This month we have shed light on women. And illuminating, if we are not careful, can become its own way of looking without seeing. When Michelle Alexander sat down to write what would become one of the most important books of our generation, she did so in the shadow of a historic moment. A Black… Continue reading Women Behind Bars: Seen, Named and Not Yet Free
Category: Women Behind Bars
Profiles, trends, and challenges for women who are accused or convicted of crimes
Beyond Mercy
Women, the Death Penalty and a Story We're Just Starting to Tell We talk about capital punishment as if it has always been a man's story. The numbers suggest otherwise — but only if you know where to look. In 1632, Jane Champion became the first woman executed in the new colonies. She wasn't a… Continue reading Beyond Mercy
Women, Motherhood, and the State
The Punishment of Care: How Motherhood Shapes Women’s Experience in the System Motherhood is traditionally celebrated as care and nurturing. Yet within the criminal legal system, it paradoxically becomes a source of punishment and control. The system weaponizes motherhood to regulate women’s bodies, identities, and behavior, reinforcing social hierarchies and perpetuating systemic inequality. The system… Continue reading Women, Motherhood, and the State
The Gendered System
When a Courtroom Built for Men Tries to Process Women Every March, we celebrate Women’s History Month by lifting up women who shaped movements, broke barriers, and carried communities on their backs. Yet there’s a group of women whose stories rarely make it into commemorations — the women living inside the criminal legal system. Their… Continue reading The Gendered System
Bridging the Gap – Trauma-Informed and Culturally Competent Care for Incarcerated women
Incarcerated women face unique and complex health challenges that are often overlooked within correctional healthcare systems. Among the most critical gaps is the limited access to trauma-informed and culturally competent care, which is essential for addressing the deep-rooted trauma and diverse cultural needs that shape these women's health outcomes. This post explores why these approaches… Continue reading Bridging the Gap – Trauma-Informed and Culturally Competent Care for Incarcerated women
Behind Bars, Beyond Healing: The Invisible Wounds of Women’s Mental Health Crisis
Correctional healthcare systems were never designed with women’s needs in mind. This gap is especially devastating when it comes to mental health care. For many incarcerated women, jails and prisons have become default psychiatric institutions—places where mental illness is punished rather than healed. Correctional facilities have become the largest providers of mental health services in… Continue reading Behind Bars, Beyond Healing: The Invisible Wounds of Women’s Mental Health Crisis
🩺Reproductive Injustice Behind Bars: Mercy Denied, Mercy Demanded
Behind bars, women carry more than sentences.They carry children. Trauma. Grief. And the weight of a system that was never built to honor their bodies. Reproductive injustice in carceral settings is not just medical neglect—it’s institutional violence. It shows up in ways both brutal and banal: Feminine hygiene neglect: Pads and tampons are rationed, bartered,… Continue reading 🩺Reproductive Injustice Behind Bars: Mercy Denied, Mercy Demanded
Not Designed to Heal: The Gender Gap in Correctional Medicine
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 There is a kind of peace the system cannot manufacture—a healing that transcends medication,… Continue reading Not Designed to Heal: The Gender Gap in Correctional Medicine
On (In)justice 