Mixed-Gender Practices in Belgian Prison Regimes: The Politics of Gender Segregation in Prison

This empirical study examines mixed-gender practices in Belgian prisons, where men and women interact mainly in supervised work, education, and cultural activities. These limited practices, as exceptions to gender segregation policies, reveal how prison regimes are shaped by a profound preoccupation with managing heterosexual relationships between incarcerated people and thereby reproduce binary and heteronormative notions of gender and relationships. Drawing on interviews with incarcerated people, the study reveals that gender-based harms and violence persist in both mixed and single-gender spaces. The findings highlight the need to critically consider gender segregation policies and recognize the gendered assumptions underpinning them.