In August 2020, the non-governmental organization Foro Penal issued a special report on women who have been victims of political repression in the country. In December 2020, an update of the document was released, in which new cases of women political prisoners were incorporated and the data on detentions for political purposes carried out against women was brought up to date.
As of December 31, 2020, there are 26 women political prisoners in Venezuela, including 24 civilians and 2 military officials. 12 of them are under house arrest, and 14 are kept in the following detention centers: the headquarters of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence in Boleíta, Caracas; the National Institute of Orientation for Women (Los Teques, Miranda state); La Crisálida Training Center for Female Inmates (Los Teques, Miranda state); the headquarters of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence in Bolívar state; the headquarters of the Special Actions Force in Nueva Esparta state; the headquarters of the Special Action Force in Táchira state; Detachment 51 of the Bolivarian National Guard (Monagas state), and the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Police (La Yaguara, Caracas).
Between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2020, the cumulative number of political prisoners in the country reached 15,688 people, including 1,745 women.
Regarding the number of women detained for political reasons in 2020, the figure stood at 65 arrests.
The report determined that the highest number of arrests of women for political reasons in 2020 took place from March onwards, in the context of protests due to failures in basic services, with May being the month that reported the highest number of women detained for political reasons in the year in question, specifically 18 arrests.
It is worth noting that 51% of the detentions of women for political reasons in 2020 were conducted by officers of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and that the Capital District and the state of Zulia reported the greatest number of women arrested for political reasons.
Read the full report in Spanish HERE
Translated by José Rafael Medina
