Female prisoners at the Nelson Hungria jail in Rio de Janeiro take part in an annual Christmas cell decoration and performance competition, which aims to lift their spirits as they spend the festive season away from their families.
The aim of the competition, which is in its seventh year, is to alleviate the pain prisoners feel when spending Christmas away from their families.
The competition is taken very seriously, with cells decorated floor to ceiling with recycled materials such as bottle caps and aluminium foil from the prisoners’ meals.
Relatives donate Christmas lights and other more sophisticated decorations that the prisoners are unable to make.
For many of the women detained at the prison, part of Rio’s sprawling Bangu penitentiary complex, the event is also a way of improving their self-esteem.
The women are in prison for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to murder.
Part of the competition involves performing passages from the bible.
About 540 inmates take part in the competition called Brilliant Cell in the hope of winning a prize.
The Bangu complex on the edge of Rio is a maximum security prison composed of 17 penal units.
The winning cells receive a bathroom renovation. Second and third places get a flatscreen TV.
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