For teenage girls who have committed a serious crime, there are colonies for minor girls.
There are two such prisons in Russia. The most famous is in Novy Oskol (Belgorod region). The other is located in Tomsk. Previously, there was a colony for girls in Ryazan (the village of Lgovo). The women guards who work in the prison for underage girls are, as expected. In such a colony there is only one general regime. With good behavior, incarcerated teenagers can move to a preferential position after just three months of imprisonment.
Violent children
The seemingly cute creatures in captivity are not so harmless. The crimes they have committed sometimes far exceed the cruelty committed by adult criminals.
For example, one of the prisoners of the Ryazan colony for girls, Olya, at the age of 15, killed her neighbor grandmother in order to rob her home. At the trial, she said that her brother urgently needed drugs, but there was no money to buy them, and in order to ease his fate from the “withdrawal” that had begun, she committed a crime.
Another teenage girl from Yekaterinburg killed a little girl and her friends by dragging her into the basement. There, the keys to the apartment were taken from the murdered woman, which was later robbed. Her story is similar to the story of another girl, Valya, who, for fun, dragged a small child (a girl) into her apartment with her friend and began to strangle her. The child was saved only thanks to the mother, who raised the alarm when she lost the baby. Miraculously, the mother was able to find that apartment, and banged on the door, shouting to be let in, and the girls answered through the door that they had no one. The little victim was lucky that the apartment had a wooden door, and the woman managed to knock it down, thus stopping the massacre of her little daughter.
Photo from the former colony for juvenile delinquents in Ryazan
Interestingly, killer girls easily share their crime stories with journalists, unlike adult criminals. They even try to embellish their atrocities.
16-year-old Lyuda has been in a girls' colony for more than a year. There is still so much time left to sit. According to her, her mother sold her to gypsies at age 10, and since then she has been selling opium for a drug lord. She received a prison sentence for this crime.
Another young convict went to prison for causing grievous bodily harm. At the age of 15, she drank in the company of a young friend and stepfather. At some point, the man began to molest his girlfriend, and his stepdaughter stabbed him three times.
In general, there are countless stories of girls. Along with murderers, there are also those convicted of theft, car theft, and drug trafficking in the colony for minor girls. These are the majority here.
Photo from the former colony for juvenile delinquents in Ryazan
Thanks to the decriminalization of “light” offenses, fewer and fewer criminals are ending up in prisons for girls. On the one hand, this is good - over the past 15 years, the number of minors held in Russian educational colonies has decreased by almost 10 times. However, on the other hand, having not received punishment for a crime, children believe that they will continue to get away with everything, and by the time they reach adulthood they can grow up to be criminals.
The order of production in "suit"
Each new arrival is given a “registration” in order to find out the moral qualities and status of the person. There is a rule: no admission tests can be given to a person until all the norms of behavior and traditions of the zone are explained to him. In the “youngster” zones, the tests look, according to the descriptions of experienced “inmates,” on the one hand, like an initiation ritual that exists in various primitive tribes, on the other, like an extremely cruel, but still a game. The subject is asked questions based on his wits. For example: “Why does Zhukov ride a white horse?” Correct answer: "On the ground." He may be forced to jump from the top tier of a bunk upside down to test how brave he is. If he decides to jump, his comrades will have time to stretch the blanket. Information about the newcomer received “from the outside,” his “track record,” so to speak, is also of great importance. If it becomes known that the newcomer was once “omitted,” then the most brilliant passage of “registration” will not help him. If an experienced “thieves” turns out to be in the cell, then registration is not required, honor and respect are guaranteed as is. However, any representative of the “higher castes” should keep their ears open so as not to be “let down.” It is not only the one with whom sexual intercourse was performed that is considered “lowered”; they can be “lowered” by splashing urine or touching the skin with the genital organ. In addition, you can fall into the category of “roosters” simply by unknowingly sitting at the same table with them, and even... mending your socks. The teacher can also lower him, on purpose, as a form of punishment, transferring him from a prestigious sleeping place to “devils” or “goats”, and even worse - to “roosters”.
Manners in a girls' colony
In the children's colony for girls, strict rules reign, much different from those observed in the women's colony. It is worth noting that many young prisoners speak exclusively in obscenities. Those who are older and stronger always stand above others in the prison hierarchy. As surprising as it may be, it is in the colonies for girls that frequent and sometimes violent fights occur.
Even more severe for criminal girls than serving a sentence in a colony is going to prison. They are transported in the same way as adult prisoners - they are brought in a paddy wagon to the station, where the Stolypin carriage is already waiting for the criminals. With heavy bags, young children have to run from the paddy wagon to the carriage. At this time, you cannot look around. During the journey, searches take place at several stations, usually in damp cells. Before prisoners are finally sent to a children's prison, girls may be held in a local pre-trial detention center with adult offenders.
What is considered “bad” in the “youngsters”
In the zones where juvenile offenders are kept, there are a lot of different “taboos”, the violation of which threatens immediate punishment. Even the prisoners themselves don’t always know why this or that action cannot be performed, but there is only one answer: it’s a shame to do it. So, it's better not to take risks. So, it’s a shame to pick up fallen objects from the floor, especially a toothbrush and cigarettes. It is absolutely forbidden to lift soap in the bathhouse. It’s categorically “bad” not to wash your hands after using the toilet, and the point here is not only about hygiene, but also about the fact that the hand that touched the genitals becomes, as it were, “ritually unclean,” desecrating everything it touches. In the bathhouse you should use two washcloths, one to wash the body above the waist, the other below. The “thieves” eat black bread with tea, and especially dry bread. By the way, “youngsters” amaze with a number of strange “food taboos”. So, you can’t eat sausage, it looks like a man’s penis. Lard too, since the pig was “paraffinized” (impregnated) with the smell of sewage, the bread is raised by communists, so it is also “bad”, the chicken was trampled by the rooster, and so on. Of course, these rules were not followed everywhere and not always, but sometimes they served as a reason for finding fault with the person they intended to “put down.” In some colonies, young prisoners refuse to eat barley porridge, since chaff is “rooster food,” and cabbage is “goat food.” While eating, you need to make sure that the last spoon does not touch the bottom of the plate; there should always be something left at the bottom, otherwise they will be considered “not enough” (aka “gut fornication”). And finally, “zapadlo” is everything that is red. Red is the color of Soviet power, and power is the enemy of all “thieves” and “right boys.” Not a single correct convict in the “youngster” will ever pick up a red object in his hands. You couldn’t even smoke Prima cigarettes, because they came in a red pack. If someone’s mother comes on a date wearing a red jacket or a red scarf, the prisoner is obliged to refuse the date. However, after 1991 this taboo disappeared along with the “red power”.
Novooskolsk colony for minor girls
The Novooskol colony houses incarcerated girls aged 14 to 19 years from 53 regions of Russia. There are no people in this prison who are imprisoned for the second time. All the prisoners here were convicted for the first time.
Novooskolsk colony for minor girls
Education continues in the colony, and all standards issued by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation are observed. Thus, prisoners do not lag behind the school curriculum of regular schools. After graduating from school and receiving a certificate, in the Novooskol colony you can get a profession as a seamstress, green farm worker, cook, embroiderer, PC operator or office worker. Some manage to get three or four professions, and find employment in these professions when they are released.
Sewing workshop of the Novooskolsk colony for minor girls
Another interesting point is that in the Novooskol colony for girls you can even get a higher education. True, they do not take the Unified State Exam - according to the order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, persons serving sentences can undergo state certification in the form of a state final exam - these are tests in the form of tests in mathematics and essays in the Russian language. This is what most girls choose because it is easier to pass and there is less psychological stress. The certificate does not indicate that it was issued in a colony. And then you can study remotely at a university with which the colony has a cooperation agreement.
Classroom in the Novooskolsk colony for minor girls
In prison, girls, in addition to studying, also engage in sports - a platform has been equipped on the territory for passing the GTO standards. By the way, as a reward for good behavior, girls can go outside the colony, accompanied by a staff member.
Do teenagers go to jail for murder?
The state tries to treat minors loyally, gives them the opportunity to improve, and does not imprison them. So, if a teenager has committed, for example, theft or another not particularly serious criminal act and is convicted for the first time, he will not be sent to a colony. Restriction of freedom cannot be imposed for more than 2 years. When passing a sentence on each minor, the court takes into account living conditions, character, mental characteristics, and the influence of adults.
According to Article 20 of the Criminal Code, a citizen of the country who is 16 years old at the time of committing an unlawful act is subject to criminal liability. However, the age at which people can be prosecuted for serious offenses is 14 years old. The law includes such crimes:
- murder;
- rape;
- participation in a terrorist group;
- causing serious and moderate damage to human health and life;
- theft, robbery, robbery;
- crimes related to the storage, movement and sale of drugs;
- various acts committed with brutal violence;
- acts related to explosives and explosive devices.
Article of the Criminal Code lists 26 articles that apply to violators of the law for serious crimes. These children are prosecuted and protected from society. If the child is under 14 years old, he is placed in a closed educational institution (Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and not sent to prison. He is not brought to justice - it is believed that he is not yet aware of the crime committed.
Tomsk colony for minor girls
In Tomsk there is one of two educational colonies for minor girls - VK-2. It is located in the city on the ARZ, immediately behind a row of residential buildings. The windows of the high-rise buildings look directly onto the territory of the educational institution. At first glance, the inner world of the barred space is not so regimented: 06.30 – the girls’ morning begins with aerobics, 07.30 – breakfast (unless they go to it in formation), then they kick a soccer ball on the lawn.
Tomsk colony for minor girls
It would seem like pioneer camp life, only the perimeter is surrounded by a three-meter fence, along the tops of which there are curls of barbed wire. On the other side, juvenile criminals are serving sentences for murder, rape, drug trafficking, robbery, robbery.
Tomsk colony for minor girls
Probably the contingent of the Tomsk colony for girls is more diverse than in Novy Oskol. Repeat offenders and minors who have committed quite serious crimes also come here. Therefore, employees are completely focused on raising little criminals.
Tomsk colony for minor girls
The colony has a sewing workshop, where girls study and work. Some people leave their modest earnings (no more than 3 thousand rubles a month) in the colony shop, and a third of the convicts save it so that they can leave the correctional facility with at least some savings.
Sewing workshop in the Tomsk colony for minor girls
Life in the Tomsk educational colony is subject to a strict routine. Rising at six in the morning, then exercises, morning toilet. Cleaning the area is a must, and this is done before breakfast. After breakfast, there are mandatory medical examinations, since most girls arrive here not entirely healthy. They require medical supervision and medical procedures.
Classroom in the Tomsk colony for juvenile girls
Prisoners in the Tomsk colony also undergo a school program, and then can get a profession at a vocational school. Once a month, those girls who behave well and are on preferential terms of detention can go to the city. Naturally, not on their own, but in an organized manner, with accompaniment, and to one specific place.
