May 10, 2019 United States: texas Senate passes bill to end the shackling of pregnant women in prison News North America Women United States The bill addresses many of the conditions of the state’s incarcerated women. It would also require the department to offer up to 10 free feminine hygiene products to women each day.
February 12, 2019 USA: women in prison in Florida get some needed attention News Women United States Florida legislators, no matter their party — and no matter their gender — have shown a heartening amount of empathy for incarcerated women on an issue that affects them, uniquely. On Monday, the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approve the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act. The…
January 25, 2019 United States: transgender inmate moved to women’s prison News Women LGBTQI United States For the first time in the state, a transgender inmate has been moved from an all-male prison to the state women’s prison, MCI-Framingham (above) to be housed according to her gender identity.
November 28, 2018 United States. : American prisons are hell. For women, they’re even worse [video] News Women United States The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country–over two million. Roughly 200,000 of them are female. But existing American prisons are often ill-equipped to handle the specific needs of women and girls. Amna Nawaz talks to Andrea James, a lawyer and former federal inmate who founded the N…
November 21, 2018 USA: should women work in men’s prisons? These women say yes News Women United States Since the 1970s, when women began gaining greater access to jobs within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the number of women employed by the agency has risen to more than 10,000 — a third of its total work force — in its 122 prisons.
November 19, 2018 USA: women who work in federal prisons — How we got their story News Women United States Ever since journalists exposed Harvey Weinstein for his predatory behavior toward women, we’ve learned that workplace sexual harassment and even assault seem to plague every major industry, from manufacturing to the media. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that women who work in the male-dominated…
November 17, 2018 USA: hazing, humiliation, terror — working while female in federal prison News Women United States Inmates expose themselves and threaten rape. Male guards let them do it. Women who complain are ‘pretty much blackballed.’
October 9, 2018 USA: more women are behind bars now. One prison wants to change that. News Women United States Despite their names, state “departments of correction” in the United States aren’t known for correcting much. More than seven of every 10 prisoners, according to some studies, are arrested again less than four years after they are released.
September 18, 2018 USA: federal prisons fail to provide adequate services for female inmates News Women United States The study by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General reveals a system that fails to meet certain basic needs of prisoners in ways large and small.
August 22, 2018 USA: inside a radical experiment to transform the lives of incarcerated women News Women United States A new prison unit aims to reduce recidivism in Connecticut. But can it become the standard nationwide?
July 29, 2018 USA: in battle for freedom, women inmates fight blazes News Women United States About 4,000 inmates each week fight wildfires alongside civilian firefighters. That number includes approximately 250 women.
May 21, 2018 USA: portrait of despair, opioids land more women behind bars News Women United States On opposite sides of the county jail, a mother and her son chat about school, girls, birthday gifts — and their future together. They aren’t allowed to see each other face-to-face, so the inmate and the fifth-grader connect by video.
April 30, 2018 USA: women in prison take home economics, while men take carpentry News Women United States Decades after a government report on deep inequity in the vocational offerings of the nation’s criminal-justice system, little has changed.
April 25, 2018 USA: female incarceration reveals a cruel and broken justice system News Women United States Although boys are disproportionately represented in juvenile and criminal proceedings, girls are the fastest-growing segment of the juvenile population and are often in the system for reasons very different from boys. A groundbreaking report released in 2015 unearthed a “sexual abuse to prison pipe…
January 30, 2018 USA: women's prison populations in 35 states 'worse than men's' study says News North America Women United States In a few states, women’s prison populations have even grown enough to counteract reductions in the men’s population.
November 24, 2017 USA: in prison, women are nine times more likely to be HIV-positive News Women Health United States The disparity between infection rates in incarcerated and non-incarcerated women highlights the deeply unequal state of our criminal-justice system.
November 9, 2017 USA: the unique sexual harassment problem female prison workers face News Women United States When women report abuse from the men in their custody : “ One male captain made her so uncomfortable she avoided him. But the worst abuse came from inmates“
September 26, 2017 USA: ICE violates own policy by locking up pregnant women, complaint alleges News Women United States Lawyers in South Texas say they noticed the change about two months ago: More pregnant women were being held for weeks in detention centers run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
September 20, 2017 USA: why Oklahoma’s female incarceration is so high News Women United States Robyn Allen saw her daughter for the first time in two years from across the yard of Oklahoma’s largest women’s prison, the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center.
June 24, 2017 United States: nineteen women inmates graduate with associate degrees News North America Women United States College graduations are emotional occasions, but it would be hard to match the level of enthusiasm and joy that pervaded the gymnasium at the Washington Corrections Center for Women this month when 19 inmates received diplomas.
May 25, 2017 USA: security is not safety gendered harms in women’s prisons News Women United States My experience in women’s prisons has led me to question this dynamic for imprisoned women: does security create safety?
May 11, 2017 Women living with babies inside Ohio prison News Women United States The soft-spoken young woman sitting on the floor with her toddler son playing with toy cars could easily be in any setting. A preschool. A child care center. Or her own living room.
April 24, 2017 United States: women inmates file second suit against state prison doctor News North America Women Health United States Three inmates who claim they were sexually abused by a physician at the state women’s prison have filed a federal lawsuit against the doctor and two other medical staffers.
April 17, 2017 United States: innovative prison programs boost opportunities for female inmates News North America Women United States For five years, inmates haven’t even had the opportunity to obtain high school equivalency diplomas at the Lackawanna County Prison in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The GED program was scrapped during a county budgeting crisis in 2012 and has yet to be reinstated.