Legal Misogyny and Carceral Necropolitics: The Incarceration of Pregnant Black Women as Institutional Violence Based on Gender and Race

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study that analyzes gender-based violence and racism through the concept of legal misogyny in the context of the incarceration of pregnant Black women in Brazil. The study adopts a hermeneutic-dialectical approach, taking as its central analytical categories gender-based violence, racial relations, pregnancy, institutional violence, control practices, legal punitivism, and the systematic denial of human rights. The analysis shows that the incarceration of pregnant Black women reveals the Brazilian state’s failure to comply with international human rights treaties. The article concludes that the concept of legal misogyny is crucial for exposing violence against Black women and for supporting policies aimed at protecting fundamental rights and human dignity.