SOME FACTS ABOUT INCARCERATED WOMEN
Female inmates comprise 6.7% of all inmates in California, yet they are the fastest growing segment of the total prison population. The yearly growth rate for female incarceration is 1.5 times higher than the rate for men. Women now make up a greater percentage of today’s prison population than ever before.
With the advent of mandatory sentencing laws in the mid-eighties, the female prison population has exploded throughout the country. Nationwide the female prison population grew by 592% from 12, 279 in 1977 to 85, 031 in 2001. In l986 in California the female inmate population was 3, 564. Today the population numbers approximately 13,000. This constitutes a statewide increase of approximately 340 %. According to the California Department of Corrections, every prison in the state is operating at 200% capacity today, at a cost of $43, 429 per inmate.
More women are incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses than for any other crime.
In California 78 % of women are incarcerated for non-violent crimes which are usually
drug related. Despite the fact that drug addiction is one of the primary causes of female
incarceration, there are very few drug treatment options available to incarcerated women
in this state. The California Institution for Women and Valley State Prison for Women each
offers a substance abuse program that provides treatment to approximately 50 women at a time. Criteria for entering the program is very narrowly drawn, and often excludes the women who have the greatest need for treatment.
The majority of women in prison are mothers, and they are usually the primary caretakers of the children. The huge increase in female incarceration has significant impact on children and families. An incarcerated woman is at risk of losing her children to the foster care system, and many of the women eventually lose their parental rights altogether. The legal process usually commences while the women are in county jail where there is no legal assistance available and notification of court proceedings is unreliable at best. The separation from family, and the risk of losing their children, is one of the most devastating consequences of female incarceration.
A 1995 study of women in the California prison system found that 71% had experienced ongoing physical abuse prior to the age of 18, and 62% reported ongoing physical abuse
after the age of 18. 41% of the women reported sexual abuse prior to the age of 18 and 41% reported sexual abuse after the age of 18. (Barbara Bloom, Barbara Owen, Profiling the Needs of California’s Female Prisoners) Despite these numbers the Department of Corrections does not offer counseling programs for victims of sexual abuse. The only program for victims of physical abuse is the inmate activity group, Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA) where the women try to help themselves and each other to deal with their abuse.
Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women
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Why do activists know about Attica but not the August Rebellion? Resistance Behind Bars documents collective organizing and individual resistance among women incarcerated in the U.S. and challenges the reader to question why these instances and efforts have been ignored and why many assume that women do not organize to demand change. It fills the gap in the existing literature, which has focused mostly on the causes, conditions and effects of female imprisonment.
Women have significantly disrupted the daily operations of their prison to protest injustices and demand change. More often, however, they have employed less visible means such as forming peer education groups, clandestinely organizing ways for children to visit mothers in distant prisons and raising public awareness about their conditions.
By emphasizing women's agency in resisting individually as well as organizing collectively against their conditions of confinement, Resistance will spark further discussion and research on incarcerated women's actions and also galvanize much-needed outside support for their struggle.
Book available now from PM Press
Organizations and Resources
1. Partner and supporting organizations (explain what this means)
Action Committee for Women in Prison
http://www.acwip.net/
All of Us or None
http://www.allofusornone.org/
California Prison Focus
http://www.prisons.org
California Women’s Commission
http://www.women.ca.gov
Catholic Catholic Conference
http://www.cacatholic.org
Claremont United Methodist Church
http://www.claremontumc.org/
Crossroads, Inc.
http://www.crossroadswomen.org/
Friends Outside
http://www.friendsoutside.org/
Intercollegiate Women’s Studies of the Claremont Colleges
http://www.scrippscollege.edu/dept/Wstudies/INDEX.HTM
Jericho: A Voice for Justice
http://www.jerichoforjustice.org/
Justice Works Community
http://www.justiceworks.org
Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org
Liberty Hill Foundation
http://www.libertyhill.org
2. Other California-based and national organizations
American Friends Service Committee Prison Watch Project
http://www.afsc.org/nymetro/criminalJustice/prisonwatch.htm
California Habeas Project
http://www.habeasproject.org/
California Prison Moratorium Project
http://www.calipmp.org/
California Women’s Law Center
http://www.cwlc.org/
Center for Gender and Justice
http://www.centerforgenderandjustice.org/
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
http://www.womenprisoners.org
Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents
http://www.e-ccip.org/
Centerforce
http://www.centerforce.org
Community Alternatives to Jail Expansion Project
http://www.cajeproject.org/
Critical Resistance
http://www.criticalresistance.org
Detention Watch Network
http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/
Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org
Ex-Offender Action Network
http://www.exoffenderactionnetwork.org/
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
http://www.famm.org
Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes
http://facts1.live.radicaldesigns.org/
Free Battered Women
http://www.freebatteredwomen.org
Grandmothers of the Light
http://www.grandmothersofthelight.org/
Justice NOW
http://www.jnow.org/
Justice Policy Institute
http://www.justicepolicy.org/
National Women’s Prison Project, Inc.
http://www.nationalwomensprisonproject.org/content.php?page=home
A New Way of Life Reentry Project
http://www.anewwayoflife.org/
Post-Conviction Justice Project, USC
http://law.usc.edu/academics/clinical/pcjp.cfm
Prison Law Office
http://www.prisonlaw.com/
Prisoner Solidarity
http://www.prisonersolidarity.org
The Real Cost of Prisons Project
http://realcostofprisons.org/
Regional Congregations and Neighborhood Organizations Training Center
http://www.rcno.org/
Restorative Resources
http://www.restorativeresources.org/
The Sentencing Project
http://www.sentencingproject.org
Time for Change Foundation
http://www.timeforchange.us
Stop Prisoner Rape
http://www.spr.org
Women’s Prison Association
http://www.wpaonline.org
Women in Prison Project
http://correctionalassociation.org/WIPP
International
Action for Prisoners’ Families (The U.K.)
http://www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk/
Lucy Gambell, director: lucy@actionpf.org.uk
Balancing the Future, A New Challenge (The Netherlands)
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/equal/data/document/etg1-exa2-balancing.pdf
Trudy Hoeymakers, project leader: t.hoeymakers@dji.minjust.nl
Eurochips
http://www.eurochips.org
Dr. Maria Wolleswinkel, president: ria.wolleswinkel@strafr.unimaas.nl
3. California State Women’s Prisons
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/
California Institution for Women
http://www.cya.ca.gov/Visitors/fac_prison_CIW.html
Central California Women’s Facility
http://www.cya.ca.gov/Visitors/fac_prison_CCWF.html
Valley State Prison for Women
http://www.cya.ca.gov/Visitors/fac_prison_VSPW.html
4. Reports, articles, and sites with resources; see above organizations’ links and resources, as well.
California
“California Blasted for Poor Prison Health Care,” National Public Radio, June 14, 2004
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4109523
Hard Hit: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977 – 2004, California,
The Institute for Women and Criminal Justice
http://www.wpaonline.org/institute/hardhit/states/ca/ca.htm
“Law Gives Battered Inmates in California New Hope,” Women’s E-News, September 23, 2004
http://www.feminist.com/news/vaw28.html
Public Health Reentry Policy Initiative Fact Sheet, RCNO Training Center
http://www.rcno.org/fact_sheet.pdf
Report to the Legislature: A Roadmap for Effective Offender Programming in California,
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Expert Panel on Adult Offender and Recidivism Reduction Programming, 2007
http://www.lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/report177.html
“Women in California Prisons,” Marilyn Kizziah, California Women’s Commission
http://women.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=143
“Women Prisoners,” California Prison Focus’ page of resources, articles, etc.
about women in prison in California
http://www.prisons.org/women.htm
General
360 Degrees: Perspectives on the U.S. Criminal Justice System
http://www.360degrees.org/
(See also “Going Home: Cristel’s Diary,” Prison Diaries, NPR
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/prisondiaries/cristel.html)
Amnesty International
Website has a variety of reports on women in custody
http://www.amnestyusa.org
Center for Evidence-Based Corrections, University of California, Irvine
“Presentations and publications” site includes editorials, reports, papers, etc.
http://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/pubs.shtml#newpubs
Confronting Confinement: A Report of The Commission on Safety and Abuse in
America’s Prisons, 2006
http://www.prisoncommission.org/
“Female Offenders: An Introduction,” Myrna S. Raeder
http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/cjmag/16-1/raeder.html
The Fire Inside, quarterly publication of the California Coalition for Women
Prisoners, with writings by incarcerated women
http://www.womenprisoners.org/fire/
Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principles for
Women Offenders, Barbara Bloom and Stephanie Covington, National Institute of
Corrections, 2003
http://www.nicic.org/pubs/2003/018017.pdf
“Gendered Justice: Women in the Criminal Justice System,” Stephanie
Covington and Barbara Bloom, 2003
http://www.centerforgenderandjustice.org/pdf/4.pdf
Hard Hit: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977 – 2004, The Institute
for Women and Criminal Justice
http://www.wpaonline.org/institute/hardhit/
“Improving the Odds: Women in Community Corrections,” Ann Jacobs, Civic Research Institute, 2005
http://www.wpaonline.org/pdf/Improving_the_Odds_Article.pdf
“Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex,”
Angela Davis, Colorlines, 1998
http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=114
“Mistakes,” Eve Ensler
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/whatiwant/about_eve_mistakes.html
National Institute of Corrections Library
Many articles and reports from a variety of sources, searchable by topic
http://www.nicic.org/Features/Library/
“Not Part of My Sentence”: Violation of the Human Rights of Women in Custody,
Amnesty International, 1999
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engAMR510011999
Too Much Time, online documentary by Jane Evelyn Atwood
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/custody/toomuchtime/contents/contents.html
“A Trip to Chowchilla,” Anne De Groot, M.D.
http://www.prisonwall.org/comp.htm
“Why So Many Black Women are Behind Bars,” Earl Ofari Hutchinson, December 5, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/45149/
“Women and Prison,” Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040412/tuhusdubrow
Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance
Includes articles and stories by and about incarcerated women in a variety of
areas, including families and motherhood, violence, etc.; interviews with
incarcerated women; fact sheets, etc.
http://www.womenandprison.org/
“Women and Prison in the u.s.: History and Current Reality,” Nancy Kurshan,
http://prisonactivist.org/women/women-and-imprisonment.html
Women in the Criminal Justice System: Briefing Sheets, The Sentencing Project
http://sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/news/womenincj_total.pdf
“Women in Prison,” Prison Activist Resource Center (links and resources)
http://www.prisonactivist.org/women/
“Women in Prison: A Fact Sheet,” Amnesty International U.S.A.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/womeninprison.html
Women in Prison: Issues and Challenges Facing U.S. Correctional Systems, U.S. General Accounting Office, 1999
http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/gg00022.pdf
The Death Penalty
The Forgotten Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States
through the Experiences of Women, ACLU, 2004
http://www.aclu.org/womensrights/crimjustice/13270pub20050120.html
“Women and the Death Penalty,” Death Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=230&scid=24
The Elderly
“Cellblock Seniors,” Tammerlin Drummond, Time Magazine, June 13, 1999
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26824,00.html
Dignity Denied: The Price of Imprisoning Older Women in California, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/pubs/dignity-ES.pdf
Graying Prisons, The Council of State Governments
http://www.csg.org/pubs/Documents/sn0611GrayingPrisons.pdf
Prisoners of Age project
http://www.prisonersofage.com
Family issues
Children of Prisoners Library
http://www.fcnetwork.org/cpl/cplindex.html
“Incarcerated Parents,” Charlene Wear Simmons, 2000
http://women.ca.gov/UserFiles/218.IncarceratedParents.pdf
“Locked Up, Locked Down: A Mother’s Love For Her Child”
http://www.womenprisoners.org/news/000044.html
“The Parent Trap,” Pam Squyres, Mother Jones, April 11, 2001
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2001/04/prison_kids.html
Prisoners of a Hard Life: Women and Their Children, The Real Cost of Prisons Project
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/comics/hardlife.pdf
“To Punish the Poor: Criminalizing Trends in the Welfare System,” Kaaryn Gustafson, Women of Color Resource Center
http://www.coloredgirls.org/publications/workingpapers/working_03.pdf
“When Your Grandchild’s Parent is in Prison,” AARP
http://www.aarp.org/families/grandparents/raising_grandchild/a2004-09-07-granparents-prison.html
Women in Prison & Children of Imprisoned Mothers: Recent Developments in the United Nations Human Rights System, Laurel Townhead, Quaker United Nations Office, 2006
http://www.whrnet.org/docs/WiP-Recent-UN-developments-200603.pdf
“Women, Prison and Children,” NOW, PBS
http://www.pbs.org/now/society/womenprisoners.html
Immigration issues
“Allegations of Abuse at Immigration Detention Center,” The California Report, http://www.californiareport.org/domains/californiareport/archive/R702020850
“Locking Up Family Values: The Detention of Immigrant Families,” Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
http://www.womenscommission.org/pdf/famdeten.pdf
Post-incarceration issues
Breaking the Barriers for Women on Parole, Report #177 of The Little Hoover
Commission
http://www.lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/report177.html
The Health Status of Soon-to-be-Released Inmates, vols. 1 and 2, The National Commission on Correctional Health Care
http://www.ncchc.org/pubs/pubs_stbr.html
“Incarceration, Reentry, and Social Capital: Social Networks in the Balance,” Dina Rose and Todd Clear, From Prison to Home: The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities, 2001
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/Rose.htm
“‘Locked Down’: Post-Prison Life for Women,” Krystal Greene, National Public Radio, April 6, 2005
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4578962
“Model Practices to Promote the Employment of People With Criminal Records”
http://www.hirenetwork.org/model_practices.html
No Second Chance: People With Criminal Records Denied Access to Public Housing, Human Rights Watch
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/usa1104/
“Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry: Research Findings from the
Urban Institute's Prisoner Reentry Portfolio,” The Urban Institute
http://www.urban.org/projects/reentry-portfolio/index.cfm
Violence, Abuse, and Rights Violations
Abuse of Women in Custody: Sexual Misconduct and the Shackling of Pregnant Women, Amnesty International U.S.A.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/Womens_Human_Rights/Abuse_of_Women_in_Custody/page.do?id=1108288&n1=3&n2=39&n3=720
All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons, Human Rights
Watch, 1996
http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Us1.htm
“A Cancer Grows,” Cynthia Cooper, The Nation, May 6, 2002
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20020506&s=cynthiacooper
“Dignity for Women Prisoners Campaign,” California Prison Focus
http://www.prisons.org/dignity/
“Joan Little: The Dialectics of Rape,” Angela Davis (1975), Ms. Magazine, 2002
http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2002/davis.asp
“Sexual Abuse Against Women in Prison,” Brenda Smith, Criminal Justice, Spring 2001
http://www.spr.org/pdf/Sexual%20Abuse%20Against%20Women.pdf
“Tanisha’s Scars,” Jennifer Gonnerman, The Village Voice, October 4, 2005
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0540,gonnerman,68546,5.html
“Understanding Prison Health Care: Women’s Health”
http://movementbuilding.org/prisonhealth/womens.html
Women in Prison: Sexual Misconduct by Correctional Staff, U.S. General Accounting Office, 1999
http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/gg99104.pdf
“Women Prisoners with HIV: An open letter from a prison doctor,” Anne De Groot, M.D.
http://www.prisonwall.org/hiv.htm
The War on Drugs
Life Sentences: Denying Welfare Benefits to Women Convicted of Drug Offenses,
The Sentencing Project, 2002
http://www.sentencingproject.org/PublicationDetails.aspx?PublicationID=484
“Punishment of Pregnant Women,” National Advocates for Pregnant Women
http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/issues/punishment_of_pregnant_women/
“Women in Prison,” The Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org/communities/women/womeninpriso/
5. Events and conferences
