Refugee and migrant women’s pathways into and through prisons: A systematic review of qualitative studies

Abstract

Refugee and migrant women in prison are likely to have experiences of trauma and gender-based violence, which shape their pathways to prison and impact their experiences in prison. This systematic review analyses the findings of qualitative studies to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of migrant and refugee women before and during imprisonment. The review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement (PRISMA). A systematic search of four academic databases, ProQuest Central, Taylor and Francis Journals, SAGE Journals and APA PsycInfo and web and citation search was carried out between April and October 2022. The search dates for identifying literature were from September 2001 to September 2021. The review’s search strategy identified 3208 articles from 4 databases and 9 studies from web and citation search, of which 11 met the inclusion criteria for the review. Quality appraisal was conducted using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). Four analytic themes were identified that detail refugee and migrant women’s experiences before and during imprisonment: women’s pathways to imprisonment; health care experiences; intersectional identities and women’s agency in the context of prison experiences. The findings suggest that the current systems of incarceration fail to reflect the complexity of women prisoners’ racial and ethnic backgrounds. Thus, there is a need for a greater understanding of refugee and migrant women’s experiences to promote better institutional and community support for women before and during prison to eliminate their pathways to the prison. There have been a few studies with a focus on refugee and migrant women in prison. This is an area which lacks focus in terms of both research and intervention, and this review will make an important contribution in this regard.

Keywords

Borders migrant prison qualitative research refugee women

Introduction

The past two decades have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of women being incarcerated globally (Morgan, 2019). Since 2000, the number of women incarcerated has increased worldwide by approximately 53% (Walmsley, 2017). Although women’s prison populations differ internationally, refugee and migrant women represent a rapidly growing proportion of the number of women specifically in the prisons of Europe and the United States (Zinn et al., 2016). In an era where carceral experiences are increasingly racialised (Wacquant, 1999) and feminised (Kruttschnitt and Gartner, 2003), this review focuses on the pre-prison experiences of refugee and migrant women, including their experiences of border crossings, and their subsequent experiences within the prison system.

This review is situated within the border criminology scholarship that examines the intersections between migration, border control and criminal justice, where inequities shaped by gender, racial and ethnic disparities remain under-explored (Bosworth et al., 2018; Canning, 2017; Mehta, 2018). These intersections give rise to intricate inequalities and a ‘dynamic system of racial and ethnic disparities’, which are under-theorised and under-researched in both theoretical and empirical terms (Bosworth et al., 2018: 3). Border criminology has highlighted women’s experiences of policing, surveillance, detention and imprisonment in the context of cross border mobility (Bosworth and Kaufman, 2011; Canning, 2017), but with little attention to its connections with gendered pathways that force women to migrate, particularly violence against women (Segrave, 2021).

Gender and racial inequalities are inherent not only in the societal and cultural norms but also in the security ideology of bordering processes and practices of state governance (see Kurwa and Gurusami, 2022). This is best illustrated in the case of migrant and refugee women moving across borders and experiencing imprisonment, which further exacerbates their vulnerabilities and marginality. For example, throughout a significant part of the 20th century, poor, working-class and migrant Latin American and Asian women were the most vulnerable to exclusion and deportation within the United States immigration context; they were constructed as ‘criminal’ and ‘terrorist’ threats to the country (Chavez, 2008; Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1995, 2013). Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) women in Australian prisons have also been depicted as the ‘forgotten’ and ‘silent’ few (Easteal, 1992; Kilroy, 2003), denoting both the lack of studies related to them and their exclusion, isolation, discrimination, stigmatisation and marginalisation within the prison system (Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People, 2010).

Feminist criminology scholarship on women’s pathways to imprisonment has mapped the gendered ways in which discourses of criminalisation are shaped and the experiences that lead women into the criminal justice system (see Cherukuri et al., 2009; Daly, 1994; Owen et al., 2017, Rowe, 2012). This scholarship has, however, been limited in its focus on refugee and migrant women. Similarly, studies focussing on women’s experiences within prison (Bosworth, 2000; Giallombardo, 1966; Kruttschnitt and Gartner, 2005, 2008; Owen, 1998; Wright and Cain, 2017) are limited by ‘methodological nationalism’ (Wimmer and Glick Schiller, 2002), where intersections of national differences and experiences of imprisonment are often overlooked. For instance, a recent systematic review by Bright et al. (2022) provides an overview of women’s experiences of prison-based healthcare engagements and outcomes, but it does not consider racial, ethnic and national differences. Consequently, in the context of the rising number of refugee and migrant women incarcerated globally (Matos, 2016; Zinn et al., 2016), the specificities of their marginalised and underrepresented positions and the limited research in this field, it is important to focus on their experiences before and during imprisonment. Drawing on different socio-political and geographical contexts, this review thematically analyses findings from qualitative research conducted with refugee and migrant women in prisons to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences from their own perspectives.¹

Methods

This systematic review is reported in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses statements (PRISMA) (Page et al., 2020). The review protocol is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (CRD42022355637). A population, concept and context (PCC) framework (Table 1) was used to guide the selection of terms used in the search strategy and to formulate the following research question:

RQ1. What are refugee and migrant women’s pathways to and experiences in prisons?

Table 1.

PCC framework.

PPC Element	Definition
Population	Refugee and migrant women in prison
Concept	Qualitative experiences
Context	Peer-reviewed articles within the last 20 years (September 2001–September 2021) and published in English

Search strategy

A systematic search of four academic databases, ProQuest Central, Taylor and Francis Journals, SAGE Journals and APA PsycInfo, web and citation search was conducted between April 2022 and October 2022. We conducted a thorough search across an extensive array of databases, encompassing both our selected databases and others such as Project Muse, Scopus, PsycArticles and Wiley. The final selection of the four databases was based on factors such as subject relevance, alignment with the study’s inclusion and exclusion criteria and overlap between databases. For instance, Project Muse was excluded due to its abundance of studies predating 2001. For online database searches, the terms of the search protocol were searched as combined strings using Boolean operators (Table 2). A search of websites and the reference lists of included databases’ articles was conducted to maximise the yield of relevant papers. Studies were restricted to peer-reviewed journal articles in English, published between 11 September 2001 and 11 September 2021. There was no restriction on geographical origin owing to a dearth of research in this subject area.

Table 2.

Search strategy and limitations.

Databases	Search protocol	Limitations
ProQuest Central	Woman OR women OR female AND Prisoner* OR imprison* OR convict* OR inmate* OR offender* OR sentence* OR jail OR correctional OR ‘criminal justice’ OR incarcerat* OR criminal* OR remand OR felon OR penitentiar* OR detain* OR penal OR convict OR undertrial AND ‘Culturally and Linguistically Diverse’ OR CALD OR ‘NonEnglish Speaking Background’ OR NESB OR ‘Born in NonEnglish Speaking Countries’ OR NESC OR BAME OR BAEM OR Refugee OR ‘overseas-born OR Immigrant’ OR Migrant* OR Asylum seeker* OR Emigrant OR ‘foreign-born’ OR Foreigner AND Experience* OR pathway* Life experiences OR ‘lived experiences’ OR negotiations OR resilience OR resistance AND Qualitative OR ‘Qualitative Research’	English Language Scholarly Journals Date: 11 September 2001-11 September 2021 publication years Subject: (‘qualitative research’ OR ‘studies’ OR ‘migration’ OR ‘women’ OR ‘research’ OR ‘violence’ OR ‘mental health’ OR ‘refugees’ OR ‘minority & ethnic groups’ OR ‘human rights’ OR ‘gender’ OR ‘immigration’ OR ‘mental disorders’ OR ‘interviews’ OR ‘employment’ OR ‘migrants’ OR ‘health services’ OR ‘multiculturalism & pluralism’ OR ‘health care’ OR ‘immigrants’ OR ‘female’ OR ‘womens health’ OR ‘ethnicity’ OR ‘domestic violence’ OR ‘social networks’ OR ‘ethnography’ OR ‘sociology’ OR ‘racism’ OR ‘trauma’ OR ‘narratives’ OR ‘citizenship’ OR ‘immigration policy’ OR ‘race’ OR ‘socioeconomic factors’ OR ‘poverty’ OR ‘sex industry’ OR ‘cultural identity’ OR ‘young adults’ OR ‘prostitution’ OR ‘females’ OR ‘risk factors’ OR ‘hispanic americans’ OR ‘feminism’ OR ‘post traumatic stress disorder’ OR ‘linguistics’) AND (‘language’ OR ‘displaced persons’) NOT (‘students’ OR ‘children’ OR ‘teachers’ OR ‘questionnaires’ OR ‘intervention’ OR ‘classrooms’ OR ‘ethics’ OR ‘male’ OR ‘semantics’ OR ‘human immunodeficiency virus hiv’ OR ‘books’ OR ‘consciousness’ OR ‘pandemics’ OR ‘content analysis’ OR ‘sustainable development’ OR ‘curricula’ OR ‘discourse analysis’)
Taylor and Francis Journals		English Articles 2001–2021 publication years Subject: Social Sciences
SAGE Journals		Research Articles 2001–2021 publication years When editing the search, all the search terms need to be entered again to ensure that the default is on All Field.
APA PsycInfo-		English Language Peer-reviewed Journals 2001–2021 publication years

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

All the studies obtained from the search were reviewed and assessed for eligibility. The studies included are (1) peer-reviewed journal articles published in English between 2001 and 2021 and (2) qualitative studies that focused on women who had been in prisons and with a history of border crossing in any country or study location. This time period was selected because of the rise in crimmigration policies and practices (Stumpf, 2006) globally after the 9/11 tragedy in the United States. The focus on qualitative studies is aligned with the aim of understanding refugee and migrant women’s experiences. Mixed method studies were included if there was a qualitative component to the same. Given that this systematic literature review extends over two decades and spans global boundaries, the difficulties linked to the accessibility and standardisation of grey literature add complexities to the processes of verification, source identification and evidence synthesis. To mitigate any potential concerns regarding validity and replicability of results, the team opted to exclusively include peer-reviewed articles. The studies excluded were: (1) studies focused solely on women who had not been to prison; (2) review articles, commentaries, book chapters and conference papers; (3) studies not focusing on women’s experiences in prisons; (4) studies not focussing on women who have crossed borders and (5) quantitative studies. All searches and outcomes were stored using an EndNote library.

Study selection

The initial review of studies resulting from the database search was conducted by one author (AA), who removed duplicates and reviewed titles and abstracts for eligibility. This was followed by a collaborative peer review process. Weekly team meetings were held to critically discuss and evaluate studies for eligibility based on their titles and abstracts. Based on the discussions in these meetings, the author (AA) conducted a second search to ensure a comprehensive review of all studies for eligibility and to avoid any potential limitations. Full-text versions of all remaining potentially eligible articles were retrieved and independently screened, by two authors (RM and GD), against eligibility criteria. Two authors (AA and WP) cross-checked the reference lists of the selected articles (via databases and web search) to identify any relevant studies. Any dilemma regarding the eligibility criteria of individual studies was resolved by discussion between the four authors. Eleven full-text peer-reviewed published articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. See Figure 1 for the flowchart of the search strategy and data extraction process.

Figure 1.

PRISMA 2020 flow diagram.

Quality appraisal

Quality appraisal of the included studies was independently undertaken by two reviewers (RM and GD) using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) (2018) Qualitative Checklist to evaluate the methodological quality, rigour, trustworthiness, relevance and results. This tool contains 10 questions rated as ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘Can’t tell’ responses. The quality weightings of the included studies (Table 3) were considered when reporting and discussing the results.

Table 3.

Comparison of quality appraisal results for the review papers.

The 10 questions of the CASP qualitative checklist:	Watt et al. (2018)	Iversen et al. (2013)	Dingeman et al. (2017)	Pérez (2019)	Hoefinger et al. (2020)	Nuytiens and Christiaens (2016)	Mehta (2014)	Mehta (2016)	Damsa and Franko (2023)	Kruttschnitt and Hussemann (2008)	Matos (2016)
Was there a clear statement of the research?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Is a qualitative methodology appropriate?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Was the research design appropriate to address the aims of the research?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Was the recruitment strategy appropriate to the aims of the research?	Y	C	Y	Y	Y	N	C	C	C	Y	C
Was the data collected in a way that addressed the research issue?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Has the relationship between the researcher and participants been adequately considered?	Y	C	Y	C	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	C	C
Have ethical issues been taken into consideration?	Y	C	Y	C	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	C	C
Was the data analysis sufficiently rigorous?	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Is there a clear statement of findings?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
How valuable is the research? a. If the researcher discusses the contribution the study makes to existing knowledge or understanding (e.g. do they consider the findings in relation to current practice or policy, or relevant research-based literature?	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
b. If they identify new areas where research is necessary?	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	N
c. If the researchers have discussed whether or how the findings can be transferred to other populations or considered other ways the research may be used?	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N

Data extraction and analysis

A Microsoft Excel data extraction form was developed and piloted for extracting information from each study. This included author, year, country of origin, study aim, key themes, recruitment methods, sample and population characteristics and findings. To develop a robust and meaningful review, two authors (AA and RM) conducted a thematic analysis of the selected articles using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step method of data familiarisation; generation of initial codes; generation of themes; review of potential themes; definition and naming themes and, finally, producing the final analysis with reference to the review question.

Findings

Search outcomes and study characteristics

The number of studies that identified study selection against the eligibility criteria and reasons for exclusion is depicted in Figure 1. The search strategy yielded 3208 studies from 4 databases and 9 studies from web and citation searching. After removing duplicates (n = 13), 3195 studies were retained for the title and abstract screening. A total of 21 citations from the databases and 9 citations from web and citation searching met the eligibility criteria for full-text screening, from which a final total of 11 papers were eligible for this review. Table 4 presents a summary of the characteristics of the 11 included studies that were eligible for this review.

Table 4.

Study characteristics.

Author and year	Country	Study aim	Key themes	Study design: recruitment methods	Sample and participant characteristics	Findings/results
Watt et al. (2018)	New South Wales, Australia	To examine how cultural and linguistic diversity, particularly those with limited English proficiency (LEP), affects the healthcare experiences of women in prison	The impact of cultural and language differences on prison life and health care delivery; using formal interpreters; peer interpreters and perceived challenges with peer interpreters	Focus groups and semi-structured qualitative interviews	30 CALD women in prison and 9 nursing staff in 3 female Correctional Centres in New South Wales, Australia	Communication difficulties were a significant and additional barrier to accessing and receiving health care. Barriers to care were perceived as discrimination. Fellow prisoners were often utilised as informal interpreters in place of formally trained interpreters. This came with potential challenges such as vulnerability to coercion, loss of confidentiality, untrained health advice and errors of interpretation. Improved understanding and facilitation of health-related communication could enhance equity of access for CALD women in prison.
Iversen et al. (2013)	Norway	To explore communication between prison officers and migrant women in a Norwegian prison. The study uses communication accommodation theory to explain communication strategies used by foreign inmates towards prison officers	Social and cultural differences; emotional and psychological burdens and the experience of migrant female inmates withdrawing from other inmates, officers and activities	Semi-structured interviews	19 migrant women inmates in a Norwegian prison	Prison officers in intercultural interactions with inmates were perceived as discriminatory and with little attention to migrant inmates’ cultural needs. This resulted in migrant inmates choosing to isolate themselves to avoid confrontation with prison officers. Therefore, the study advocates for prison staff to develop adequate interventions to reduce aggression and promote better communication skills for inmates and prison officers alike.
Dingeman et al. (2017)	United States of America	To explore the deportation experiences and post-deportation paths of Mexican and Central American women migrants who were held in U.S. immigration custody	Gendering the (cr)immigration-humanitarian nexus; caught by (cr)immigration enforcement; treated worse than criminals and haphazard removal outcomes	Semi-structured interviews	11 Mexican and Central American women. This study derives from a larger study of 107 Latin American migrants (96 were deported men)	Although immigration enforcement is a civil/ administrative process, women reported being treated like criminals – and typically much worse – during apprehension, in detention, at court and in the aftermath of removal as a result of their deportee status. More specifically, migrant women in prison reported negative experiences of feeling the stigma as ‘failed’ migrants and criminals. Many of them were also routinely deported without the opportunity to make a case for relief. However, the interviewed women did not passively accept this treatment. They organised themselves into a collective and offered policy recommendations such as amnesty, closing private detention, improving detention conditions, advancing ‘know your rights’ campaigns and providing indigent immigrants’ legal aid.
Pérez (2019)	Ecuador	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	Intersectional identities and perceptions of improper treatment and common stereotypes among police officers	Oral testimonies/in-depth interviews	51 Black and Colombian women prisoners and 50 active and retired police officers in women’s prisons in Latacunga and Guayaquil, for the former group and in police stations in Quito and Guayaquil for the latter group	This study demonstrates the importance of intersectional analysis in examining and understanding women’s experiences and stereotypes held by the police. The experiences of women who belong to the two marginalised groups (Colombian and Black women in prison) were diverse despite some shared 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. Twenty women out of 51 in the women’s sample reported being victims of verbal abuse. Colombian refugees were among the women who reported more negative encounters with the police in Ecuador. They were either verbally or physically abused or were affected by the irregularities which occurred while in police custody. Out of 50, 36 police officers who participated in this study expressed their stereotyped views of Colombians and/or Blacks by associating them with aggressiveness, corpulence, serious crimes and uncooperative behaviour. Importantly, the intersection between the national and racial identities and gender is evident in the treatment of the women by the police.
Hoefinger et al. (2020)	United States of America	To explore how policing, arrests, court involvement, court-mandated services, incarceration, immigration detention and the broader carceral politics surrounding U.S. anti-tracking strategies impact sex workers’ health	Increased racialised and gendered policing against transgender migrants; negative health impacts of criminalisation; struggles in accessing health care and community-based health interventions and support	In-depth interviews and ethnographic fieldwork	50 migrant sex workers and trafficked persons, as well as 20 key informants from legal and social services, in New York and Los Angeles. Ethnography in Human Tracking Intervention Courts (HTICs) in New York and the anti-tracking task forces in Los Angeles as well as participation in sex worker, transgender and migrant rights organising spaces and attending community-based meetings, political forums and social events	Interview participants highlight increases in racialised and gendered policing taking place in New York City. These trends contribute to abuses such as misgendering, humiliation, rape, forced condomless sex, coerced sex in exchange for release, sleep deprivation, denial of access to bathrooms or showers and being forced to sit in wet clothes. Many described how the threat of arrest or detention rendered them vulnerable to state violence and misconduct. They also reported various negative health impacts for migrants and trafficked persons. Specific mental health issues cited were symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, acute stress disorder, anxiety, depression and fear. Physical health issues that were self-reported included urinary tract infection, headaches, insomnia and poor nutrition. Therefore, broader public health support and funding for community-led health initiatives are needed to reduce barriers to health care resulting from stigma, criminalisation and ineffective anti-trafficking and humanitarian efforts. Importantly, the decriminalisation of sex work and the reform of institutional practices in the United States are urgently needed to reduce the overall negative health outcomes of system-involvement.
Nuytiens and Christiaens (2016)	Belgium	To explore the life histories and the pathways to crime and prison of female prisoners in Belgium and to show both similarities to and differences from the U.S. gendered pathways perspective	The women’s lives before incarceration (relational vulnerability as the central topic; abusive intimate relationships as a shared experience; and adult-incarceration: Women with ‘atypical’ life histories?); and pathways to crime and prison (the impact of abusive intimate relationships on female adult offending; limited options: making choices in gendered life contexts; and the importance of social isolation)	Autobiographical interviews	41 women prisoners in all of the 4 prisons in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) that had a women’s section. Most participants were Belgian natives. One woman had Italian roots but had grown up in Belgium, and one woman was Dutch and had grown up in the Netherlands	Comparing this research’s findings with the (U.S.) gendered pathways literature shows that, although some of the findings are in line with this literature, there are important differences. From the interviews it appears that three specific vulnerabilities are particularly salient in the emergence of offending: (1) financial need, (2) addictions and (3) abusive intimate relationships. The last vulnerability is the most important factor in the pathways to adult offending. This is in line with the pathways’ perspective, where victimisation in intimate relationships is considered an important precursor for female adult offending. However, few stories confirm the pathway to crime as a survival strategy emanating from victimisation. Some life histories did show similarities, such as child abuse and, therefore, leaving home at a young age, or drug use to cope with victimisation. The adult-onset pathway, and especially the late adult-onset pathway, shows both similarities to and differences from the gendered pathways perspective. Victimisation in abusive intimate relationships is even more important in the pathways to crime and prison of (late) adult-onset offending. The adult-onset offenders in this research, and especially the late adult-onset offenders, are considered atypical in the pathways perspective because their pathways are not characterised by risk factors. They do not have addictions, did not grow up in a damaging environment or had not been arrested before. However, unlike the ‘other women’, the (late) adult-onset offenders in this research did not have economic motives to initiate offending.
Mehta (2014)	Kolkata, India	To illustrate the ways in which young Bangladeshi women in prisons in India negotiate, manipulate and resist societal and institutional norms they encounter and get involved in relationships of ‘love’	Gendering prison and love: the various understandings that the research participants appear to have of love through their everyday life in prison in a ‘foreign’ country, India	In-depth interviews and ethnographic observations	40 Bangladeshi women inmates (largely in the age group of 18–22 years) and selected staff during regular visits to two correctional homes in Kolkata over a period of 1 year	It is vital to nurture the plurality of expressions of love of the research participants and acknowledge the way they defied, assumed and re-inforced roles of femininity within the patriarchal space of the prison as well as their larger social context. The perceptions and expressions of love in the narratives of Bangladeshi women inmates challenge two intrinsically patriarchal power structures: first, the institutionalised, emotionally sanitised, gender-segregated space of the prison; and second, the heterosexual, monogamous, normative notion of love with sex and marriage as its telos.
Mehta (2016)	Kolkata, India	To explore how everyday border crossings can be framed and understood differently, in juxtaposition to dominant rationales underpinning criminalisation discourses	The Indo-Bangladesh border and the criminalisation of mobility; the unawareness of the nature of borders and the illegality involved in moving from one side of the border to the other; and the existing confusion or ambiguity around the nature of the Indo-Bangladesh border	In-depth interviews and ethnographic observations	40 Bangladeshi women inmates (largely in the age group of 18–22 years) and selected staff during regular visits to two correctional homes in Kolkata over a period of 1 year	The research participants’ narratives provide alternatives to the androcentric perception of a militarised border based on masculine prowess and mutual exclusiveness. While the research participants recognised the difference between India and Bangladesh, for them, this variance was not neatly marked or divided by a border, but more in terms of culture, religion and economics. However, this difference did not necessarily translate to an understanding of the two countries as distinctly separate from each other or as having political borders. Their reference point for understanding the difference between the two countries was not a printed map. It was based on conversations and lived experiences and hence not necessarily ‘cognitive’ but lay in a grey area blending cognition and emotions.
Damsa and Franko (2023)	Norway and Denmark	To explore the role of citizenship and residence status in the creation of conditions of social inequality and exclusion, particularly as these relate to other forms of social disadvantage and power relations	Citizenship status, ‘illegality’ and global privilege; legal status, poverty and racialisation; ‘illegality’ and gendered vulnerabilities	Observations and ethnographic fieldwork, semi-structured and life-story interviews	57 women of 23 nationalities in prisons holding ‘foreign nationals’, two health clinics for ‘undocumented’ migrants and in several public settings, in Denmark. They were at different stages in their lives and of different ages. The majority were women of colour and socio-economically disadvantaged	Even in prison, non-citizens are more marginalised than citizens. For example, in Vestfløyen prison, the foreign women’s legal status put them into a separate category from Danish prisoners with whom they shared the wing. While Danish prisoners have access to traditional welfare rights, such as education, work and sport, non-citizens have limited access to such benefits. Although the importance of citizenship is difficult to ignore in such settings, the lack of formal membership affects everyday lives outside institutional settings and creates fear, social marginality and vulnerability to exploitation. The findings of this research show that illegalisation plays a central role in the shaping of other categories of social disadvantage, especially those associated with class, racialisation and gender.
Kruttschnitt and Hussemann (2008)	California and England	To examine how race and ethnicity shape prisoners’ experiences and abilities to cope with institutional confinement	Californian and English women’s experiences in prison	Interviews conducted	139 women prisoners in California and England. In California, 49% of the women interviewed were White, 21% were Black and 24% were Hispanic. In England, over two-thirds of the women interviewed were White, and most of these women were officially identified as British White (51%). The remaining White women (18%) had a predominantly European heritage. The next largest racial and ethnic groups were Black women of either Caribbean or African descent (15%); only 4% were identified as Black British	Women’s understandings of their racial identities differ substantially in the two contexts: California and England .In Californian prisons, White women who had no prior prison experience expressed considerable discomfort with their carceral lives. Prison forced them to confront, perhaps for the first time in their lives, their own racial identity. On the contrary, the narratives of Black and Hispanic reveal a startling acceptance of their conditions of confinement and a recognition of what is needed to obtain release. In the English prisoners, racial identity was readily visible. Racial and ethnic identities were highlighted by the prison service and the correctional staff. It was the women of colour, and in particular, the foreign nationals who more readily identified the ways in which imprisonment affected their sense of individuality and their perceptions of themselves as ‘the other’. White prisoners rarely drew attention to their own racial identities or called upon them to make sense of their prison experience.
Matos (2016)	Portugal	To understand foreign national women’s pathways and their identity (re)construction while in custody	The impact of gender and citizenship in women’s paths to imprisonment (‘doing time’ as foreign national women and the role of citizenship in the organisation of prison life)	In-depth interviews	41 foreign national women in prisons in Portugal	Results show several migratory paths before custody, where gender plays a crucial role. In the experience of imprisonment, citizenship seems to be essential as it can be an obstacle to accessing the outside or the explanation for an expulsion sentence. At the same time, nationality and ethnicity play an important role as organisers of social relations in prison.

Quality of studies

Overall, the body of evidence was of mixed quality, and the results of the methodological quality assessment are outlined in Table 3. The research statement of all studies was clear. In five of the studies included, the positionality of the researchers was either explored at a preliminary level or unknown (Hoefinger et al., 2020; Iversen et al., 2013; Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008; Matos, 2016; Pérez, 2019; Watt et al., 2018). Although the studies provided variable descriptions of the data collection methods, six of the studies had only basic information about the data analysis processes (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Matos, 2016; Mehta, 2014, 2016; Pérez, 2019). The presentation of findings in the papers did, however, reflect the rigour of analysis. Similarly, the recruitment strategies were not clearly mentioned in five of the studies, but the research participants approached were aligned with the research aims (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Iversen et al., 2013; Matos, 2016; Mehta, 2014, 2016). The recruitment strategy for Nuytiens and Christiaens’ (2016) study excluded some women on the basis of being mentally ill or for reasons of ‘security, emotional stability or limited communication skills’ (p. 198). Given the focus of the study on women’s gendered pathways to prison, this group would have been crucial for inclusion as they are excluded more broadly within society as well. The correlations between the findings and the current policies were explicit in five studies (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Dingeman et al., 2017; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008; Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016).

We acknowledge that there are limitations in this checklist method of quality assessment as it adheres to a normative structure and style of reporting about research and does not take into consideration the criticality, creativity and differences in writing styles in the global North and South. Most of the studies are carried out in challenging political, policy and institutional contexts. The rigour and innovation in methodological approaches are often not adequately highlighted in the articles but are nonetheless reflected in the depth of the narratives of the women interviewed. The studies also contribute to an underdeveloped area of scholarship and the ways in which they map the field’s needs to be acknowledged beyond the limitations of the tabular representation.

Four analytic themes

Four main themes were identified as a result of the thematic analysis:

Women’s pathways to imprisonment;

Health care experiences;

Intersectional identities; and

Women’s agency in the context of prison experiences.

Women’s pathways to imprisonment

Refugee and migrant women’s narratives in the different studies highlighted the structural and institutional barriers that shaped their overall well-being and pathway to prison. These barriers encompassed a wide range of issues, including the colliding of crimmigration laws with humanitarian principles leading to a paradox of protection and disregard for migrant women under the law (Dingeman et al., 2017); the intersection of social disadvantages created by race, gender, class and ethnicity with citizenship status (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008; Matos, 2016); sexual humanitarian anti-trafficking interventions that lead to the criminalisation of sex workers (Hoefinger et al., 2020) and androcentric paradigms of state sovereignty and border control (Mehta, 2016). Some of the studies refer to the histories of colonisation and slavery that compel women to migrate and create precarity which eventually shaped their pathway to prison (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008; Matos, 2016; Mehta, 2016).

In addition to these, abusive relationships with caregivers and/or intimate partners created multi-layered vulnerabilities for women, encompassing physical, emotional and sexual aspects, at the individual, relational and societal levels, often leaving them impoverished and trapped in cycles of drug and alcohol addiction (Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016). In some cases, social isolation played a critical role, as the absence of a supportive social network led them to ‘choosing’ the ‘delinquent path’ and ‘criminal path’ (Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016: 206).

Therefore, inequalities and exclusion tend to precede migrant women’s imprisonment (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Matos, 2016; Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016). Importantly, the impact of gender relations and citizenship status on foreign national women’s trajectories to imprisonment is evident (Matos, 2016). Foreign national women described migratory paths before prison as acts of escaping from violent relationships, seeking better health care for unwell children and reuniting with husbands or family members (Matos, 2016). They also reported instances of discrimination during childhood and adulthood (Matos, 2016). Such conditions and experiences of discrimination resulted in migrant women not achieving education or getting employment in the host country, experiencing the constraints on their life choices and being caught up in networks of human trafficking and international drug trade (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Matos, 2016).

Health care experiences

Four of the studies made explicit the difficulties and barriers that refugee and migrant women experience in seeking to access and receive health care in prisons and immigration detention settings (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Iversen et al., 2013; Watt et al., 2018). Each of these studies highlighted the struggle for women to access confidential, unbiased and supportive health care. Communication difficulties were reported as the most significant barrier to health care for CALD women in prison in Australia. Women from CALD backgrounds, especially women with limited English proficiency (LEP), reported difficulty communicating in English and perceived racism and discrimination from prison staff ‘to be the main cause of disrupted health care’ in everyday prison life (Watt et al., 2018: 1161). Some women reported accessing formal interpreters, but there were concerns about the accuracy of formal interpreters, especially in their medical interpretations (Watt et al., 2018). Many women reported not being offered a formal interpreter and not knowing this service was available (Watt et al., 2018). Although peer interpreters were preferential to some women, there were concerns about the lack of confidentiality and the vulnerability of using private information against women with LEP (Watt et al., 2018). Similarly, migrant sex workers and trafficked women in the United States reported clear anti-migrant attitudes from guards ‘who would deride and deny urgent health care by claiming to not understand the detainees on the basis of language’ (Hoefinger et al., 2020: 14).

Isolation was another substantial barrier that CALD and migrant women experienced in accessing health care in prison (Iversen et al., 2013; Watt et al., 2018). Some migrant prisoners chose isolation or withdrawal as a solution to avoid conflict, but isolation often results in being ‘more vulnerable or susceptible to poor health and possibly reduce their chances to rebuild their lives after release’ (Iversen et al., 2013: 75). Stigma related to sex work and drug use, gender and/or racial identity and immigration status are also barriers to accessing quality, unbiased health care (Hoefinger et al., 2020). Migrant women, sex workers and people with experiences of trafficking in Hoefinger et al.’s (2020) study described the correlation between anti-trafficking laws and practices that included policing, arrest and incarceration in the United States and negative health consequences. Specific negative mental and physical health outcomes cited were related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual violence and derision by police and guards, acute stress disorder, stigma and prejudice against sex workers and transgender people of colour, urinary tract infection, headaches, insomnia and poor nutrition (Hoefinger et al., 2020).

Intersectional identities

Most of the studies demonstrate the importance of intersectional analysis in examining and understanding foreign national or noncitizen women’s experiences at the time of police arrest and while in prison (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Dingeman et al., 2017; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Iversen et al., 2013; Matos, 2016; Pérez, 2019). Based on the results of these studies, it is suggested that prison should be rethought from a lens of gender and citizenship. Migrant women in prison reported that communication problems are not simply a lack of language skills (Iversen et al., 2013). Communication problems were triggered by discriminatory attitudes and negative prejudices of some of the prison officers as some migrant women reported being placed in solitary confinement and never given any reason by the prison staff (Iversen et al., 2013). Out of 51 women in the sample of Pérez’s (2019) study, 45 complained about the behaviour of the police. Women believed that stereotypes about their nationality, social class and race were reflected in the regular suspicion and stigma attached to them and the constant police surveillance they were subjected to (Pérez, 2019). Women also illustrated how gender intersects with nationality, ethnicity and migration status, with labels such as ‘the European foreigner’, ‘the African’, or ‘the Colombian’ women used in the prison, to shape the structure of prison relations, both between prisoners and between prisoners and staff (Matos, 2016: 361).

The intersection between migration, border control and ‘illegality’ created disparities, as described by some of the women whose fear of deportation is exacerbated because of abusive relationships and gendered repercussions they face in their country of origin (Damsa and Franko, 2023). Women also demonstrated how their vulnerability as migrants waiting for declarations of immigration status is complicated by legal charges such as a child neglect charge, for example (Dingeman et al., 2017). In addition, several migrant transgender women participants reported poor access to physical and mental health services, ‘derision . . . and shockingly demeaning conditions’ during incarceration (Hoefinger et al., 2020: 13).

Women’s agency in the context of prison experiences

Agency was present in the way several migrant women prisoners described making decisions to escape violent relationships and migrate (Matos, 2016). Agency was also reflected in the narratives of women of colour who drew less on their own racial identities and more on how they were managing to cope with the conditions of institutional imprisonment and the separation from the outside world (Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008). Many foreign national and racial minority women prisoners reported avoiding conflicts with other prisoners, recognising what is needed to obtain release without incurring additional difficulties and deeply reflecting on who they were (Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008). To highlight instances of support, migrant women prisoners reported that ‘some prison officers were concerned with the difficulties foreign nationals faced . . . [and] how other inmates at times provided them with food and clothing or offered to be hosts in case they were granted day parole’ (Matos, 2016: 362).

Although migrant and foreign national women prisoners’ experiences are characterised by the violence/injustice of crimmigration, criminalising labels, neglect by the state and coercive practices, women often resisted through narratives and activism (Dingeman et al., 2017). Far from passively adopting the (re)production of female victimhood, women in Dingeman et al.’s (2017) study, spoke from ‘the perspective of a mother, wife, or activist than a victim’ (p. 300). Their acts of resisting the deportation system and immigration custody included ‘sharing testimonies, joining solidarity groups, participating in research, and educating others’ and offering policy recommendations such as ‘closing private detention, improving detention conditions, eliminating bars on re-entry, advancing “know your rights” campaigns, and providing indigent immigrants legal aid’ (Dingeman et al., 2017: 310–311). Young Bangladeshi women, who had migrated without legal papers to India and had subsequently been imprisoned, also resisted the normative gendered societal and institutional narratives and criminalisation discourses by getting involved in a multitude of different ‘love’ relationships (Mehta, 2014). Instead of focusing on narratives of violence, many young foreign women prisoners spoke about love as the possibility of recasting a ‘new’ self in a prison in a foreign land (Mehta, 2014). They found multiple ways to connect with their lovers (male inmates, female inmates/‘sisterly love’ and both) through, for example, writing love letters and exchanging glances of affection with each other when going to court with male prisoners in the same police vans (Mehta, 2014).

Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first systematic review focusing on qualitative research about the pathways and experiences of refugee and migrant women in prison. This review draws on as well as underscores the research gaps in the fields of border criminology and feminist criminology. It incorporates 11 studies conducted over 2 decades, drawing out rich, in-depth narratives from these women. These studies offer valuable insights from various global perspectives, encompassing the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Ecuador, Denmark, Norway, Australia, India and Belgium. However, barring a few notable exceptions (Mehta, 2014, 2016; Pérez, 2019), there is a noticeable dearth of focus on refugee and migrant women in prison environments within the Global South.

Research on women’s pathways to prison has shown that women in prison are characterised by child and adult experiences of victimisation, social inequalities and intersectional power structures (Batchelor, 2005; Brown, 2006; Crenshaw, 1989; Girshick, 1999; Simpson et al., 2008). Qualitative studies reveal how certain discourses, which stereotype and construct criminal identities, are intricately embedded within intersectional and marginalised social identities, defined along the lines of race, class and gender (Brunson and Miller, 2006; Kessler and Dimarco, 2013). In line with the gendered pathways literature, findings from this review reveal multilevel vulnerabilities and complex intersectional marginalisation vis-à-vis citizenship, race, ethnicity, gender and class (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Matos, 2016; Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016). However, one study does not fully fit this one-sided accumulative vulnerability since childhood (Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016). Nuytiens and Christiaens (2016) assert the positive childhood that at least 15 interviewed women experienced before they reached adulthood. Atypical to the literature on women in prison, the life courses of these adult-onset women in prisons reveal only one vulnerability: abusive intimate relationships (Nuytiens and Christiaens, 2016). There are, however, limitations to this understanding as internalisation of gendered norms may shape women’s understanding of their childhood experiences. Gendered norms and social control create precarities for women, which are layered and may not be easily identifiable. The precarities are further exacerbated by circumstances created by the intersection between migration, border control and criminal justice systems in the host countries. The review highlights the complex ways in which statist narratives of protection and criminalisation marginalise women through a display of benevolence, discrimination, neglect or arbitrary violence (Dingeman et al., 2017).

Intercultural communication, English-language barriers and discriminatory attitudes contribute to poor health outcomes among CALD, migrant and noncitizen women in prisons (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Iversen et al., 2013; Watt et al., 2018).

This review underscores the parallels in experiences of migrant, refugee, CALD and noncitizen/foreign national women in accessing quality health services within prison systems across various global contexts, notably in countries such as Norway, Denmark, Australia and the United States. For instance, in Norway, despite legal entitlements to welfare services such as the European Health Insurance Card, ‘foreign nationals’ and ‘undocumented’ migrants frequently face obstacles in accessing these services (Damsa and Franko, 2023). Furthermore, reports from Australian women’s prisons bring to light the significant communication hurdles faced by women with LEP. Predominant concerns include the lack of adequate interpreter services, a dearth of comprehensive information about prison operations and legal rights and restricted access to religious practices and guidance from religious ministers (Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People, 2010). These findings have implications for the management of communication complexities, the development of support services, the need for cross-cultural counselling and structural changes in institutional practices of the correctional services to eliminate racism and to enable better health access for migrant, refugee, CALD and noncitizen/foreign national women in prison.

The impact of intersecting marginalised identities, particularly race, nationality and gender, on women’s experiences prior to and in prison was extensively mentioned in 7 out of the 10 studies, establishing the particular vulnerabilities experienced by refugee and migrant women (Damsa and Franko, 2023; Dingeman et al., 2017; Hoefinger et al., 2020; Iversen et al., 2013; Matos, 2016; Mehta, 2014; Pérez, 2019). Experiences of racialised, ethnicised and classist hierarchies and stereotypes in prisons and immigration custody, led to further violence, deterioration of women’s health, vulnerability and exclusion. The intersection of marginalised identities is often exacerbated on gendered grounds. The marginalised groups of trans-migrant women of colour, sex workers and LGBTQIA+ communities revealed the intersectional forms of stigma around sex work, sexuality and sex-gendered discrimination in the enforcement of sexual humanitarian policies and interventions (Hoefinger et al., 2020). Consequently, more qualitative research needs to be conducted on the experiences of women prisoners with intersecting marginalised identities.

As a direct result of being marginalised and in prison, many migrant, refugee, CALD and foreign national women prisoners are often portrayed as passive, ‘victims’, exploited or/and vulnerable. However, this review reveals the various ways in which women exercise their agency through contesting the heteronormative premise of prisons and border management policies and practices, challenging ideas of victimhood and forming grassroots collectives. Race and ethnicity had varying impacts on the lived experiences of women in prison and their abilities to cope with the different types and periods of confinement (Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008). Being used to dealing with a disadvantaged social status, it was not uncommon for foreign national women prisoners to cope with adversities in their carceral lives (Kruttschnitt and Hussemann, 2008). Nevertheless, in the context of social and structural barriers, women attempt to have a choice of where and how their lives will develop and gain some control over their lives after prison (Matos, 2016). Although migrant women were consistently deported without the opportunity to explore avenues of relief, they resisted the (re)production of female victimhood by speaking against the government and male violence (Dingeman et al., 2017). Moreover, the perceptions and expressions of love that young foreign national women prisoners expressed – towards men and women in prison – mark a dynamic way of resisting patriarchal power and the heterosexual normative notion of love (Mehta, 2014).

Conclusion

This systematic review underscores the pressing necessity for gaining a deeper comprehension of the diverse experiences of women in prisons, particularly those from marginalised racial and ethnic backgrounds. It advocates for a critical re-evaluation and transformation of their conditions of confinement, shedding light on the intricate interplay between incarceration and the politics of racial identities. Furthermore, the review has brought to the forefront a crucial need for additional research that locates the nuanced pathways that lead migrant, refugee, CALD and foreign national women to prison. In addition, these studies should also explore their distinctive experiences within the confines of prison. By addressing these gaps in research, we can foster a comprehensive understanding and contribute to the development of informed and equitable policies and practices to better support refugee and migrant women and prevent their incarceration.

Since refugee and migrant women are typically marginalised according to race, gender, sexuality and citizenship status, this review has clearly demonstrated the salience of intersectional approaches to examining and understanding women’s experiences in prison. Despite often having histories of trauma and vulnerabilities, migrant, refugee, CALD and foreign national women prisoners present narratives of agency, self-assertion and resistance throughout their mobility trajectories. These acts of agency provide an insight into the workings of power exercised by the state and its punitive bordering policies and practices that manifest themselves in crimmigration and/or humanitarian approaches. Experiences of women, who are at the receiving end of these punitive bordering policies and practises, need to be acknowledged, heard and responded to both at a global and state-specific level. Institutional and community support should be garnered to better support women crossing borders so that they can access and inhabit social worlds underpinned by principles of equity and justice. Highlighting the significance of offering such support for these women is crucial for enhancing their well-being and cultivating their pathways post-release from prison. Such an approach not only benefits individuals but also fosters long-term positive outcomes for communities at large.

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) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Rimple Mehta

Notes

Author biographies

Rimple Mehta is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. Rimple’s research and field engagements focus on women in prisons, refugee women and human trafficking. She engages with questions of borders, citizenship and criminology of mobility. She has researched with women in prisons in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, New South Wales and in a detention centre in the Netherlands.

Ayah Abubasheer is an Associate Lecturer of Sociology at Western Sydney University. Since 2018, Ayah has held research appointments in Australian universities, including Western Sydney University and the University of Technology Sydney, and taught sociology, politics, social work, policy and advocacy and communication programmes.

Gabrielle Drake is a Professor and the Associate Dean Engagement at the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. She is a recognised expert in the areas of social policy, mental health and disability, child well-being and homelessness. Gabrielle’s research interests include social work practice in child well-being; mental health; disability; boarding houses; housing and homelessness pathways; consumer and carer voices in social work education and inclusive and emancipatory research.

Wayanna Padukka has a Masters in Social Justice (Human Rights) (USYD) and a Bachelors in Psychological Science (UNSW). She is currently a researcher at the Australian Human Rights Commission. Wayanna has research experience in consent, respectful relationships and sexuality education, domestic and sexual violence and violence against Indigenous Australian women and children.

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