Over the past decade, many South and Latin American countries have experienced an increase in crime. As a response, these states have experimented with a number of crime control methods. One of the traditional responses has been an overreliance on incarceration. Despite changes in other aspects of the Chilean bureaucracy, the prison system has lagged behind. This study explores the reasons why Cárcel Ex-Penitenciaría (CDP Santiago Sur), located in Santiago, Chile, one of the oldest operating prisons in the country, that houses the highest number of inmates, under deplorable conditions, still remains open. The article reviews the history of attempts to reform and close the facility, in the context of attempts to change national prison policy and practices and why the Penitenciaría still remains operational. It concludes with an examination why attempts to reform the prison facility have largely failed and why it remains open.

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In 2017, the National Prosecution Bureau of Chile created the Special Unit for Human Rights, Gender-Based Violence, and Sex Crimes, becoming a milestone for criminal prosecution policies as the first time a state institution in Chile used the term 'gender-based violence' explicitly in its title. There was no law in the country that addressed and sanctioned this behaviour-recognising it as a social phenomenon-at the time of the Unit's creation. What does the creation of this new Unit mean for access to justice from a gender perspective? To answer this question, we have critically analysed the creation of this Unit as a case study from a feminist institutionalist standpoint. We found that this institutional change might bring a broadening in access to justice for women, girls and LGBTQI+ persons by implementing a gender perspective.

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