This session presents insights from the ongoing interdisciplinary research project “Secure Architectural Prison Design for Juveniles and Women”, which aims to develop evidence-based structural and organizational guidelines for contemporary prison design in Austria. While the broader project addresses the needs of both juveniles and women, the current focus lies on gender-specific challenges faced by incarcerated women.
Women constitute only a small minority of the prison population in Europe - and in Austria - resulting in their marginalization within a system largely designed around male inmates. Preliminary findings from qualitative fieldwork in Austrian custodial facilities reveal persistent disparities in access to spatial and programmatic resources: female inmates are often offered fewer leisure, education, and work opportunities, with employment frequently limited to gender-stereotypical tasks.
Building on previous findings and recent empirical data, this contribution explores how the physical and organizational prison environment can either support or restrict women's agency. Central to the analysis are the availability, accessibility, and usability of spaces, as well as the dimensions of dignity, privacy, autonomy, and normality - factors considered essential to promoting rehabilitation and supporting self-determined futures.
Moderated by Raphael Hamunyela, Commissioner General, Namibian Correctional Service, Namibia
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Mirjam Habisreutinger
Researcher, University of Applied Sciences Vienna, Austria
Mirjam Habisreutinger has been a researcher at the Department of Integrated Safety and Security Management at the University of Applied Sciences Campus Vienna since November 2022. She organizes and conducts research, particularly within KIRAS Security Research Projects, focusing on the organizational and structural aspects of prisons, as well as the security culture and resilience in Austria’s critical infrastructure. A graduate of Cultural and Social Anthropology, she previously contributed to research and editorial work as an administrative intern at the National Defence Academy Vienna.
