In Costa Rica, parliament has adopted legislative reforms addressing the circumstances around which women and individuals from vulnerable groups can be subject to imprisonment, to acknowledge and account for vulnerabilities that result from certain disparities in power.

Law 9628, introduced in 2019, allows sentence reductions for women who commit crimes in situations of vulnerability that result from poverty, caretaking responsibilities, disability, or gender-based violence, where such vulnerability influenced their commission of the offence. Moreover, Law 9361, passed in 2017, permits the elimination of some criminal records, based on the nature of the offence, the length of the sentence, and if the accused was in a 'situation of vulnerability' when they committed the offence. This was originally proposed only for women deprived of liberty, but was later expanded to include men.