Women prisoners take to the catwalk in Rio de Janeiro

Prisoners in a Rio de Janeiro women’s prison have switched their jumpsuits for evening dresses to take part in a beauty pageant designed to improve self-esteem.

With their hair and make-up done to perfection, 10 inmates from the Talavera Bruce detention facility strutted their stuff down a catwalk.

They each had two different outfits and were judged for their beauty, sympathy and attitude.

The audience was the prison's other inmates and relatives.

Up for grabs for the winners was a fan, a blow dryer and a hair straightener. But the eventual winner told ITV she would have preferred to have her freedom but was happy to spend time with her family.

"I just wished I had also won freedom as well and I would have taken my sash with me out of here," she said.