I was from Ibarra [city located in the Ecuadorian sierra], but they did not believe me. The guy [policeman] told me I was a liar so I admitted I was a Colombian . . . But I also told them I’ve been living in Ecuador for 20 years and that my grandchildren were Ecuadorian . . .

Certain minority groups view police officers as representatives of an institution that frequently represses them through regular surveillance rather than as attentive public servants (Solis et al., 2009). Mary felt targeted because she used to be on the streets of La Marín. She felt she was not doing anything wrong by recycling on the streets, but nevertheless she was constantly taken to the police station. Her occupation was linked to her difficult economic situation, but this occupation in that particular neighborhood made her an automatic suspect and subjected her to constant police surveillance.

It appears that Mary’s nationality and social class combined made her vulnerable to police suspicion. Mary admitted she had to lie once about her nationality, so the officers would leave her alone. What is more, although she admitted her nationality, she also mentioned that she had lived in Ecuador for more than 20 years and that her grandchildren were Ecuadorian. Apparently she believed those were some attenuating circumstances in her favor.

Black women and the police

While most women identified themselves as mestizas, out of 51 offenders in the sample, there were seven who identified themselves as Black, people of color or mulattas. One of these women had a favorable experience with the police, while the others explained the difficulties they had with the police because of their racial/cultural background and its interconnection with other identities. For instance, Mariuxi, one of the youngest participants, observed,

I’ve been arrested 4 times. The first time was when I was 14, then twice at 16 and this last time as 18. I needed the money . . . I am the breadwinner for my son and also for my brothers and sisters. I used to steal in buses and when I was 14 a cop saw me, he pulled my hair and wanted to search my body. I resisted, so he pushed me to the wall and slapped me in the face. His partner came and told him not do that because I was a woman. They usually will call you things like “Black bitch . . . You are not going to steal anymore, we will burn you.”

Mariuxi added,

I’ve seen a lot of discrimination against people on the basis of skin color. I’ve robbed with white women and they [police officers] would tell them “do not hang out with this Black bitch” . . . One time when I was in a police detention cell an official told me that if I would sleep with him he would let me go. I said no, I am not going to sleep with you. He wanted to grab me and so I told him to stay away or I would throw something at him . . . Later he didn’t let me use the bathroom. He said he couldn’t help me . . . I had to use some plastic tubs I found in my cell . . .

Mariuxi’s testimony reflects the attempt of some agents to “help” women in exchange for sexual favors. The policemen she described tried to take advantage of her vulnerability and openly tried to negotiate some “privileges” for sex. As a police officer and as a man, he showed his sense of superiority by setting the conditions of the negotiation. In that context, her identities—a poor, young, Black woman—placed her in a disadvantage position or gave her a vulnerable social location. Although she was discriminated against because of her racial background, she was also seen as a naive young woman they could take advantage of.

Moreover, Mariuxi seemed to be punished when she resisted the arrest and when she rejected the officer’s sexual proposal. Apparently, when women challenge or reject policemen they may have to face reprisals and difficulties; in such situations, however, women might express some form of agency. In this particular case, Mariuxi decided to adapt to the improvised toilet, instead of accepting the officer’s proposal, to make clear that he was not going to take advantage of her and her situation.

Gissele was convicted of murder. She was over 40 years old when arrested. She was born in the coastal part of the country and identified herself as mulatta. She shared the following:

You can see that older women are more discriminated against. In police short-term detention cells, the police wouldn’t listen to us . . . They gave all the attention to young women. They would bring them food or would let them go out to the patios but . . . um . . . they did not do this with us [older women] . . . They want something in exchange in that place, because in the night they would take these women [younger women] to dance . . . um . . . take them for their personal use and would bring them back drunk . . . If you try to maintain your values they will discriminate against you too and mistreat you. Some women resisted this because they knew they [policemen] were making indecent proposals. In those cases they could not ask for any favors from the officers.

As can be seen, older women, as stated by Gissele and other older interviewees who participated in this study, were mostly ignored by the officers in police detention cells because they were neither considered attractive nor, perhaps, naive enough for the purposes they had in mind. Gissele felt that young women at least had the opportunity to choose to receive certain benefits, while the older ones were disregarded and forgotten. Gissele added,

They made fun of me. One said like “yes, she is here for murder,” and the other man replied like “no, I can’t believe that, she looks harmless” . . . The first guy replied,

“No, but you know she is mona [monkey]¹⁰ and you know how monas are, they are murderers.”

Gissele’s experience served to identify the discrimination she faced based on the combination of her racial background, regional belonging, and age. Her experience also served as an example of how the seriousness of the offense might influence police behavior. It has been noted in previous research that police behavior is influenced by factors such as the seriousness of the offense and the demeanor of the suspects (Friedrich, 1980).

Britney, a Black woman in her 20s living in Europe, was arrested for drug trafficking at the airport. She tried to smuggle drugs from Ecuador to a different continent. Britney had a history as a drug courier or “mule.” In fact, she had performed her job successfully 5 times in the past; therefore she was confident that the last time would be no exception, but she got caught by the police. She knew how to deal with the police in such situations; she knew what she could and could not say about her criminal network, and she had learnt about her rights and the number of years she could get with a large quantity of drugs in her suitcase.

At the airport I never signed anything without reading it first. I exercised my right to remain silent. I had to do this because I had been working with those people [in the drug trafficking business] for a long time and they already knew my family, where they lived . . . They had all kinds of information about me . . . The police took me to Casa Blanca [The Antidrug police station] and I went through some check-ups. The tests revealed I was pregnant, I didn’t know I was pregnant. I stayed in the Antidrug police station [a couple of days] and then they put me under house arrest . . . Right from the beginning they helped me, they collaborated with me. They read me my rights . . . In the Antidrug police station the Colonel helped me, he found me a mattress . . . They were the first to give me some clothes . . . I always had their support . . .

Britney’s testimony reveals that in spite of being a young, Black woman, her situation was quite different from that of Mariuxi, who had certain similar identities. Britney felt police officers treated her with respect and consideration, and they also respected and acknowledged her rights. Britney seemed to know her rights very well, and how to behave in the case of being arrested. Britney’s educational attainment level—she was studying at a European university—might have some relation to the fact that she was constantly studying and informing herself about her rights and the consequences of carrying out such a job. Her knowledge shaped her experience and to some extent became more noticeable than the intersection of her “suspicious” and oppressed identities (young-Black-woman). Moreover, her pregnancy might have also contributed to the favorable treatment she received from the police.

Common Stereotypes Among Police Officers

According to Skolnick (1994), stereotyping is an essential part of the police officer’s world. It is important to understand how this disposition to stereotype affects women with different marginalized identities. This part of the article will summarize the common assumptions and stereotypes among police officers, which might affect minority women’s experiences during the arrest process. As mentioned before, 50 police officers participated in this study, 36 of whom expressed their stereotyped views of Colombians and/or Blacks by associating them with aggressiveness, corpulence, serious crimes, and uncooperative behavior.

Police stereotypical views of Black women

Nicole identified herself as mestiza. This policewoman, who joined the force in 2005, stated that

Women from the highlands are very aggressive . . . um . . . but you see, this behavior is more common on the coast, those from . . . um . . . Esmeraldas,¹¹ because they are corpulent, they are more arrogant . . . and . . . um . . . will throw themselves at you and insult you. Because they are Black they are very rude. The one I arrested was Black, very Black, and . . . um . . . and she was very hyperactive so I had to be harsher than I normally would be . . .

Lucho became a policeman in 1997 and identified himself as a mestizo. He shared a similar perception:

Generally those who won’t cooperate are Blacks. Maybe because of their (skin) color, their life, I don’t know, but . . . um . . . You know, one sees a (Black) person and one thinks that if he’s not lazy he’s a delinquent . . . Generally people are scared (of Blacks) . . . if you are in a bus or you stop at a traffic light and you see a person like that, especially if they [men and women] are corpulent, you will be scared, right?

Um . . . I think it is because of their physical appearance, their face . . . If you don’t know the person you will think . . . like . . . um . . . “this person is going to rob me . . . ”

So far it could be noted that the association of violent and dangerous behavior with negative stereotypes about Black women’s physical characteristics resulted in mistrust of and suspicion toward them. Black women were associated with robbery, aggressiveness, and corpulence by the majority of the officers interviewed for this study.

Police’s stereotyped views of Colombian immigrant women and refugees

When asked about their perception of Colombian immigrant women and Colombian refugees in general, various officers associated them with prostitution and violent crimes. They also regarded these immigrants and refugees as the “instructors” for the criminals in Ecuador.

Lucas R. identified himself as a mestizo. He became a police officer in 1993. Lucas R. noted,

When we opened the borders . . . um . . . and Colombians, Peruvians and the other . . . um . . . Cubans could enter, crime increased in the country, especially in the form of sicariato [contract killings] . . . They are professionals; they are the head of those organizations . . . When the borders are open bad people will always enter, people who are running from their own country. Of the 100 per cent [of all Colombians in the country] just one is good . . . one . . . um . . . one . . .

Similarly, Wilson commented,

[Among foreign women] we see more Colombians and Peruvians . . . Colombian women are involved in assaults, in the illegal selling of drugs . . . When Colombians entered the country . . . they practically became teachers for our criminals, like in planning the murder of people and all that . . . Peruvians are involved in fraud . . . but the violent ones are the Colombians . . .

Rubén identified himself as mestizo. He became a policeman in 1999. He shared that

Those women who tend to get more involved in criminal activities at least here in Guayaquil are those Blacks and Colombians . . . Colombians are linked to prostitution and drug trafficking . . . um . . . and I think it is because they have no other option. They come to our country and they don’t have someone to help them, someone who will give them a job.

While the first two officers assured that Colombians living in the country have been responsible for teaching Ecuadorian criminals how to commit certain violent offenses, the last one did not attribute Colombians with the responsibility of creating a more violent criminal behavior in the country. Instead, he tries to explain Colombians’ involvement in illegal activities, stating they do not have many opportunities to find a decent job to enhance their quality of life, so they must take the chances they have at hand, which are not always legal. As expected, Colombians in the country were linked to crimes, such as contract killings, drug trafficking, and prostitution.

Discussion and Conclusion

This study intended to analyze how the intersecting identities of Colombian and Black female offenders shaped their experiences during the arrest process. It also addressed the relationship between officer’s views of the aforementioned groups of offenders and the treatment they received during the arrest and while in police custody. The analysis demonstrated that the experiences of those individuals who belong to these two marginalized groups were diverse, albeit shared some similarities. For example, all Colombians interviewed felt discriminated against because of their nationality and most Black women participants felt discriminated against because of their racial background.

However, the intersection between the aforementioned identities and others, such as their age, gender, sexual identity/orientation, or social class, differentiated the offender’s experiences from one another and gave each case its uniqueness.

As could be seen, being part of the Black community or the Colombian immigrants or refugees living in the country frequently generated suspicion among the police officers. This suspicion was closely related to negative stereotypes linking Colombian immigrant and refugee women to serious crimes and prostitution, and Black women to robbery, aggressiveness, and corpulence. This association sometimes resulted in discriminatory practices against these two groups of women when they were arrested. For example, most Black and Colombian women said officers typically used disrespectful language that stereotyped and generalized them, and sometimes engaged in physically abusive actions.

It appears that there is a relationship between officers’ perceptions of these women and the treatment women received by the police during and after their arrest. Police officers interviewed for this study verbalized the negative stereotypes they associated with Black and Colombian female offenders, whereas those officers who arrested them also expressed their stereotyped views of these women through their actions. For instance, in some cases, Colombian women were called prostitutes and were treated as prostitutes.

Gender shaped the treatment detainees experienced in diverse situations. In line with previous studies, this research found that any violation of traditional gender expectations by women resulted in some form of punishment or disrespectful treatment by the police. For instance, the women could be defiant with the officers or reject their advances, be associated with serious or violent offenses, identify themselves as non-heterosexual, or be associated with a “non-respectable” profession, like prostitution. Any of these scenarios resulted in mistreatment.

Among the seven Colombians and seven Black women in the sample, one reported a positive experience with the police. In this case, her privileged identity—university education—became more relevant for the officers than the otherwise regular suspicion or stigma attached to her as a young, Black woman. More research needs to be conducted on the qualitative experiences of offenders with mixed intersecting identities.

The experiences presented here, either positive or negative, are not generalizable. It must be noted, however, that out of 51 women in the sample, 45 complained about the behavior of the police. This might suggest that when suspects are arrested or taken into custody in Ecuador, police misconduct and abuse of power are far from uncommon. More importantly, this study demonstrates the importance of an intersectional analysis in examining and understanding women’s experiences and police reactions.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research was funded by the Ecuadorian National Secretariat for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (Senescyt) scholarship program.

Notes

Author Biography

Andrea Romo Pérez is a doctoral candidate in History and Political Science at the Institute for Latin American Studies of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Her research includes topics such as the levels and causes of violence and criminality in Latin America, perceptions of procedural justice among female offenders, police culture, and the intersectional experiences of minority female offenders with the criminal justice system in the region.

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