Vulnerabilities associated with violence against women before entering the prison system

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the individual and social vulnerabilities of women deprived of their liberty for violence suffered before entering the prison system. METHOD: an analytical crosssectional study, carried out with 272 inmates of a female prison unit, in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, Ceará. We applied two instruments: a form to analyze sociodemographic information and the violence suffered prior to entering the prison and the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), which analyzed the history of psychoactive substance use. RESULTS: 44.5% of women suffered violence. Most of the total sample was between 18 and 29 years old, with children, low education and income, early onset of sexual life and history of illicit drug use. Age between 18 and 29 years proved to be a protective factor against violence (OR = 0.632). Cocaine and crack use (p =0.002), amphetamines and ecstasy (p =0.018) increase the chance of violence by 2.2 to 3.3 times. CONCLUSION: aspects of the individual and social dimensions of vulnerability are associated with the occurrence of violence in women in the female prison system. Effective strategies need to be designed based on vulnerabilities to prevent violence against women.