Mail Online.com :It was once notorious for its riots and rowdiness, but Rio de Janeiro’s only maximum security prison for women becomes full of glamour and glitz for at least one day each year.The Talavera Bruce jail, inside the Bangu penitentiary centre, hosts an annual beauty contest where the criminals can strut their stuff in a bid to boost their self esteem.The pageant aims to humanise and boost the self-esteem of female inmates and is supported by community and church groups in the Brazil’s huge seaside city.The women try on different dresses, getglammed up with their makeup and hair styled by volunteers and even perform catwalk poses in the Miss World-style contest. According to the Ministry of Justice in Brazil, the number of imprisoned females in the country rose 567 percent from 2000 to 2014. Overall, Brazil’s overcrowded prison population is now the world’s fourth largest, with more than 600,000 inmates being held in facilities designed for 377,000, according to Human Rights Watch. Despite the rise in crime, particularly among women, in the South American country – for one day only it’s all forgotten about at the Talavera Bruce.
