Women use collage art in a Lima prison ^{CEFR B1}

In recent years there has been growing support for tough-on-crime policies in Peru. In 2025 the government shifted how prisons were represented in public life: social reintegration projects became less visible and more attention went to stricter controls and visible surveillance of prisoners and visitors. Against this background, a collage-based artistic workshop ran in a women's prison in Lima in 2024–2025.

The workshop met weekly in two-hour sessions. Women used magazine images and other pictures to tell stories they could not always say in words. The practice allowed individual reflection, creative practice, and the sustaining of collective bonds. In overcrowded conditions collages often overflowed the paper margins to show many concerns at once.

Several participants described their experiences. P and C attended every Friday; after a prison evaluation P moved to a lower security block while C stayed in maximum security as controls increased. T joined a few weeks after confinement and made early collages with wild animals. L, who had been imprisoned several times and had daughters the same age as T, guided her with practical survival advice, including how to request clothes that match gender identity.

Z and K used collages to show mental overflow and toughness. 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. Women continued to find ways to show how control oppresses them.