2022 Theses Bachelor's

The War on Drugs’ War on Women: Plan Colombia’s impact on the female carceral population of Colombia

Olson, Emily M.

This paper seeks to understand the relationship between female incarceration in Colombia and drug policy under the United States guided program Plan Colombia. This paper looks at three key aspects of the Plan to determine if any or all have had a significant impact on female incarceration. I use two financial programs from 2005, operational programs focused on interdiction and increasing police capacity, and judicial programs intended to increase prosecutorial capacity and judicial efficiency. Through my research, I find that there is a strong correlation between the amount of funding provided in alternative development programs and the amount of women incarcerated for drug-related offenses. I also find that increases in prosecutorial capacity and judicial capabilities negatively impact women’s incarceration rates. I find that operational programs impact women’s incarceration rates when targeting interdiction and trafficking, but not at intermediate levels where drug production is the focus of drug busts.