This thesis studies the trajectory of incarcerated women in the Peruvian prison Chorrillos I in Lima and analyzes the influence of social inequalities and detainees' life-paths on the dynamics of this prison. Interviews with the inmates reveal a range of similarities in their trajectories before incarceration, from gendered domination schemes, socio-economic insecurity and life as single-mothers, to the search for survival strategies. Cross-examining the study of their trajectories with analyses of social, ethnic and gender relations provides an understanding of strategies used by these women to adapt to the prison environment, as well as the relationships between all the actors, and reveals the specific characteristics of a particular prison universe.
