HEALTHCARE FOR INCARCERATED WOMEN IN BRAZIL: REGULATORY CHALLENGES AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC POLICIES

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze healthcare assistance for incarcerated women in Brazil, examining constitutional foundations, infraconstitutional legislation, and public policies aimed at ensuring the fundamental right to health within the female prison system. The Federal Constitution of 1988 establishes health as a right of all and a duty of the State, a principle that also applies to persons deprived of liberty. However, the reality of female prisons reveals structural vulnerability, overcrowding, lack of specialized care, and deficiencies in maternal and child health policies. This qualitative research adopts a deductive method, based on normative and doctrinal analysis, in order to understand the legal and institutional obstacles that hinder the effective implementation of healthcare rights in female prisons. It concludes that, although there is sufficient legal framework, the effectiveness of these guarantees depends on structured public policies, institutional oversight, and the State’s commitment to human dignity.