Women use collage art in a Lima prison ^{CEFR B2}

Public debate in Peru shifted toward tougher crime policies, and in 2025 the government altered how prisons were represented in public life. The visibility of social reintegration projects decreased while attention moved to stricter controls and more visible surveillance of prisoners and visitors. Within this context a collage-based artistic workshop ran in a women's prison in Lima during 2024–2025.

The workshop met weekly for two-hour sessions. Women used images to tell stories that could not always be put into words. The practice combined individual reflection, creative work and the sustaining of collective bonds. In overcrowded prisons women keep mental space for children, mothers, partners and future plans, and collages often overflowed beyond the paper margins to represent that complexity.

Participants described how the work unfolded. P and C attended every Friday; after a prison evaluation P moved to a lower security block while C remained in maximum security as controls increased, so the art sessions became one of the few places they could meet. T joined weeks after confinement and made collages of wild animals. L, who had been imprisoned several times and had daughters the same age as T, advised her on practical survival: do not fall in love with someone who does not love you back; submit a formal request if you need clothes appropriate to your gender identity; do not trust easily.

Z chose an image of a woman's head with many elements and said, "This is how we all feel here, unable to stop thinking about a thousand things at once." K said, "Prison has made me a tough person. I find it hard to express myself. Art will help us express what cannot be put into words." The experiences of K, Z, P, C, T, L and 20 other women suggest that increasing punishment intensities often weaken sources of well-being rather than reduce crime. As long as interlocutors connect, women deprived of liberty will continue to find ways to express how control oppresses them. The authors thank Luisa Pariachi, Camila Rodrigo, and Giovana Fernádez and the women who participated for their commitment.