Women are housed in gender-specific sections of facilities that house both men and women or in the country’s four correctional facilities for women:

• two jails: Pozzuoli (Naples) and Rebibbia Femminile (Rome)
• two prisons: Venezia Giudecca and Trani.

Hygiene conditions are often deemed unsatisfactory and essential products are not guaranteed (e.g. tampons, OB/GYN care, etc.)

Work opportunities available to women are consistently less diverse and numerous than those available to men.

Specific wings are designated for women with children — the Attenuated Custody Institutions for Detained Mothers (Istituti a custodia attenuata per detenute madri, ICAM). They have larger cells and are organised in a semi-open regime . Oftentimes, a childcare centre allows women to work during the day.

In ICAM, the prison administration distributes supplementary provisions (food, personal hygiene products…), and further authorises cell decoration and provides social workers and psychologists.

Minors are subject to a specific justice system. Their cases are evaluated in closed proceedings by the juvenile tribunal (tribunali per i minorenni) and by the juvenile appellate court (corte d’appello per i minorenni).

Convicted minors serve their sentences in specific correctional facilities (referred to as istuti penali per i minorenni, IPM). The country has 17 of these facilities.
Untried minors generally pass through processing centres (centri di prima accoglienza, CPA). These facilities also carry out other social functions. These minors are not counted in carceral statistics.

The majority of juvenile detention centres (JDC) are in city centres or suburban neighbourhoods. The only exception is the Nisida juvenile facility, located on an islet 40 minutes from Naples by car and inaccessible by public transport. The Turin JDC is the newest, unveiled in 2013. The JDCs in Bologna, Florence and Palermo were built into historic buildings.

Only two facilities, those in Nisida and Rome, are not single-sex. Establishment capacity can vary drastically. The facilities in Caltanissetta and Pontremoli can hold 12 people. The JDCs in Nisida and Rome, however, can host as many as 50 minors. The Treviso JDC is part of a larger facility where adults are also incarcerated.

Outdoor spaces, sports fields, and vegetable gardens are often available, as is the case in Rome and Nisida. In Cagliari, minors can meet with loved ones in gazebos in the courtyard of the establishment. An outdoor pool is available during the summer months in Milan.

The majority of cells have two to four beds; their size varies by establishment. Occupants are generally free to decorate them. Adjoining sanitary sections with toilets and showers are always nearby. But, in Treviso, showers are installed above toilets without toilet bowls. Religious services take place at a catholic church.

The kitchen is often adapted to accommodate vocational education. All JDCs have multipurpose rooms, libraries, classrooms, workshops and, sometimes, game rooms. Visiting rooms are always shared.

JDCs offer numerous activities, such as cultural and religious mediation, plastic arts workshops, carpentry and various sports. The array of activities offered to minors is generally more diverse than what is offered to adults.

The most represented nationalities are Moroccan, Romanian, Albanian, Tunisian and Nigerian.

An undocumented resident cannot be sentenced to prison. However, they can be placed under administrative detention.

Foreign prisoners may call their home countries, so long as they communicate the recipient’s number to the prison administration.

The amount of time allotted for a visit can be extended if the visitor came from abroad. These decisions are made by the penitentiary administration.

[See the Visit Rubric]

Prisoners sentenced to long sentences generally have an easier time getting work authorisation.
Article 14-bis of penitentiary regulation authorises special surveillance of certain offenders in light of their personality or personal history. They are then kept away from other prisoners and certain activities.

Life sentences are generally reserved for cases involving homicide or terrorism. But mafia-linked offenders are also sentenced to life with some regularity.
The majority of prisoners serving life are in Lombardy, in Sardinia and in Abruzzo. People involved in the mafia are incarcerated far from their homes.

People sentenced to life can be subject to a stricter prison regime, according to the provisions of article 72 of criminal code. A person sentenced to life serves at least the first years of their sentence in isolation under the provisions of this article.

Pre-trial detention and its maximum duration are defined by articles 285 and 303 penal procedure code. It is prohibited by law for criminal infractions to be punishable by less than five years imprisonment, with the exception of certain white collar crimes. Pre-trial detention cannot exceed two years for offences punishable by six years imprisonment, four years for crimes punishable by up to 20 years, and six years for crimes with sentences longer than 20 years.¹

The law allows prisoners to appeal against pre-trial detention. The defendant can appeal the decision at any time.

People placed in pre-trial detention don’t have access to work opportunities. Their phone communications and visitations are also submitted to the judicial authorities.

Prison administration encourages transgender people to keep their gender identity quiet. Isolation is the only protection offered to them.

Healthcare professionals in prisons are rarely equipped to respond to geriatric medical needs. Prison facilities do not have premises and staff dedicated to geriatric care. Sometimes, they employ younger inmates, as is the case at Bollate prison in Milan ¹.

Prisoners over 70 years of age may request a sentence commutation due to their age (Article 47-ter of penitentiary regulation). Unrepentant mafia members cannot seek such a commutation.

Many elderly people dread being released from prison. Most of them have lost familial support and do not have homes. The care they received in prison is generally not followed up on release.¹.

Prison administrations provide disability training for prison police officers. Good Samaritan fellow prisoners, called piantoni, usually help prisoners with disabilities on a daily basis.