FIRST STEPS IN THE CRIMINALIZATION OF WOMEN. POLICE DETENTION OF WOMEN IN THE BASQUE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY

This article describes, from a gender perspective, the experiences of police detention of women in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi during the 2011-2016 period. We focus on socio-demographic profiles of women suspected of a crime and the degree of compliance with the rights that assist them during detention. For this, the police statistics available by the Ertzaintza-Basque Autonomous Police, complemented with data provided by the main local police, were analyzed as well as qualitative information produced through 62 semi-structured interviews that raise the voice of the protagonists and the view of different agents involved: police officers, lawyers, and social movements. The results show that among the accused and detainees, there is an overrepresentation of foreigners and women belonging to groups crossed by several axes of inequality. Their rights during detention are respected, except for some elements to consider in their application, especially in the case of non-hegemonic profiles.