Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
In this report, we meet with four former prisoners who tell us about their experiences — what it’s like to love in prison. Natalia
Were there «kobels» (active lesbian) and «kovyrialka» (passive lesbian) in jails where you served terms? Katya: We did not have such a term as a lesbian. Nobody considered themselves lesbians. Well, in the prison there were no woman which I really desired, but I still needed sex. So there was no other way, it was for the sake of my health. I learnt about LGBT recently. Although I have been dating girls since I was 14 years old, and now I’m 38. The execution that took place is a travesty and a grave miscarriage of justice," the groups said in a joint statement. If there is a mutual sympathy, then there comes an invitation to have tea. And then there is the illegal correspondence (“ malyavnya”). Then relations develop. And if other prisoners see that you have tea five times together, you can be ranked as a pair. And it is treated calmly. But if you end up in someone else’s bed, a complaint can be filed on you. Sex takes place in the production area, in the storage room, the club, in dryers. Then at night in beds. There are beds that are not monitored by cameras. Well, we found out where. Katya: I was released earlier than my girlfriend. When she got her freedom, she came to me, but my father did not let her in. I was looking for her, then I received a letter saying that her house had been burnt. I did not know where she is now.Leningrad Oblast. 38-year old Olga has recently been released from jail in Mordovia. Then she found shelter at her ex-girlfriend Katherine. Now, the couple lives in a three-room apartment: Katya and Vita, and Olga. Olga has no citizenship, no documents, no housing, no work. This story began almost 15 years ago. Katya and Olga met in Petersburg, lived together for six years, then parted. All the time she was on a police wanted-list. She quarreled with Katya. She took her things and went out in a park, and then appeared again in the life of Katya only two years later. One day Katya received a message through social media: “Hi, I’m in Mordovia.” Also Katya has a prison experience, she was in a colony in Sablino, Leningrad region, in the early 2000s. The girl gets freedom and after that beat somebody or steal something and then return to the prison. And while she is in pre-trial detention, the « kobel» is already with another girl. They don’t understand it. The « kobel» does not need his girlfriend, because the jail is filled with these girls.
And ribbons were painted and attached (in Russia prisons the ribbons mean for example prone to escape, prone to homosexual relationships and so on). We knew that this woman has a ribbon for escape, another woman had ribbon for another thing. In general, it was very serious, they could send us to the punishment cell. There were 40 people, and the most — for homosexual relations. And my girlfriend was also sent there, however, the reason was a fight. When I came out, I once thought about doing something bad and return to prison. I did not want to not see all this on the outside. There was no work, Olga left me. I thought: I want to return to the zone, there are a lot of women, and everybody is a lesbian. Malaysian women's groups Justice for Sisters and Sisters in Islam called for a review of the Sharia law. Katya: And about the « kobles»: We met with guys from the male jail. All our « kobles» spoke of themselves as men, they dressed up weirdly, made makeup. I said: «Ah, my boys with pussies.» They are like males: «I’m not Yulia, I’m Yura.» When they were congratulated with March 8th, they made a scandal, but when males came… Formally, sexual relations are considered a violation, but this thing is difficult to prove, in other words, everyone knows everything, and the commanders of the detachment take part in these relations, protect lovers or punish them. But they can prove it if they catch you at night. And there are no other variants. Officially they are punished, and unofficially — they are encouraged. Because the prison administration believes that it is a powerful tool of influence.Female inmates often tell about unofficial pressure on prisoners. Most likely, the prison administrations are careful not to «spoil the statistics», so official forms of punishment are not applied. Officially, women get into punishment cell or strict detention or to additional household work not for relationships and not for sex. The motive can be different, not only being in someone else’s bed, but also a fight, a non-fulfillment of the work plan and so on. In any case, all unreasonable workload is a form of violence and discrimination. Including when people work overtime for showing love, or when they have to work another eight hours for a date.
Great Deal 
New Comment