By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Construction will begin next month for two prisons for women, one in the district of Pococí in the Province of Limón and another in the district of Perez Zeledón in the southern zone of the country, the Ministry of Justice announced Tuesday, adding that the investment will be $1,695,558.

With the two new prisons, the ministry hopes to settle a debt that has been owed for decades to the prisoners, said the minister, Marcia González Aguiluz.

"This means for women in prison being closer to their families and their children, living with lower levels of stress and avoiding family disintegration and family uprooting that involves being in the prison system," said González. "We are interested in strengthening their positive processes of social reintegration and minimizing the negative impact on their families."

According to the ministry, the prisons will each be 422 square meters, about 4,550 square feet.

The buildings will have the capacity to receive 72 prisoners with 36 cells in each building. There also will be two spaces each for intimate visits, a dormitory, an entry reception area and a kitchen with a family visit zone.

In addition, each facility will have an administrative office building that includes an individual attention office, an administrator's office and a security dormitory, as well as a nursery for four women who would be in jail with children.

According to the ministry, the Limón facility will cost  $859,465 and the Perez Zeledón one will cost $ 836,887. The two new prisons are expected to be inaugurated in the second half of 2020.

The ministry announced that it is in the process of studying the possibility of building other prisons in other regions of the country.


On February, the ministry announced the construction of a prison for women valued at $26.5 million, which will be prepared with a ‘gender approach.’

The jail will be located in a space of 13 hectares in the town of San Rafael, in the Alajuela province and will house 667 women in 66 residences, said the ministry.

"The current women's prison is the oldest in the country. It does not have the infrastructure conditions for the female population. It has a tremendously heavy, cage-like architecture, where the gender perspective has never been incorporated," said the ministry in its statement.

The center will have "a focus on gender and respect for human rights, strengthening the areas of training, work, attention to physical, social and emotional needs of women."

The complex will also have 16 study rooms, two computer labs, meeting rooms, four training workshops, spaces for work, a maternal and child module for 40 mothers and their children, as well as four gyms, recreational areas, areas for partner's visits, dining room, family and children's visitation, medical center and administrative building.


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