Notre newsletter en français

Dear friends,

Welcome to our Summer/ Winter (depending on your hemisphere!) combined July / August newsletter. Every year at this time, our small but powerful team takes a small break, reminded that rest is resistance.

It was brilliant to hear about the wide support for the Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action campaign in June. Campaigners came together in more than 230 cities from over 75 countries, with a clear display of transnational solidarity to show “strength, push back against harmful narratives, and connect with others to advance sustainable alternatives to the harmful ‘war on drugs’.”

The ‘war on drugs’ is a leading cause behind the growing numbers of women in prison, with the 2018 United Nations estimate that 35% of women in prison worldwide are imprisoned for drug offences, compared to 19% of men. We delved into this issue in our report with Penal Reform International, From Poverty to Punishment. This issue is exacerbated in prisons by scarcity of drug treatment and mental health interventions, the traumatic experience of incarceration, and the easy access of drugs in prison which increases violence and self-harm rates.

Transform Drug Policy Foundation recognises that harms around drug policy are “felt most sharply by those already marginalised, with a disproportionate, and often overlooked, impact on women.” They note that support services are often designed around men’s experiences, that male-dominated spaces in these supports can be intimidating, and that women’s childcare responsibilities and increased stigmatisation can be an added barrier to accessing support. Importantly, they recognise that these challenges also intersect with other marginalisations like race, with risks being amplified for non-white women who experience racial profiling, disproportionate criminalisation, systematic barriers to healthcare, and for those with insecure immigration status fear of detention or deportation.

The impact of decriminalising drugs on women’s imprisonment can’t be understated - with harm reduction services being less available in prisons than in the community, women experiencing drug issues should be able to be supported outside of the prison context. Penal Reform have provided detailed models for reform to help address this issue, including decriminalisation of drug use and personal possession, removing mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences, and increasing the use of alternatives to imprisonment for women convicted of drug-related offences. Other great resources can be found via IDPC, WHRIN, HRI and WOLA.

If you were part of the Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action campaign, Support. Don’t Punish would love your feedback! They are inviting campaigners to share what they organised, the impact they had and what they learnt to help them to document successes, share their message and refine their materials and guidance. You can provide your comments and experiences on their feedback form - and thank you for the important work you have done!

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

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News from Women Beyond Walls

We pleased to say that The Sunny Series, filmed in collaboration with World Coalition Against The Death Penalty, will be released in September. This is a series of seven films putting women’s voices, lived experiences and legal expertise at the heart of discussion about the death penalty, one of the world’s most pressing human rights issues.

This film series has been created in memory of Sonia ‘Sunny’ Jacobs who was wrongfully convicted in 1976 for a crime she did not commit. Sunny spent 17 years in prison, including five on death row in Florida. After her release in 1992, she dedicated her life to abolishing the death penalty and all those with lived experience of incarceration.

The series is coming soon, and will be accompanied by a toolkit and ‘watch guide’ so you can take part in advocacy and action to end the death penalty; for justice, for women, for good.

We were thrilled that our podcast was longlisted in the British Podcast Awards! Such a testament to the powerful voices of our guests - do listen if you’ve not had a chance.

We were at the African Feminist Forum in Namibia in August. Was great to see some of you there!

Stay tuned for more information about our global map - thanks to everyone who filled this in.

Community Spotlight

An invitation to exchange messages on a radio program from the women’s prison in Rosario, Argentina. Liberando Palabras is the radio program of the NGO Mujeres Tras las Rejas (”Women Behind Bars”), produced inside Women’s Prison Unit No. 5 in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. The program is created and hosted by women who are currently incarcerated in the institution.

For the past 20 years, Mujeres Tras las Rejas has worked alongside women and LGBTQ+ people in contact with the criminal legal system in the city of Rosario, as well as formerly incarcerated women and the female family members who support those incarcerated.

The radio program has been running continuously since 2008. Through it, women who have historically been rendered invisible by a punitive and patriarchal prison system are able to express their feelings, raise their voices, denounce injustices, debate ideas, and share their perspectives and life stories. Radio becomes a social and cultural practice that allows their words to travel beyond prison walls and reach society as a whole.

Using their own voices—and everything that the ritual of making radio involves—offers a temporary break from the static, suspended experience of prison, where imagining a future often feels nearly impossible. It creates space to envision different possibilities, reflect on the past, and navigate the present within an environment that, paradoxically, fosters a sense of freedom. It encourages meaningful encounters, compassionate listening, dialogue, and collective participation—experiences that the prison system itself often seeks to suppress.

At present, we are no longer allowed to broadcast the program live because we are not permitted to bring the necessary equipment into the prison. We are only allowed to use a small, old recorder to record each episode, which is then edited and broadcast later. This prevents us from interacting with listeners in real time, even though that exchange is one of the most essential aspects of radio as a communication tool.

However, as workshop facilitators who regularly enter and leave the prison, we invite people outside to become part of the program. We collect messages from anyone who would like to ask the women a question, suggest a topic for discussion, send words of encouragement, a dedication, or simply share a message. We then bring those messages into the prison in written form. Despite the many barriers imposed by the prison system, we continue to find ways to resist through words, creating connections between the inside and the outside and symbolically crossing the prison walls.

You can listen to the program live every Friday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Buenos Aires time) here: https://airelibre.org.ar/

You can also listen to previous episodes here:

https://radiocut.fm/audiocut/liberando-palabras/

If you would like to participate by sending a message, asking a question, suggesting a discussion topic, or sharing anything else, you can contact us on Instagram at @mujerestraslasrejas. You can write in any language—we will translate your message if needed.

The opportunity to communicate with people outside the prison is one of the parts of the workshop that the women enjoy the most and one that they consistently describe as deeply meaningful. We hope you’ll join us and become part of this exchange.

If you want to be featured in a community spotlight, please message us at hello@womenbeyondwalls.org

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News from around the world

🌍 Africa: The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) and African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) have launched their Petty Offences Scorecard. The Scorecard is “an initial first attempt at measuring legislative and policy reform aimed at ending the criminalisation of poverty and status” and has been piloted across Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Kenya.

🇦🇺 Australia: Another woman, Shandell Pryor, has died whilst in custody in a Queensland prison. Tabitha Lean and Debbie Kilroy have spoken of the impact of this tragic death on Shandell’s family, in particular her mother and daughter. They also reflect on the need to examine the issue of women’s death in prison as well as the language that is used to minimise these incidents.

🇪🇸 Spain: The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture published a report examining the treatment of people in prison.

🇯🇵 Japan: A recent DW article, examined the challenging conditions for women in prison in Japan

🇬🇧 UK: There have been lots of updates from the UK this month, including the Government’s announcement of an independent review of the prison system. The review will aim to “provide a strategic, risk-based assessment of the current, emerging and future risks and opportunities facing the prison system.”

The Government has published its policy paper examining the outcomes for women in or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system, including how to reduce the number of women entering and re-entering custody. The paper highlights the evidence that women in contact with the criminal justice system “often face complex and overlapping needs, including trauma, poor mental health and substance misuse, and that their outcomes are shaped by factors beyond the justice system alone”, and that addressing these issues requires a coordinated, cross-system approach.

They have also recently launched the Women’s Diversion Grant Funding, a welcome step which aims to deliver support to women in the criminal justice system that will help divert them away from further involvement, particularly custody. Whilst applications have recently closed, you can find out more information here.

Additionally, a new Government scheme will identify children with a parent in prison, recognising their needs earlier and connecting them with vital support. Recognising the long-lasting impact of parental imprisonment on children, the Government are aiming to tackle the lack of support for those children who have fallen through the cracks of support.

By contrast to these positive steps, a report by HM inspector of prisons has also warned against the Government’s cuts to spending on education in prison, evidencing that these cuts are increasing drug use, violence and self-harm.

🇺🇸 USA: Lawmakers in the state of Pennsylvania are considering laws that would end life-without-parole sentences for second-degree murder. You can read more about the progression of this here.

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Opportunities

• ⏰ Urgent - please sign this petition to stop the execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, USA. Christa was barely 18 at the time she was arrested and a survivor of severe abuse. Her execution is scheduled for 30 September 2026.

• The Beyond the Bars Fellowship is a certificate-based program through the Center for Justice at Columbia University that offers interdisciplinary leadership to develop and deepen your identity, analysis, skills and network towards ending mass criminalization and incarceration, and creating a more just and safe world. Applications open each summer and close in August/September. Please note: This fellowship is in-person. You must be able to make weekly meetings in-person at Columbia University in New York City.

• ⏰ Unchained Nights is back! If you are in London, don’t miss this unique event on 14 August that celebrates the creativity of Black and Global Majority artists with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Hosted by Lady Unchained - listen to her inspiring episode from the first season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast.

• Join Redress for the second webinar in their Innovating Against Torture series on 18 Sept 2026 at 4:00 CST, where Innovative Lawyers Awardees from Brazil, Angola and Mexico will share practical strategies and experiences from their work advancing accountability and preventing torture. 🎙 Speakers: 🔸Nina Barrouin (Brazil) - combatting sexual torture and other forms of gender-based violence in detention 🔸Osvaldo De Almeida (Angola) - combatting structural issues in the justice system that enable prolonged pre-trial detention and expose individuals to torture 🔸Roberta Cortes (Mexico) - moving toward interdisciplinary accompaniment for transgender survivors within the prison context 🔸Cristopher Alexis Sánchez Islas (Mexico) - strategic litigation targeting systemic challenges in criminal and penitentiary justice. 🔸 Moderator: Sergio Alejandro Rodriguez Diaz, REDRESS Legal Officer. This is a Spanish-language webinar with English and Portuguese interpretation.Register here: https://lnkd.in/e7VfMdm7

• Canvas Home Small Grants Project – Handmade to Market (Creative Learning) Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean | Artisan livelihoods, craft production, economic development | Up to $1,500 USD | August 17, 2026 | EN Grants for established artisan cooperatives, small craft businesses, and community-based organizations in developing countries to strengthen craft production and market access. Two grant types available: Materials, Tools, Equipment and Instruction, or Marketing Support. Requires a signed recommendation letter and the ability to receive funds via international wire transfer from a U.S. bank.

• OHCHR has put out a call for inputs for the annual thematic study on the rights of persons with disabilities. Submissions due by 1st September - https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2026/call-input-annual-thematic-study-rights-persons-disabilities-twentieth

• Harm Reduction International has opened its call for abstracts for the 29^th Harm Reduction International Conference, which will be held in Belfast on 9-12 May 2027. The Conference is a leading forum for exchange and connection on the human rights and health implications of punitive drug policies - including use of the death penalty for drug offences. Deadline: 30 September 2026.

• Access a helpful guide for employers to recruit and support people released from prison. This go-to guide, Hiring with Conviction, is for hiring managers, HR professionals, and recruiters and presents compelling reasons why organisations should be pro-actively hiring people released from prison, as well as outlining practical strategies to ensure equitable and risk-managed recruitment practices.

• Get involved with a new initiative in the UK! Find out more about the Breaking out of the Justice Loop thought-leadership programme, an inclusive and collaborative initiative that aims to reshape the narrative around women’s justice across multiple platforms. You can sign up for their newsletter, register your interest in partnering as an organisation, or provide funding and support.

• The Association for the Prevention of Torture are welcoming contributions from “all individuals, groups, and organisations interested in sharing experiences, analysis, and creative approaches on the prevention of torture and ill-treatment” for their 50th anniversary online platform. They are particularly interested in receiving contributions from youth as well as from those with lived experience of torture. For more details and to send contributions, contact apt@apt.ch

• Université Grenoble Alpes / Sciences Po Grenoble are holding an international conference on the theme, Objects, Status and Power in Prison

  In prisons across many countries, people in detention wear or carry objects that mark their place in the prison’s internal order: patches, badges, armbands, uniforms. These objects may be imposed by the administration, negotiated, or claimed by incarcerated people themselves. Examples include armbands marking delegated authority in Ghana and Madagascar, coloured badges regulating access to purchases in Japan, conduct stripes in France, and stigmatising patches used in the US to identify people living with HIV. Despite their widespread presence, these artefacts have not yet been systematically compared across prison contexts. This conference aims to provide a first framework for such a comparative analysis.

  How to take part

  Work at any stage is welcome, including work in progress. Perspectives from outside academia are warmly welcome. Participants are encouraged to bring an object or visual material such as a photograph or reproduction.

  Submission

  Please send a one-page proposal, accompanied by a short biographical note, to carole.berrih@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr by September 6, 2026. Proposals may be submitted in French or English. If you plan to present an object, please indicate which one and describe its preservation or handling requirements.

  Note: Women Beyond Walls are sharing this request in an aim to have more formerly incarcerated women participate in academic conferences - about them - but from where they are often excluded.

• Prison Reform Trust in the UK are recruiting to their Lived Experience Advisory Panel, working closely with their Senior Management Team and Board of Trustees to inform their work and place lived experience at its hear - find out more here!
  

• Are you in the UK and affected by a loved one’s imprisonment? Through the Sentence are accepting referrals for free support - you can find out how to refer on the organisation’s LinkedIn page.

• Digital Resiliency Grants – CIVICUS Crisis Response Fund / Digital Democracy Initiative

  Global South countries on the OECD-DAC list | Digital security, civic space threats, online surveillance, censorship | Up to $10,000 USD (individual) or $20,000 USD (joint applications) | Rolling | Emergency grants for civil society organisations facing verifiable imminent digital or civic space threats. Priority for underrepresented groups. Not eligible if funded by this program in the past two years.

• Fund for Innovation in Development (FID) – hosted by AFD Low- and middle-income countries per OECD DAC list | Education, health, climate, gender equality | €50,000–€4,000,000 (staged) | Rolling (open all year) | EN / FR

  Staged funding for civil society organizations and research institutions to test, evaluate, and scale innovative solutions to poverty and inequality. Not eligible: independent individuals, international/multilateral institutions.

• Avery Dennison Foundation Grants

  Global (nearly 90% of projects outside the U.S.) | Education access, environmental sustainability, secure livelihoods | Typically $50,000–$100,000 USD | Rolling (quarterly review) | Grants for nonprofit organizations advancing education access, environmental sustainability, and secure livelihoods. Two-step process: eligibility form, then invited full proposal.

  

• Fundación Ama Amoedo Grants 2026

  Latin America (significant connection required) | Visual arts, art and social engagement, arts organizations, publications

  Ten grants of $10,000 USD each across four categories for individual artists, collectives, and nonprofit organisations. September 9, 2026.

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Media and literature recommendations

• 📗 Read an important piece about research from Katarzyna Celinska on Motherhood in Prison.
  

• 💻 Did you miss Women in Prison’s recent webinar, Beyond Sentencing: Understanding Women in the Criminal Justice System? You can watch the recording here!
  

• 📗 Access a new monograph, The Real Pain of Punishment: Prison, Belonging, and the Quest for Humanized Justice, by Federica Coppola. The book explores the “true pains of incarceration using insights from empirical sciences and people with lived prison experiences.” The book also highlights “the concept of ‘belonging’ as an unprecedented lens for critically interrogating the legitimacy of incarceration across penal theory, sentencing practice, and human rights frameworks.”
  

• 🗒️ The Centre for Women’s Justice has responded to the UK Government’s announcement to increase minimum sentencing for domestic murders. The CWJ has recognised the unintended consequences of this change, particularly for survivors who kill their abuser, stating their concerns that “the government’s new proposals will lead to even harsher punishments for such victims in the future.”
  

• 📗 A newly released memoir by Sabrina Butler-Smith, the first woman in United States history to be exonerated from death row. The memoir, The Youngest and the First: The Exoneration of Sabrina Butler, explores Sabrina’s journey growing up in Mississippi and being wrongfully sentenced to die as a child at just 17 years old. After surviving nearly three grueling years on death row following an aggressive, coerced police confession and an inadequate legal defense, Sabrina was fully acquitted and cleared of all charges in 1995.

  

• 📗 Corporación Humanas have published their book, Entre rejas y violencias: Criminalización y violencias contra las mujeres en el sistema penitenciario colombiano (Between Bars and Violence: Criminalization and Violence Against Women in the Colombian Penitentiary System). The book examines how the Colombian criminal and prison system reproduces structural gender, racial, and class inequalities, with particular attention to the experiences of Black and Afro-descendant women deprived of liberty.
  

• 🗒️ Read the reflections about the UK’s Women’s Justice Board report and Women’s Diversion Fund from Naomi Delap, CEO for Birth Companions, and former trustee Liz Hogarth, co-author of the 2007 Corston Report. They explore what the report delivers, what it leaves unfinished, and the conditions needed for lasting change nearly 20 years on from the Corston report which reviewed the vulnerabilities of women in the criminal justice system.
  

• 📗 An interesting article on women’s open prisons in England and Wales.

• 📗 A powerful read about the trauma of parental imprisonment from Mark Hilditch, whose mother was incarcerated when he was a young man. Mark shares the experiences and impact of this on him and his younger brother.
  

• 🗒️ Read about the campaigners and support from women’s organisations to provide underwear to vulnerable women, including women in prison where women are often reported to not receive enough underwear.
  

• 🗒️ You can also explore new research on protection gaps and vulnerabilities affecting displaced Ukrainian women under the EU Temporary Protection Directive in Bulgaria, including examinations of criminal exploitation and trafficking.

Don’t forget to share your news and important work that you want to be featured with us, and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify!

Wishing you all a season of rest, resistance and solidarity,

Women Beyond Walls Team

Notre newsletter en français

Dear friends,

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati Kromluang Rajasarinisiribajra Mahavajrarajadhita of Thailand. Her Royal Highness was instrumental in the establishment of one of our key partners, the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ). Her leadership was central to more visibility on the challenges faced by women in prison and the establishment of the UN Bangkok Rules - the first standards regarding the treatment of incarcerated women. TIJ are inviting people to sign an online condolence book.

In May, we highlighted the publishing of the Global Prison Trends 2026 report, the twelfth edition of the annual publication by Penal Reform International and the Thailand Institute of Justice. This report is a key resource in examining trends of incarceration globally, and this month we’re spotlighting some of the key aspects of women’s imprisonment that it exposes.

• Mental health and suicide: The report notes that at least one in seven people in prison lives with severe mental illness, and that women in prison are 9 times more likely to die by suicide than women in the general population. Self-harm rates are also recognised as being disproportionately high in women’s prisons around the world and specifically in the UK, where levels of self-harm in women’s prisons are more than eight times higher than in men’s prisons.

• Growing population of women in prison: Over the past 25 years, the number of women in prison has increased by 57% in comparison to the 32% increase of women in the general population. Figures from Asia are particularly startling, with a 114% increase of the population of women in prison compared to the 29% increase in general population.

• Children: 1.4 million children have a mother in prison, and 19,000 children are living in prison with a primary caregiver. In terms of children held in detention related to criminal offences, whilst UNICEF estimates rates have decreased since 2024, the report notes that “accurate and disaggregated data on children in detention remains extremely limited, making it difficult to understand the true scale of detention of children and the impact on them.”

• Pre-trial detention: Women are at greater risk of pre-trial detention in Africa and Oceania, forming part of the 39% overall increase of individuals in pre-trial detention globally since 2000. The report highlights the expansion of pre-trial detention as one of the key drivers of growth in prison population.

• Criminalisation and inequality: The increasing criminalisation of poverty, homelessness, informal work, drug use, HIV status, sex work and consensual same sex conduct is disproportionately impacting “women, LGBTQI+ individuals, racialised people, and economically marginalised groups… perpetuating inequality and systemic injustice.”

These trends and issues, as well as many more included in the report, support the continued need for tackling the overincarceration of women and investment in community solutions. We’re grateful to share in this movement with you all as the work continues.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

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News from Women Beyond Walls

As many of you may know, Laura Cook, who leads communications and strategic partnerships at Women Beyond Walls, will be taking some time away after her husband was badly injured riding his bicycle. We are so grateful for all the kindness and support poured out to Laura and our team during this difficult time.

We also wanted to say a huge thank you to those who completed and shared the form for our global map of civil society groups supporting women who have been arrested, are on trial, are incarcerated, or have been released, as well as their children and families. The map aims to raise the visibility of this work, connect organisations, identify gaps in support, and strengthen global collaboration.

The map will be free and open-source, which we hope will be a valuable resource for the movement - stay tuned for the launch later in 2026!

We will be in Paris next week at the World Congress Against the Death Penalty. Do let us know if you will be there too!

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News from around the world

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: The BBC has reported on the volunteers from a family history group who have begun transcribing the records of at least 6,000 women, imprisoned by Cambridge University in the 19th Century. The ledgers of the prison, the Spinning House, are in the archive at Cambridge University Library, and detail women who were imprisoned on suspicion of soliciting students without receiving fair trials or with any recorded evidence of wrongdoing.

• 🇬🇭 Ghana: The Pulse reports that women in prison use toilet rolls and bed sheets due to lack of period products.

• 🇲🇲 Myanmar: A major investigation documented allegations of torture, sexual violence, degrading treatment, and medical neglect experienced by women imprisoned following Myanmar’s military coup. Human rights groups report that thousands of women have been detained since 2021, with continuing concerns about conditions and accountability.

• 🇵🇰 Pakistan: The government released information about 13 women detained in prisons across Punjab in response to a right to information request.

• 🇬🇧 UK: Women in Prison have welcomed the Government’s announcement of £9 million funding to more than double the number of problem-solving courts. Women in Prison have hailed the announcement as a “win for women” as it looks at tackling problems that women face which led them to criminalisation.

• 🇺🇸 USA: Last month we shared the news of two recent deaths of women whilst incarcerated in the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Michigan. Sadly, another woman, Ashley Hoath, has died at an offsite hospital near the prison after falling ill, prompting Michigan senators to call on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate conditions at the state’s women’s prison.

• 🇺🇸 USA: Local people in Indianapolis are requesting a community-focused development, including proposals for affordable housing and green recreational spaces, for the former Indiana Women’s Prison, which has been vacant since 2017.

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Opportunities

• The Support. Don’t Punish 2026 Global Day of Action — commemorated around the 26th of June — is an opportunity to come together in transnational solidarity to show strength, push back against harmful narratives, and connect with others to advance sustainable alternatives to the harmful ‘war on drugs’. Across the world, communities continue to resist punitive drug policies and build alternatives rooted in care, dignity and justice. The ‘war on drugs’ is a leading cause behind the growing numbers of women in prison.

• Join Women in Prison for their free webinar on Understanding Women in the Criminal Justice System, hearing from those with lived experience as well as professionals in the field on how practices can better support women. The webinar is being held on 🗓️ Tuesday 30 June 2026, 4-5 pm BST - register now so you don’t miss out!

• Are you a woman with lived experience of prison and the criminal justice system? WEI CIC is a new organisation focused on creating more opportunities for women through self-employment, business and independent income. They are looking to connect with women who have experienced the criminal justice system to help shape their work - find out more here.

• Dr Shona Minson is also looking to talk to those who have experienced prisons in the UK to inform her book for The Bodley Head on imprisonment. You can find out more on LinkedIn.

• Soulture Media, in association with Starling Films, is seeking support in the post-production stage of the making of their film Born Captive. The film is a “psychological and ancestral horror film about the real nightmare of prison birth and a mother fighting to bring her child into the world unclaimed by the state.” Follow the link to find out more about their ask for funding!

  

• The 62nd Session of the Human Rights Council is underway, being held between 15 June and 7 July 2026, and reflecting on the impacts of drug control policies on human rights worldwide. Find out more about accessing the sessions here.

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Media and literature recommendations

• 📝 Penal Reform International have also published Prison work: A guide to regulated and rehabilitative-based approaches – informed by lived experience. The guide is informed by lived experience and sets out a human rights-based approach to prison work. The guide is intended as a practical resource for policymakers, prison authorities, oversight bodies and other stakeholders, reflects growing calls for clearer international standards and stronger safeguards around prison work, and addresses key considerations for effective programmes for rehabilitation and social reintegration.

  

• 📝 Sisters Inside have published their report State Controlled Childhood: The Business of Family Policing in Queensland. The report provides a model of service delivery to support Sisters Inside’s calls for a “fundamental shift” in the approach to working with children and families affected by the criminal justice system, recognising that the current Child Safety system and Youth Justice system in Queensland are harmful and unjust.

  

• 📺 Watch the compelling BBC series Waiting for the Out, based on Andy West's memoir, The Life Inside: A Memoir Of Prison, Family and Learning to be Free. The series follows a teacher of philosophy in prisons, and has received excellent reviews for its portrayal of the vulnerability of incarcerated individuals.

• 📝 Read the report from the Welsh Affairs Committee in the UK Parliament on Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation in Wales. The report warns of population pressures, staffing challenges and overcrowding, and how they have undermined staff and prisoner safety as well as the effectiveness of rehabilitation.

• 📝 Read the European Prison Litigation Network’s report - Pre-Trial Detainees’ Barriers to Enforcing Rights and Accessing Justice from Detention: International Standards and National Practices Across Three Countries (Greece, Portugal and Ukraine).

Don’t forget to share your news and important work that you want to be featured with us, and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify!

Women Beyond Walls Team

Notre newsletter en français

Dear friends,

🚨 FINAL CALL: Global mapping deadline for submissions extended until 7 June — just over a week left to be included!

We are creating the first open-source global map of civil society groups supporting women who have been arrested, are on trial, are incarcerated, or have been released, as well as their children and families. The map will launch in September 2026. If you want your organisation, or other great organisations you know of, to be included in the 2026 iteration of the map you need to get those forms filled out now! The form only takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Across the world, organisations doing vital work with criminalised and incarcerated women are often under-recognised and underfunded. This map aims to raise the visibility of this work, connect organisations across regions and sectors, identify gaps in support, and strengthen collaboration globally. The map will be free and open-source, and will be a valuable resource for the movement, donors, media, and others.

The form is available in the following languages — please share urgently and widely with organisations and networks who should be included before the 7 June deadline:

● English

● French

● Spanish

● Portuguese

● Arabic

As mentioned in our April newsletter, at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference we co-hosted the Prison is a Feminist Issue: Reimagining Justice Concurrent Session alongside Sisters Inside and many other amazing partners.. At the session we asked: what needs to change so that poverty and status are not pathways to criminalisation for women and girls?

You can read the full report from the workshop here. Below is a graphic highlighting the key areas attendees identified as needing urgent action.

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News from around the world

• 🇨🇦 Canada - Women’s incarceration rates have doubled and Edmonton prison for men being turned into a women’s prison.

• 🇸🇻 El Salvador – May marks one year since human rights lawyer Ruth López was imprisoned for defending truth and exposing corruption in El Salvador. She remains unjustly detained.

• 🇳🇬 Nigeria – On 15^th May the ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered Nigeria to urgently decongest its overcrowded correctional facilities and end the prolonged detention of people held in pre-trial detention. This order came following findings of human rights concerns from an NGO which violate several provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The report requires Nigeria to submit a detailed compliance report within six months including updated statistics on the number of people released or prosecuted – read more here.

• 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone –Lawyers, politicians and activists have called for the release of one of Sierra Leone’s best-known celebrities, Zainab Sheriff, who they said was unjustly imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on free speech and political dissent. Read further in this article as part of The Guardian’s Women in Prison series.

• 🇸🇴 Somalia – Sadia Moalim Ali was held in prison in Somalia for taking part in peaceful protests. She described how she was tortured by her guards.

• 🇬🇧 UK – HMP Styal, a prison near Wilmslow in the UK, will be included in the independent investigation led by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on the use of restraints for pregnant incarcerated women. The investigation will cover incidents from 2021 to 2025, and will look into whether policies were breached where restraints were used and women experienced inhumane or degrading treatment.

• 🇺🇸 USA – Two women have died whilst incarcerated in the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Michigan, USA. The family of one of the women, Khaira Howard, have raised serious concerns that their daughter was denied proper medical treatment and are now seeking justice for Khaira. An investigation is also being conducted into the death of Rebecca Fackler, who died shortly before Khaira in the facility.

• 🇺🇸 USA – Several women who have experienced incarceration at the women’s prison in Cibola County, New Mexico, are suing the state Corrections Department over the actions and inactions regarding the abuse enacted by corrections officers. Court records reflect significant issues with the outcome of investigations into officers who raped women in prison, including plea deals that didn’t require them to serve prison time or register as sex offenders.

• 🇺🇸 USA , Idaho is using solitary confinement for overflow housing because it can’t keep up with rising incarceration rates.

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Opportunities

• Register for the European Justice Education & Leadership Summit, taking place on 17–18 September 2026 at VHS Simmering, Vienna, 🇦🇹 Austria. The two-day international conference aims to bring together justice professionals, researchers, educators, policymakers, and civil society practitioners from across Europe for two days of strategic dialogue and connection. You can explore the full programme here.

• A call for papers from the Centre for Criminal Justice and Security at the University of the West Indies ahead of the 4th Caribbean Conference on Crime and Criminal Justice, taking place 1–3 December 2026 in Montego Bay, 🇯🇲 Jamaica. The deadline for abstracts is ⏰ 1^st July 2026 – you can find out more here.

• If you’re in the UK there’s still time to support Level Up’s petition for Islington Council to fulfil their promise of turning the former HMP Holloway site into a women’s centre, providing a safe space and services for women in London.

• Colectivo Artesana, have launched a new initiative: La Casa de las Mujeres (The House of Women) — Guatemala’s first self-sustaining cooperative led by formerly incarcerated women, focused on catering services, culinary training, and therapy and are fundraising to support the initiative.

  

• At a time when leadership often feels extractive, authoritarian, or disconnected from reality, We Are Feminist Leaders’ 12-week Feminist Leadership Programme offers another path. A space to reflect, challenge assumptions, build community, and reimagine what leadership can be. 👉 Registrations are now open for the September 2026 programme: https://lnkd.in/geukgfgM

• The Justice Within Reach campaign was launched in May by Pathfinders, IDLO and other stakeholders. This is a new global initiative to realise the transformative promise of diverse pathways to people-centred justice by securing political commitment, mobilising investment, and strengthening local leadership.

• Mobilise Power Fund for Gender Justice Organisations - 🌍 🇺🇸 United States only | 💰 Individual organisations can receive up to $10,000 in funding; coalitions or collaborations involving two or more groups can request up to $20,000. 🗓️ Deadline: 02 June 2026. ⏰🎯 The Mobilise Power Fund is a rapid-response grant programme designed to support gender justice organisations facing urgent and unexpected disruptions or opportunities. It helps organisations adjust or pivot their work quickly in response to changing conditions affecting their organising environments. The fund prioritises immediate action over long-term planning and is focused on strengthening community-rooted gender justice work.

• Fondo Impulsa Derechos: Co-Lab para la Debida Diligencia – Fundación Avina / AECID - 🌍 🇨🇴 🇬🇹 🇵🇦 Colombia, Guatemala y Panamá | 💰 Entre $5,000 y $20,000 USD | ⏰ 🗓️ 28 de mayo de 2026 | 🌐 ES | 🎯 Fondo de subvenciones para organizaciones de la sociedad civil, colectivos comunitarios, colectivas de mujeres, sindicatos, organizaciones indígenas o ambientales, y redes de base. El objetivo es fortalecer la participación efectiva de grupos de interés en procesos de Debida Diligencia en Derechos Humanos (DDDH) de empresas españolas que operan en la región, especialmente en sectores como energía, agroindustria, minería e infraestructura.

• Grants Programme – National Endowment for Democracy (NED) - Global (100+ countries; excludes established democracies) Democracy, human rights, media freedom, civil society strengthening, rule of law, civic education N/A (varies per project) ⏰ 2 June 2026 EN / FR / ES / PT / AR / FA ⏰ Rolling grants programme supporting non-governmental organisations working to advance democratic values and strengthen civil society in diverse political environments — including nascent democracies, countries in transition, semi-authoritarian, and highly repressive contexts.

• Together Women Rise – Featured Grants Programme - Global South (Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, parts of the Middle East and Oceania) Women’s rights, gender equality, economic opportunity, education, health, climate justice, safety and security $35,000–$50,000 USD over two years ⏰ 5 June 2026 EN ⏰ Two-year grants for organisations empowering women and girls in low-income and marginalised communities in the Global South. Supports new programmes, expansion of existing programmes, and capacity building. At least 12 grants awarded per year. Applicants must be women-led (50%+ of leadership), have at least three years of on-the-ground operations in the Global South, and a minimum annual operating budget of $100,000. International organisations without US 501(c)(3) status may apply through a US fiscal sponsor, provided that relationship has existed for at least 12 months.

• AmplifyChange – Strengthening Grant - Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (55 eligible countries) Sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, abortion access, inclusion, SRHR education, climate justice, mental health £100,000–£200,000 GBP (2–3 years) ⏰ 16 June 2026 ( portal registration closes 5 June) EN / FR Two to three-year grants for small to medium civil society organisations (annual expenditure between £150,000–£350,000) working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocacy. Up to 40% of the grant can fund organisational development costs. Priority themes include violence, abortion, inclusion, and SRHR education and access. At least 30% of funding will go to projects focused on ensuring government funding for SRHR. Organisations must be registered and implementing work in one of AmplifyChange’s 55 eligible countries. New applicants must register on the portal before 5 June.

• Fondo de Coyuntura Política (FCP) – Alianza Surge / Fundación Avina - México (preferencia por organizaciones fuera de la Ciudad de México) Democracia, derechos humanos, justicia climática, espacio cívico, incidencia política, activación social Hasta $120,000 MXN (aproximadamente $6,000 USD) Rolling ES Fondo de respuesta rápida para organizaciones, colectivas, grupos de base y coaliciones en México que identifiquen oportunidades de acción estratégica en coyunturas políticas o sociales. Apoya iniciativas de activación política (acciones culturales, comunicación, defensa de la democracia) e incidencia política (creación o reforma de políticas públicas) con resultados esperados en los próximos cuatro meses. No es necesario estar constituido legalmente. Se priorizan organizaciones fuera de CDMX. Duración máxima: 6 meses.

• Rising Stars Mentorship Programme – People Powered - Global Participatory democracy, civic participation, community governance 26 June 2026 ⏰ Free mentorship programme that matches advocates, government officials, and civil society practitioners with experienced experts in participatory democracy. Mentees receive up to five one-on-one or group sessions over six months to get hands-on support for launching or improving participatory programmes — from participatory budgeting to citizens’ assemblies. Mentors come from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and beyond.

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Media and literature recommendations

• 📝 Penal Reform International’s 2026 Global Prison Trends report is out. The report examines pressures on the rule of law and the criminalisation of poverty and marginalised groups. It also analyses the impact of armed conflict on detention systems, including ongoing gaps in healthcare and mental health provision.

  PRI is launching the Global Prison Trends report at a CCPCJ35 side event on ⏰ Thursday 4 June 2026, 11.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. (CEST, Vienna time), hybrid in Room M5, Vienna International Centre or join online through Zoom (meeting ID 879 2242 5028 / passcode: 791176). Organised by PRI and supported by Finland, the Thailand Institute of Justice, ILANUD, OHCHR, the International Legal Foundation, Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, and Youth Rise. With the global prison population estimated at 11.7 million, the report examines persistent overcrowding, the overuse of pre-trial detention, pressures on the rule of law, the growing role of organised crime in prisons, and the criminalisation of poverty and marginalised groups, as well as the impact of armed conflict on detention systems and ongoing gaps in healthcare and mental health provision.

  

• 📘 We are looking forward to reading Justine van der Leun’s new book, Unreasonable Women, which will be published on the 2^nd of June. The book explores the stories of women who survived violence, only to find themselves criminally prosecuted and failed by the system. The stories span seven years of Justine’s reporting and input from over 1000 women.

  

• 🎧 Listen to the new episode of JUSTICE podcast which explores the stigma associated with being a woman in prison. The episode features Jules Rowan, the co-host of the Life After Prison podcast, who describes her journey from serving a prison sentence to becoming a personal trainer. The important theme of empowering women to be able to tell their own story and shift the stigma around incarceration shines through in the episode.

• 🎧 Another podcast recommendation – Self-Identities: Conversations with Convicted Women. The podcast is recorded within two correctional facilities for women in Pennsylvania, featuring in-depth conversations with incarcerated women serving life sentences. The podcast is vital in shifting the focus “away from sensationalised true crime and toward genuine understanding”, encouraging listeners to engaged with “the complexities of identity, resilience, and lived experience within the criminal justice system.” The podcast can be accessed on major platforms including Spotify and Apple.

• 📘 Read the story of Ruth López, a human rights lawyer who was imprisoned in May 2025 for defending truth and exposing corruption in El Salvador. Ruth remains unjustly detained without trial and due process, and the Fund for Global Human Rights report on how countless friends, colleagues and allies continue to speak out tirelessly for Ruth’s rights.

• 🧾 The Marshall Project have published their latest news issue, Women on the Inside, which examines the unique challenges incarcerated women experience.

  

• 🧾 Women and Prison have also published their Spring edition of their Still I Rise magazine which covers resettlement and the challenges women face upon release – a must read!

• 📘 Another powerful read from Ruthanne Barry - Pregnancy in Prison: A Reality That Lives Behind Silence.

“At its core, this is not only about prison. It is about how we hold women during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. It is about whether systems are capable of recognising that a sentence does not remove humanity, and that life continues to unfold even in places designed for confinement.” - Ruthanne Barry

• 📘 In an article about the Justice for All Series at The Old Bailey and the recent Justice for Prison Leavers event, Robert Hughes-Penney from City of London explores the economic importance of justice for prison leavers including employing and investing in prison leavers.

• 🧾 Sisters Inside have released a report into the Family Policing System in Queensland, Australia.

  

• 📘 Read another important story of incarceration published in The Independent. Rachel’s story demonstrates a heart-wrenching example of mothers being separated from their children due to incarceration, and the long-lasting impact of this beyond the prison sentence.

• 🎧 Listen to this New Yorker radio hour episode, Growing Up with a Mother In Prison

Women Beyond Walls Team

PS: Please don’t forget this week is your last chance to fill in and share the global mapping form! This will be a resource for all of us, and the more of us that join in, the more useful that resource will be.

We are building the first-ever open-source global map of civil society organisations working with and for women affected by the criminal legal system — and we need your help to make it as complete as possible.

Join the map!

Why does this matter?

This field is underfunded, under-documented, and often overlooked. Too many organisations are working in isolation, unaware of who else is doing this work — in their region, their language, their area of focus. This map changes that.

When it launches in 2026, the map will be free for anyone to use — searchable by country, region, and type of work. It will be shared with funders, media, and networks who are already excited about what it can do. Being on it means more visibility, more connection, and more collaboration.

Is this for your organisation?

If you work with or for women who have been arrested, are on trial, are incarcerated, or have been released — or with their children and families — we want to hear from you. This includes:

• Organisations led by women with lived experience

• Legal advocates and legal aid providers

• Health, education, and service providers

• Researchers, policy organisations, and think tanks

• Networks and coalitions

You can choose to appear with full details or simply as a pin on the map with your information kept private.

The survey closes at the end of May 2026.

Please fill it in — and then think: who else should be on this map? A partner organisation, a group you’ve collaborated with, a network you’re part of? Send them the link. Every organisation added makes this resource more powerful for everyone.

👉 The survey is available in the following languages, the form it is set up within also has auto translate features for many other languages via most browser options.

English

Français

Español

Português

عربي

With thanks and appreciation,

The Women Beyond Walls Team

Dear friends,

We have so much news this month, but let us start with the most recent.

RightsCon 2026

“Women Beyond Walls joins the global digital rights and human rights community in expressing deep sadness at the sudden cancellation of RightsCon 2026.”

This week brought frustrating news for the global human rights community: RightsCon 2026, the world’s largest summit on human rights in the digital age, was cancelled after members of the Zambian government announced its “postponement” just days before it was due to open in Lusaka — what would have been a historic first for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Women Beyond Walls had been looking forward to co-hosting a session on the criminalisation of women and girls alongside the Human Rights Measurement Initiative and Kaumba Akosua Akuffo from Tithandizane Comfort Homes / INFIW — a conversation that is chronically underfocused in the global human rights agenda. We stand in solidarity with Access Now, their Zambian partners, and all those affected. Read our full statement here.

Women Deliver 2026

Alongside this difficult news, there has been much to celebrate this month.

Women Beyond Walls were proud to be part of a special moment with Women Deliver, who recognised the rising rates of women’s criminalisation in the Melbourne Declaration, launched in Naarm (Melbourne) earlier this week:

“We make this declaration at a moment when the wider field of actors and institutions shaping gender equality outcomes is in crisis. Governments and political actors are actively rolling back, ignoring, and undermining human rights — including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), bodily autonomy, democratic rights, and civic space. At the same time, girls and women are being criminalised on the basis of poverty, social status, or survival behaviours, amid climate collapse, biodiversity loss, war, genocide, and fascist geopolitics.”

We saw the launch of the declaration live at Women Deliver 2026, and later in the week we co-hosted an official concurrent session titled ‘Prison is a Feminist Issue: Reimagining Justice’. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time an event focused on women and prison had taken place within the official schedule of Women Deliver.

In 2023, we led on the creation of an Open Letter to the organisers of Women Deliver and the Generation Equality Forum calling for all High-Level Forums on women’s rights to be inclusive of all women — particularly criminalised, incarcerated, and formerly incarcerated women. We were glad to see huge strides forward on this at Women Deliver this year, though there is still more to do.

Our session used a circle format, opening with short provocations from advocates at the intersection of criminalisation, gender-based violence, sex work, drug use, and poverty — before moving into real, participatory dialogue. It followed the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s Agreed Conclusions, which explicitly recognised women in detention — a historic milestone that took years of tireless advocacy to achieve. We asked: what do we build from here?

We are grateful to our hosts and contributors: Laura Cook (Women Beyond Walls) and Debbie Kilroy (Sisters Inside; The National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls; The INFIW) · Dr Elena Jeffreys (Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association) · Ruth Birgin (Women and Harm Reduction International – WHRIN) · Cameron Billie (Sex worker peer representative, SWOP & the Sex Worker Reference Group) · Maria Alesi (Legal Empowerment Fund).

More than 150 people filled a room designed for 100 — but it was a great problem to have! We hope this demonstrates to Women Deliver and other feminist forums, and to all who were in the room, that there is a need for more mainstreaming of these sessions, and critically, for women and girls with lived experience of criminal legal systems who can speak to the issues.

We also attended excellent side events and discussions on issues such as drugs and the death penalty, and sex worker rights. As is often the way with these things, some of the best conversations happened in the margins — or over a good cup of coffee.

Webby Awards

Our other big news is something we shared in our last newsletter: we were nominated for a Webby Award for an episode in our podcast series featuring Pamela Winn. The Webbys are a prestigious digital media award, often compared to the Oscars of the digital world. We did not win either the Judges’ Award or the People’s Voice Award — we came second! — but we are so grateful to each and every person who voted for us, and to everyone who shared, messaged, posted, and showed love for Pamela and her story.

We are deeply thankful to Pamela for trusting us with her story, for lending her voice to this episode, and for everything she continues to do in the world.

So what now? The most important thing remains the same: getting these stories heard. If you believe in this work, please keep sharing the Women Beyond Walls podcast with people around you. There are so many inspiring guests and stories that deserve your time and attention.

Listen here: https://www.womenbeyondwalls.org/pod

⏰ Global Mapping — Deadline: 31 May 2026

We are still calling for input for our global mapping exercise — just one month left to participate!

We are creating the first open-source global map of civil society groups supporting women who have been arrested, are on trial, are incarcerated, or have been released, as well as their children and families.

Across the world, organisations doing vital work with criminalised and incarcerated women are often under-recognised and underfunded. This map aims to raise the visibility of this work, connect organisations across regions and sectors, identify gaps in support, and strengthen collaboration globally. The map will be free and open-source when it launches later in 2026, and will be a valuable resource for our movement, donors, media, and others — make sure you are on it!

The form is currently available in the following languages (with more coming soon):

• English

• French

• Spanish

• Portuguese

• Arabic

We would love for you to share this call widely with organisations and networks who should be included, and help us build a strong global map for everyone.

Regional Conference on Combating Torture in Detention — Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Finally, in what has been a very busy month, we were grateful to speak at the Regional Conference on Combating Torture in Detention in Sub-Saharan Africa in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, organised by ACAT and FIACAT. We highlighted the importance of decriminalising petty offences and gender-responsive justice reforms, and greatly enjoyed meeting colleagues and new friends — particularly from Francophone Africa. This reflects our commitment to working locally, regionally, and globally.

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News from around the world

Australia — This month, Sisters Inside have highlighted the issues women are facing in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. The article revisits the 2024 recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Commission, several of which specifically addressed conditions at Villawood and what was needed to improve the safety of women there, noting that since the report these improvements have not been made.

Australia — A woman incarcerated in a prison in Australia has received an apology from the state government after being denied medication to terminate her pregnancy. Authorities have claimed the issue was due to an administrative error, with the case highlighting the challenges incarcerated women face in accessing proper healthcare.

🎉 Cambodia — At the beginning of April it was announced that a total of 1,254 people in prison, including 105 women, will receive a pardon or have their sentences commuted in conjunction with Khmer New Year (April) and Visak Bochea Day (May).

🎉 Canada — This week the Senate passed Tona’s Law, Bill S-205. This bill is the result of decades of work to uphold human rights for those most marginalised and to ensure that what happens behind prison walls is never beyond accountability. Tona Mills survived more than a decade in solitary confinement and spent her life advocating so that no one else would endure what she did. Her call was simple and urgent: “Please end segregation for everyone, everywhere.” At its core, Tona’s Law would establish court oversight of decisions to isolate prisoners, create meaningful remedies when rights are violated, and expand community-based alternatives to isolation. Well done to friend of Women Beyond Walls, Senator Kim Pate, for leading the way on this work. To learn more about Tona’s Law and Kim’s work, listen to our podcast episode with her or visit Kim Pate’s Instagram explainer.

🎉 Indonesia — An Indonesian grandmother has returned home after spending roughly 15 years on death row in Malaysia for drug trafficking, following a pardon that advocacy groups say highlights the ongoing exploitation of vulnerable migrant women in international drug networks.

The woman, known as Ani Anggraeni—a false identity reportedly given to her by the trafficker without her awareness—flew from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta on Thursday after receiving clemency from the Penang governor on 19 March, shortly before Eid al-Fitr. She had never left Indonesia before being tricked into transporting drugs across borders in 2011.

Israel/Palestine — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged Israel to repeal a law passed by its parliament on 30 March 2026 reinstating the death penalty, in terms applicable almost exclusively to Palestinians.

🎉 UK — After many years of advocacy, abortion has been formally decriminalised for women in England and Wales, marking what has been described as a “historic turning point” within proposed updates to the Crime and Policing Bill.

As part of these changes, the government has repealed outdated laws including the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929. Previously, these laws allowed women and girls to face arrest, investigation, or prosecution for ending their own pregnancies. In recent years, there has been a concerning rise in such criminal cases—after decades of being rare—alongside increased financial support for anti-abortion organisations in the UK.

USA — Two women have died at the Dayton Correctional Institution, Ohio, in the past ten months. The prison has reported staffing shortages, and in both cases family members say the deaths were preventable and that prison staff ignored the women’s pleas for medical care.

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Opportunities

• ⏰ Deadline: 6 May 2026 — The CEDAW Committee has published a call for comments to gather input on a draft general recommendation on gender stereotypes.

• Sign this petition to call on Islington Council to keep their promise to deliver the women’s centre at the site of the former Holloway Prison — the largest women’s prison in Western Europe — which will provide a safe space and services for women in London who need them most.

• The International Human Rights Art Movement has an open call for written submissions for a writing contest from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. Deadline: 31 May 2026.

• Women in Prison are recruiting for a number of employment roles in the UK — find more information on their website.

• A funding opportunity from Together Women Rise. Deadline: 5 June 2026.

• The Boring Fund USA is inviting applications to cover essential overhead costs such as insurance, software, printers, and office supplies.

• Interrupting Criminalization invites young artists (ages 16–24) from the USA who are directly impacted by criminalisation, policing, or punishment to apply for the 2026 Stevie Wilson DIY Young Artists Residency.

• ⏰ Deadline: 3 May 2026 — Take part in HMRI’s annual human rights survey.

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  Media and literature recommendations

• Read this moving Guardian article about a mother in prison in Ecuador and the impact on her daughter, as part of their excellent Women in Prison series.

  

• Read the important reflections from Birth Companions on the UK’s Women’s Justice Board’s recommendations for reducing women’s imprisonment.

• One Small Thing have also published a blog post on the Women’s Justice Board’s report, welcoming “the shift to early intervention, prevention, and diversion to stop women with multiple unmet needs from reaching crisis point and falling through the gaps of a broken system.”

• The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty have published two new guides designed to help abolitionists and their allies incorporate a gender-responsive approach into their advocacy:

  • What is Gender-Based Discrimination in the Context of the Death Penalty?, developed in collaboration with the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, offers an introduction to the specific forms of discrimination affecting women and LGBTQ+ individuals facing the death penalty.

  • How to Implement International Abolitionist Advocacy That Addresses Gender-Based Discrimination?, developed in collaboration with The Advocates for Human Rights, presents concrete strategies for integrating the realities of women and LGBTQ+ individuals facing the death penalty into international abolitionist advocacy.

• Read an interview with Mary Robinson — the first woman President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights — discussing her reflections on the 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). Mary notes the meeting convened by Women Beyond Walls where she heard from three formerly incarcerated women from the US who spoke on behalf of incarcerated women across the world about their experiences of imprisonment.

  

• Watch a powerful discussion from CSW70 on Addressing the Laws and Practices that Criminalise Women Due to Poverty and Status Worldwide, which we co-organised. The session highlighted the need to decriminalise offences that disproportionately impact women due to poverty and social status, expand non-custodial and rights-based approaches, centre lived experience in justice reform and policymaking, and strengthen data and evidence to drive gender-transformative change.

• A critical piece on incarcerated pregnant women being unlawfully restrained during labour in the UK, sharing traumatic experiences and reflections on how women should be better supported.

• Read Out of the Shadows: Women and the Dublin Drug Economy — Poverty, Context, Trauma and Survival by Paula Kearney.

• Justice beyond Jails is a global campaign launched by Just Futures that calls attention to how much we rely on policing and incarceration to address gender-based violence.

  

• Read an important case study from the St Giles Trust about Kayley, a young woman facing homelessness and vulnerabilities around her mental health following a period of incarceration. The case highlights “significant gaps in communication, coordination, and timely support for vulnerable women” — something which the UK’s Women’s Justice Board Report has called out to address.

• Seeking Justice: A Guide to Criminal Appeals for Women (in the UK) — a ground-breaking new resource from APPEAL (the Centre for Criminal Appeals). Women facing wrongful convictions are often left to navigate a highly complex appeals system with little clear or accessible information. With growing numbers pursuing appeals without legal representation, the need for practical, reliable guidance has never been more urgent.

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends.

Women Beyond Walls Team

PS: Please don’t forget to fill in and share the global mapping form! This will be a resource for all of us, and the more of us that join in, the more useful that resource will be.

Why are we writing today?

As many of you will have seen, Women Beyond Walls has been nominated for a Webby Award — one of the most prestigious awards in digital media. The nominated episode features Pamela Winn, a woman who was shackled while pregnant in a US prison, had a miscarriage, and turned that pain into a lifelong fight for legislative change.

In our category we’re up against media giants like ABC and CBS. We’re also surrounded by true crime podcasts that sensationalise pain. We see the People’s Voice vote of The Webby Awards as a way to change the narrative, and to show the world that people want something different from their storytelling.

So, what can I do?

First, from the bottom of our hearts — thank you. Thank you to everyone who has already voted, shared and posted to get votes for Pamela’s episode in the Webby Awards ‘People’s Voice’: we feel it. Every single one of you has helped get us to where we are right now. And where we are right now is second place.

Not voted yet, vote now!

We won’t pretend that isn’t a little daunting. We’re up against media giants with budgets we can only dream of. But here’s the thing — we know it’s not impossible to catch up. And we have something they don’t. We have you.

Pamela Winn shared a message this week we think sums things up well. She said this isn’t for her. It isn’t for Women Beyond Walls. It’s for the many women out there whose stories are yet to be told. And she’s right.

We are fighting for space in a storytelling landscape dominated by sensationalism — where true crime packages real human suffering as entertainment, and the women at the centre of those stories are reduced to plot points. We want to do something different. We want to create conditions where stories like Pamela’s don’t just get told, but get heard. Where the voices of women impacted by the criminal legal system are treated with the dignity and seriousness they deserve.

But we need your help in the next 24 hours.

Here’s what we’re asking:

Vote — if you haven’t already:

VOTE NOW

Share — with everyone you can: Send this email on. Post the voting link on your social media stories. Drop it in a WhatsApp group. Ask one person today. Then ask another. Every vote genuinely matters and every share could reach someone who hasn’t voted yet.

Keep going — the momentum is real: We are closer than we ever expected to be. The gap is closeable. But only if we keep pushing together.

Not true crime. True justice. Let’s do this. 💙

With so much gratitude,

The Women Beyond Walls team

🎧 Listen to Pamela’s episode: womenbeyondwalls.org/pamela

We’re so excited to share that Women Beyond Walls Podcast has been nominated in the 30th Annual Webby Awards in the Crime and Justice podcast category.

Vote for Women Beyond Walls Podcast

The episode we’ve been nominated for features the phenomenal Pamela Winn—a powerful advocate whose voice and story inspire and drive change.

In a category where people may first think of “true crime,” we’re proud to be telling a different story: one about true justice.

The Webbys are one of the most respected awards on the internet, celebrating the creators, companies, and platforms shaping culture online. So for our humble little podcast to be recognised on this stage is a huge achievement and a great opportunity to raise attention to the need to tackle the mass criminalisation and over-incarceration of women and girls worldwide.

Being nominated for a Webby Award is an honour that places us among the top 11% of more than 13,000 entries worldwide. This means we’re now in the running for two of the internet’s most prestigious awards: the Webby Award, selected by the Academy, and the Webby People’s Voice Award, decided by the public.

The People’s Voice Award is a powerful opportunity to show your support. For two weeks, people around the world can vote for their favourite nominees—last year alone, nearly 3.6 million votes were cast across 230+ countries. So we need your help! Voting is open now and closes on Thursday, April 16th at 11:59 pm PDT. Every vote helps amplify the stories and voices at the heart of this work.

VOTE NOW!

This podcast was never about chasing headlines. It was created to make space for the stories that are too often ignored — the voices of women impacted by incarceration, and the realities of what justice, healing, and moving beyond the criminal justice system can really look like.

Now we need your help. If you’ve ever believed that women impacted by incarceration deserve to be heard — not stereotyped, sensationalised, or left out of the conversation — this is a chance to show it.

Vote for Women Beyond Walls Podcast

There are 16 days to vote in the Webby People’s Voice Awards, and every single vote counts.

👉 Vote here: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/individual-episode/crime-justice

And if you haven’t listened yet, or want to share the podcast with someone else:

🎧 Listen here: https://lnk.to/women-beyond-walls

We may be the underdog in this race (we are up against podcasts with much bigger budgets/audience than ours!), but the women whose voices we uplift have always had to fight to be heard. This nomination alone is an incredible milestone. A vote from you is not just a vote for us—it’s a way to stand with Pamela, whose episode is nominated, and help amplify her voice even further.

We’re deeply grateful to Pamela for trusting us with her story, to Hueman Group Media for being such an outstanding production partner, and to every listener who makes this community what it is.

With gratitude,
The Women Beyond Walls team

P.S. Please forward this email to a friend, colleague, or group chat and ask them to vote too. Every vote really does make a difference! We are up against giants, but we are up to the challenge.

VOTE NOW!

Newsletter in Spanish

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Dear Friends,

This is an action-packed March update — and you won’t want to miss a moment of it!

Below, we unpack everything that happened at CSW70 (including some long-awaited good news from the UN!); share an exciting opportunity to have your organisation included in the very first global map of organisations working with, or for, women and girls in contact with criminal legal systems; and bring you a whole host of exciting news stories.

Raise the visibility of the work of your organisation! Join the map

This International Women’s Day we were thrilled to have introduced our global mapping exercise to identify and connect organisations working with and for women affected by the criminal legal system.

We are creating the first open-source global map of civil society groups supporting women who have been arrested, are on trial, incarcerated, or released, as well as their children and families.

Across the world, organisations (like the ones many of you are involved in!) are doing vital work with criminalised and incarcerated women are often under-recognised and underfunded. This map aims to raise visibility of this work, connect organisations across regions and sectors, identify gaps in support, and strengthen collaboration globally. The map will be free and open-source when it launches later in 2026.

We are looking for civil society organisations, groups, and networks working with women impacted by the criminal legal system. This includes organisations led by women with lived experience, service providers, legal advocates, researchers, and policy organisations.

The form is currently available in the following languages (with more languages coming soon):

English https://lnkd.in/eUKp_Q3B

French https://lnkd.in/ecbDfaKz

Spanish https://lnkd.in/eMew9BF2

Portuguese https://lnkd.in/e5n53mXT

We would love for you to share this call widely with organisations and networks who should be included.

The more organisations we capture, the stronger and more useful this global map will be for everyone.

For any questions please email survey@womenbeyondwalls.org

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Women Beyond Walls News - a CSW70 special

CSW70: momentum, milestones and powerful voices

This month, we were in New York for the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), where the priority theme focused on ensuring access to justice for all women and girls.

In a major breakthrough, the agreed conclusions of CSW70 for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, explicitly recognise women in detention and imprisonment — a long-overdue and hard-fought step forward. You can read the CSW70 Agreed Conclusions here, and more on this landmark development in this article in The Guardian here.

As momentum builds, we are focused on what comes next: ensuring this recognition translates into real change for women impacted by criminal legal systems worldwide.

Centring lived experience and solidarity

On 17 March, we were so pleased to have the chance to convene a powerful conversation between women with lived experience (all members of the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women) and former President of Ireland & former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Dawn Harrington, Cheryl Wilkins, and Virginia Douglas joined Mary Robinson to speak candidly about criminalisation, community-building, and change.

Their message was unmistakable:

“The scary thing is the system, so we need to work together. It is the sisterhood that got me through — and it is the sisterhood that will get us through.” — Dawn Harrington

“Incarceration… is an international thing… when you listen and see you share the same journey, it’s a feeling that says that I’m not alone.” — Cheryl Wilkins

“No matter what country we’re in… we have to work together.” — Virginia Douglas

Together, they highlighted the global nature of women’s incarceration — and the urgent need to centre lived experience, solidarity, and community-led solutions in any meaningful reform. Mary Robinson took their words with her into her UN meetings on 18 March.

UN High-Level side event on decriminalising poverty and status

On 18 March, we co-hosted an official UN side event with Penal Reform International, Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, and partners — bringing together Member States, UN agencies, civil society, and leaders with lived experience.

We were honoured to welcome Mary Robinson as keynote speaker, who delivered a powerful call to action:

“Justice cannot mean punishing poverty, nor criminalising survival… If we are truly committed to gender equality, our justice systems must not penalise women for surviving poverty or for simply being women.”

The discussion explored gender-specific pathways to criminalisation — including poverty, inequality, and structural discrimination — and the disproportionate harms women face within criminal legal systems.

The event welcomed around 80 participants in person, with many more joining online. You can watch the event here and read our full report here.

Now lets turn commitments into action

Following the event, we held key meetings to ensure momentum continued beyond CSW:

• With UN Women, including Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, to explore how the agreed conclusions can be translated into meaningful, tangible action

  

• With United Nations Development Programme’s Mandeep Dhaliwal, to deepen discussions on the links between poverty and incarceration

These conversations are critical to ensuring that global commitments lead to real-world change. We were grateful to UN Women and UNDP for making the time for these valuable exchanges.

If you are a policy-maker reading this newsletter, we know some of you are on our mailing list, then please reach out if you’d like to know more about what is needed to move things forward.

Across CSW: building momentum

As highlighted in our CSW Guide (available here for a backwards look) we were encouraged to see a growing number of events addressing women and girls in contact with criminal legal systems — even amid global challenges.

We were proud to contribute to and participate in a wide range of discussions, including:

• Decarceration as access to justice (12 March) — positioning decarceration within the CSW70 agenda and identifying gender-responsive release mechanisms, alongside Penal Reform International, Women Beyond Walls, ILANUD, Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, Corporación Humanas, EQUIS Justice for Women, and Articulación Regional Feminista

• Access to Justice Denied: Women Facing the Death Penalty (12 March) — examining systemic and intersectional discrimination, with contributions from speakers connected to organisations including Witness to Innocence and wider civil society and legal experts

• From Punishment to Protection: A Feminist Case for Drug Policy Reform (12 March) — a powerful panel and photo exhibition hosted by Open Society Foundations, alongside Corporación Humanas, Metzineres, and representatives of the Colombian Government

• From Punishment to Power: Gender-Based Violence, Criminalization, and Access to Justice (16 March) — a bold, cross-movement dialogue featuring organisations including Just Futures Collaborative, Association for Progressive Communications, COFEM, Survived and Punished, Actos Transformadores, Women Beyond Walls, and AMAFA Foundation

• Addressing the Laws and Practices that Criminalize Women due to Poverty and Status Worldwide (18 March) — an official UN side event co-sponsored by Thailand Institute of Justice, Penal Reform International, Women Beyond Walls, Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, UN Women, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Peacebuilding Support Office, ILANUD, Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, and the Permanent Missions of Thailand, Colombia, Liechtenstein, and Romania

• Access to Justice Denied: Women Facing the Death Penalty – Focus on solutions and tools (20 March) — advancing practical, gender-responsive strategies with World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, alongside organisations including Witness to Innocence, The Advocates for Human Rights, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, and Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network

There were so many other events we were able to be in the audience for - and for the first time, too many to name here! But that is good news! As from high-level policy change to powerful testimony and collective action, CSW70 made one thing clear: the movement to end the criminalisation of women is growing and gaining ground.

Thank you to each and every person we had a chance to collaborate with, share with, listen to, learn from, or plan with at CSW70.

It is our diversity that strengthens us, our collaboration that empowers us, and our shared effort that drives us forward!

News from around the world

🎉 Great to be able to share some good news from around the world this March (sadly, too rare, so we are celebrating the good news with a cute emoji streamer!)

• Australia - Following the death of a young Aboriginal woman in Bandyup Prison in Western Australia, the National Network of Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls has emphasised calls to end the over-incarceration of women. The woman was reported to have been in a single-occupancy cell, used for detained people under observation for mental health or other welfare concerns. You can read more about the case here, including reflections from leading voices challenging the over-incarceration of women in Australia.

• Australia - A new report, Ending Strip Searching in Australian prisons, has also been launched this month by Formerly Incarcerated Girls Justice Advocates Melbourne (FIGJAM), Flat Out and the Human Rights Law Centre. The report demonstrates that the use of strip searches is entrenched across Australian prisons, despite rarely uncovering dangerous items, and instead has a considerable impact in inflicting humiliation and trauma.

• 🎉 Canada - The Canadian Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee has voted in support of a bill to eliminate solitary confinement. The bill, Tona’s Law, consists of safeguards put forward by Tona Mills who was a survivor of more than 10 years solitary confinement and the lifelong adverse health consequences of isolation. Tona passed away last month from cancer, however the bill is continuing to progress through parliament and the recent vote by the Committee sees the bill move further towards a final Senate debate and vote. DAWN (DisAbled Women’s Network) Canada has reflected on the progress of the bill as a crucial moment, particularly for indigenous, black and disabled women who are often overrepresented in solitary confinement. We were honoured to have hosted Senator Kim Pate on the second series of our podcast who talked about Tona’s Law, and you can watch Kim present on the Second Reading of the bill in the Senate.

• Iran - Children of Imprisoned Parents International have provided a statement on the situation of children living with incarcerated mothers in Iran given the escalating violence. They note alarming reports that have emerged from Iranian prisons indicating serious difficulties in accessing necessities like food and safety provisions. COIPI are urging authorities to take immediate measures to safeguard those incarcerated in Iran, with particular attention to the most vulnerable groups including children living in prison with their mothers, incarcerated mothers and pregnant women.

• 🎉 UK - The Women’s Justice Board, established in January 2025 and chaired by Lord Timpson, has published its report this month with recommendations to reduce the number of women in custody through earlier intervention, community-based support, and improved outcomes for the most vulnerable. The Board will now transition to a Women’s Justice Advisory Group, continuing to drive reform. The government has advised they will “carefully consider the Board’s recommendations as it continues to drive forward reform of the women’s justice system” - read more in the Ministry of Justice press release. You can also read the Women’s Justice Board statement here.

• USA - An analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative found that grievance systems in US federal prisons overwhelmingly fail incarcerated people seeking medical care, rejecting around 98% of complaints between 2014 and 2024, often for minor or procedural reasons. Rather than providing a meaningful route to justice, the system appears structured in a way that makes it extremely difficult for complaints to succeed, with fewer than 1% resulting in any form of relief.

  Opportunities

• In the UK? Sign Level Up’s important petition, calling on Islington Council to keep their promise to deliver the women’s centre on the land where Holloway Prison previously stood. As Level Up notes, a women’s centre would “provide a safe space and services for women in London who need them most” and “honour the legacy of HMP Holloway as a place for women.”

• ⏰ The Sex Worker Giving Circle at Third Wave Fund has opened its 2026 grant cycle to continue moving resources directly into the hands of sex workers leading change in their communities. The deadline to apply for funding is Thursday 2nd April, and you can find out more on eligibility and how to apply here.

• Unbarred Press, a new independent literary press publishing bold new writing shaped by lived experience of the criminal justice system, has launched an open call for poetry submissions for their first anthology due to be published later this year. Submissions are open until 30 April 2026.

• Women in Prison are hiring for a Director of Influence and Innovation - find out more on how to apply before the closing date of Sunday 12th April.

• A session on “Safety and Justice Through a Roma Lens: Challenging Systemic Profiling and Rights Violations” will take place on 23 April (10:30–11:55) in Brussels in Belgium, exploring discriminatory policing practices, systemic profiling, and their impact on the rights of Roma communities. Co-organised by MIA and ERGO Network in cooperation with OSCE ODIHR, and hosted by Loránt Vincze, you can register to attend in person here.

Media and literature recommendations

• An important read about the excessive use of force in women’s prison in the UK, including during mental health crises, whilst pregnant and during hospital examinations. Research suggests that the use of force against women has more than doubled in three years.

• Watch the first episode of Unchained Voices where Lady Unchained speaks with Mandy Ogunmokun, founder and CEO of Treasures which provides safe accommodation and specialist outreach support to women with histories of addiction, mental health and the criminal justice system.

• Read an article on experiences of women imprisoned in Senegal, exploring the challenges of horrific conditions, lack of access to menstrual products, trial delays, the stigma of imprisonment and subsequent rejection by families.

• Harm Reduction International has published the latest edition of The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview. HRI have shared that the data from 2025 marks the most brutal year for capital punishment since they began monitoring in 2007, with a 97% surge in drug-related executions and at least 1,212 executions for drug offences in 2025, up from 615 in 2024. Drug-related executions now account for nearly half of all confirmed executions worldwide.

• Read the new expert blog on why “putting children at the centre of justice systems in Ibero‑America is essential for any real project of rights, democracy and sustainable development.” The blog draws from a report on this matter.

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends.

Women Beyond Walls Team

PS: Please don’t forget to fill in and share the global mapping form! This will be a resource for all of us, and the more of us that join in, the more useful that resource will be.

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Dear friends,

🌍 Yesterday, marking International Women’s Day, we launched a global mapping exercise to identify organisations working with and for women affected by the criminal legal system.

The aim is to create the first open-source global map of civil society organisations supporting women who have been arrested, are on trial, incarcerated, or released, as well as their children and families.

This mapping responds to a clear need identified in the Women Beyond Walls Forgotten by Funders report: work in this field remains underfunded, under-recognised, and often disconnected across regions.

The map aims to:
➡️ raise visibility of organisations working in this area
➡️ connect groups across regions and sectors
➡️ identify gaps in support and advocacy
➡️ strengthen collaboration and engagement with funders

The map will be free, open-source and globally accessible when it launches in 2026.

👥 Who can participate

We invite civil society organisations, groups, and networks working with women impacted by the criminal legal system, including organisations led by women with lived experience, service providers such as health or education organisations, legal aid and legal empowerment organisations, advocacy and policy groups, and research centres.

🌐 The form is currently available in the following languages:

English [https://forms.gle/fzkiFFwamRXyx6zu5]

French [https://forms.gle/xDk898n7TkBNGpsPA]

Spanish [https://forms.gle/8SgfyMrTuFVLLtvf6]

Portuguese [https://forms.gle/VHysTuaZG56SuTJ26]

Additional language versions will be released shortly. We encourage organisations to complete the survey as soon as possible, and no later than the end of May 2026.

Please note that we will also be selecting 15 organisations to feature in a special compendium that will accompany the map. This selection will be made from organisations that submit their responses by the end of April 2026.

The compendium will highlight and celebrate inspiring initiatives from around the world, helping to draw greater attention to the important work being carried out by organisations in this field. Submitting early will mean your organisation is considered for this opportunity.

👉 You can also read more in our FAQs document, attached within the introduction in the form.

🙏 We would be grateful if you could share this call with relevant organisations and networks, particularly in regions where work in this field is less visible.

Thank you for helping us build a stronger, more connected global picture of the work supporting criminalised women and their communities.

Warm regards,
Women Beyond Walls Team

PS: Receiving this email while also at CSW70 in New York? Have you checked out our LIVE CSW70 GUIDE - so many amazing events and resources in there!

Chers amis,

🌍 Hier, à l’occasion de la Journée internationale des femmes, nous avons lancé un exercice de cartographie mondiale visant à identifier les organisations qui travaillent avec et pour les femmes touchées par le système pénal.

L’objectif est de créer la première carte mondiale open source des organisations de la société civile qui soutiennent les femmes qui ont été arrêtées, sont en procès, incarcérées ou libérées, ainsi que leurs enfants et leurs familles.

Cette cartographie répond à un besoin clairement identifié dans le rapport Women Beyond Walls Forgotten by Funders : le travail dans ce domaine reste sous-financé, sous-estimé et souvent déconnecté d’une région à l’autre.

La carte vise à :

➡️ accroître la visibilité des organisations travaillant dans ce domaine

➡️ mettre en relation des groupes de différentes régions et de différents secteurs

➡️ identifier les lacunes en matière de soutien et de défense des droits

➡️ renforcer la collaboration et l’engagement avec les bailleurs de fonds

La carte sera gratuite, open source et accessible dans le monde entier lors de son lancement en 2026.

👥 Qui peut participer

Nous invitons les organisations de la société civile, les groupes et les réseaux travaillant avec des femmes touchées par le système pénal, y compris les organisations dirigées par des femmes ayant une expérience vécue, les prestataires de services tels que les organisations de santé ou d’éducation, les organisations d’aide juridique et d’autonomisation juridique, les groupes de défense et de politique, et les centres de recherche.

🌐 Le formulaire est actuellement disponible dans les langues suivantes :

Anglais [https://forms.gle/fzkiFFwamRXyx6zu5]

Français [https://forms.gle/xDk898n7TkBNGpsPA]

Espagnol [https://forms.gle/8SgfyMrTuFVLLtvf6]

Portugais [https://forms.gle/VHysTuaZG56SuTJ26]

D’autres versions linguistiques seront bientôt disponibles. Nous encourageons les organisations à répondre à l’enquête dès que possible, et au plus tard à la fin du mois de mai 2026.

Veuillez noter que nous sélectionnerons également 15 organisations qui figureront dans un recueil spécial accompagnant la carte. Cette sélection sera effectuée parmi les organisations qui auront soumis leurs réponses avant la fin avril 2026.

Le recueil mettra en avant et célébrera des initiatives inspirantes du monde entier, contribuant ainsi à attirer davantage l’attention sur le travail important réalisé par les organisations dans ce domaine. En soumettant votre réponse rapidement, votre organisation sera prise en considération pour cette opportunité.

👉 Vous pouvez également en savoir plus en consultant notre document FAQ, joint à l’introduction du formulaire.

🙏 Nous vous serions reconnaissants de bien vouloir partager cet appel avec les organisations et réseaux concernés, en particulier dans les régions où le travail dans ce domaine est moins visible.

Merci de nous aider à dresser un tableau mondial plus solide et plus cohérent du travail de soutien aux femmes criminalisées et à leurs communautés.

Cordialement,

L’équipe Women Beyond Walls

Estimados amigos:

🌍 Ayer, con motivo del Día Internacional de la Mujer, lanzamos una iniciativa global para identificar las organizaciones que trabajan con y para las mujeres afectadas por el sistema penal.

El objetivo es crear el primer mapa global de código abierto de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil que apoyan a las mujeres que han sido detenidas, están siendo juzgadas, encarceladas o liberadas, así como a sus hijos e hijas y familias.

Este mapeo responde a una necesidad clara identificada en el informe Women Beyond Walls Forgotten by Funders (Mujeres más allá de los muros: olvidadas por los financiadores): el trabajo en este ámbito sigue sin recibir suficiente financiación, no se reconoce lo suficiente y, a menudo, está desconectado entre las distintas regiones.

El mapa tiene como objetivo:

➡️ aumentar la visibilidad de las organizaciones que trabajan en este ámbito

➡️ conectar a grupos de diferentes regiones y sectores

➡️ identificar las lagunas en el apoyo y la defensa

➡️ reforzar la colaboración y el compromiso con los financiadores

El mapa será gratuito, de código abierto y accesible a nivel mundial cuando se lance en 2026.

👥 ¿Quién puede participar?

Invitamos a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil, los grupos y las redes que trabajan con mujeres afectadas por el sistema penal, incluidas las organizaciones dirigidas por mujeres con experiencia vivida, los proveedores de servicios, como las organizaciones sanitarias o educativas, las organizaciones de asistencia jurídica y empoderamiento legal, los grupos de defensa y políticas, y los centros de investigación.

🌐 El formulario está disponible actualmente en los siguientes idiomas:

Inglés [https://forms.gle/fzkiFFwamRXyx6zu5]

Francés [https://forms.gle/xDk898n7TkBNGpsPA]

Español [https://forms.gle/8SgfyMrTuFVLLtvf6]

Portugués [https://forms.gle/VHysTuaZG56SuTJ26]

En breve se publicarán versiones en otros idiomas. Animamos a las organizaciones a que completen la encuesta lo antes posible, y a más tardar a finales de mayo de 2026.

Tenga en cuenta que también seleccionaremos a 15 organizaciones para que aparezcan en un compendio especial que acompañará al mapa. Esta selección se realizará entre las organizaciones que envíen sus respuestas antes de finales de abril de 2026.

El compendio destacará y celebrará iniciativas inspiradoras de todo el mundo, lo que contribuirá a llamar más la atención sobre la importante labor que realizan las organizaciones en este ámbito. Si envía su respuesta pronto, su organización será considerada para esta oportunidad.

👉 También puede obtener más información en nuestro documento de preguntas frecuentes, adjunto en la introducción del formulario.

🙏 Le agradeceríamos que compartiera esta convocatoria con las organizaciones y redes pertinentes, especialmente en las regiones donde el trabajo en este ámbito es menos visible.

Gracias por ayudarnos a construir una imagen global más sólida y conectada del trabajo de apoyo a las mujeres criminalizadas y sus comunidades.

Saludos cordiales,

El equipo de Women Beyond Walls

While we normally publish our newsletter in both French and Spanish too, the CSW70 Guide will only be in English due to the frequent updating - however, where multiple language versions of flyers exist we will put all language versions into the guide.

LAST UPDATED 12 MARCH 2026

What this guide is for? Women Beyond Walls at CSW70

Women Beyond Walls has created this CSW70 Guide to spotlight events focused on addressing the mass incarceration and criminalisation of women and girls.

We recognise that due to expense and visa restrictions, CSW is not an accessible space for many, especially formerly incarcerated women and women from Global Majority countries. We also know for many, safety and security are major concerns this year. Therefore we include as many online/virtual events and resources as possible in this guide and will continue to do so as we update it.

As Women Beyond Walls, we have chosen to attend CSW70 this year. We do so with full understanding and deep respect for those who have decided to step back from the space due to safety concerns or other principled reasons. These are not easy decisions, and we honour the care and conviction behind them.

For us, maintaining a presence remains important, particularly this year, when there is a significant opportunity to further advance the recognition and inclusion of women and girls impacted by criminalisation and incarceration within the global gender equality agenda. This builds on years of organising and advocacy led by our community, including our 2023 campaign for inclusion, and reflects our continued commitment to ensuring these voices are not sidelined.

We also stand in deep solidarity with the feminists and gender justice advocates coming together in New York, whose presence reflects an ongoing commitment to protecting and progressing hard-won rights. We remain grateful for the trusted collaborations we have formed with partners working within UN institutions, who persist in advancing human rights and gender justice despite an increasingly fraught and difficult global climate.

We know that meaningful change requires both presence and pressure from many different groups, we need to go beyond not only walls, but also silos! There is much that must evolve. We hope that at CSW, alongside CSW, and beyond CSW, we can all create and nurture spaces for reflection, accountability and collective strategy — strengthening how we organise, together, as a united feminist movement committed to transformative gender justice.

In addition to our guide, you can see many other side-events happening in NYC with a broader focus than our own, you can look at this list. We find a useful tag to use is ‘Womans access to justice’ to search this site. UN Women also has a list with many side-events on it.

Please feel free to share this guide widely with anyone who will find it useful. If you are not in New York, some of the below activities and events are hybrid or taking place entirely online - join them.

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LIVE GUIDE – CSW70

Monday 9 March

Ensuring Women’s Access to Justice and Addressing Structural Barriers

📅 9 March | 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: CCUN, 777 United Nations Plaza, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017

Description

This panel seeks to foster meaningful dialogue, identify and propose concrete actions to uphold women’s human rights and ensure access to justice, promote inclusive legal systems, and dismantle structural barriers.

Objectives

• To examine the current landscape of human rights violations against women and girls in countries where democracy and the rule of law are in decline.

• To discuss ways to ensure and strengthen access to justice for all women and girls, including marginalised groups.

• To promote the development of inclusive and equitable legal systems that eliminate discrimination and uphold women’s rights.

• To identify and address structural barriers—such as discriminatory laws, policies, social norms, and institutional practices—that impede women’s pursuit of justice and equality.

• To foster international dialogue, knowledge sharing, and partnership building aimed at advancing gender equality and women’s rights.

Transforming Prison and Correctional Systems for a Caring Society / Promoción de sistemas carcelarios y penitenciarios para una sociedad del cuidado

📅 9 March | 3:30 - 5 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person (hybrid event)

✍️Register here to attend virtually (hybrid event)

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: Greenberg Traurig, LLP, One Vanderbilt Ave, New York, NY and on Zoom

Description

What does a caring society require from prison or correction reform?

Join us for a conversation to examine discriminatory laws, policies, and practices driving criminalization and prosecution of women, and to share innovative ideas for embedding a care-based approach in penitentiary and justice policies.

This panel will address some of the challenges faced by women deprived of their liberty and highlight innovative approaches to transforming prison and penitentiary systems from a feminist perspective of care.

Additional details

• In collaboration with Corporación Humanas Colombia, International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women (INFIW).

Tuesday 10 March

Broken Promises: How Legal Systems Can Harm Instead of Heal

📅 10 March | 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT

✍️ Registration not required, but you may RSVP here (CSW Whova platform)

📍Address: Salvation Army, Lower Level, 221 E. 52nd St, New York, NY, 10022

Description

Across jurisdictions, survivors of gender-based violence face legal systems that are formally open but structurally hostile. Such environments are often shaped by embedded structural inequalities and gender stereotypes and a poor understanding of trauma and abuse. Survivors may reach court yet experience revictimisation, criminalisation, silencing, institutional violence in custody disputes, hostile welfare agencies and ineffective legal aid - so “access to court” rarely means access to justice. Women are not only underserved and restricted, but are often further harmed through institutional betrayal, including the arrest and prosecution of survivors for abuse-related actions, defamation suits for speaking out, and the loss of children based on false narratives from abusers, such as so-called parental alienation.

Through the present event, we will present global experiences, particularly in the U.S and Europe, to highlight how women experience barriers to justice that mirror the very harms from which they are seeking protection.

Extra Punishment: Gender-Based Violence in the Fight Against Organized Crime / Castigo extra: violencia de género en la lucha contra el crimen organizado

📅 10 March | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in-person

📍Address: Open Society Foundations (224 W 57th St., Room 7A, New York)

Description

A roundtable on the impact of organized crime prosecution on women and their families.

The event aims to share the preliminary findings of an ongoing research project in Latin America and to foster a space for dialogue to examine how criminal prosecution strategies and organized crime control policies produce differentiated impacts on women, including those deprived of liberty and their family environments.

Speakers include representatives from CELS (Center for Legal and Social Studies – Argentina), CEA Justicia Social (Mexico), and UN Women.

Additional Details

• The event will be held in Spanish and English.

Legal Aid: An Essential Service for People in Contact with the Criminal Justice System for Drug-Related Offences

📅 10 March | 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. EDT

✍️ No registration link, attend in-person or virtually via the Teams link below

💻 Teams link here (online link)

📍Address: Room M7, Vienna International Centre, New York, NY and on Teams

Description

*This event is a CND side event, not a CSW side event.

Join us for a panel discussion to explore how legal aid services can accelerate and improve justice and health outcomes for people in contact with the law for drug offences, in line with UN standards and informed by lived experience.

Access to Justice for Women Human Rights Defenders

📅 10 March | 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: UN Church Center, 11th floor, New York City

Description

This CSQ parallel event will offer a cross-regional panel that will conduct an intersectional analysis of WHRDs’ access to justice and the structural barriers that impede it. Speakers will explore how WHRDs are criminalized, harassed, and silenced for their activism in diverse political and social contexts, and will highlight effective documentation, advocacy, and protection strategies that sustain their work and resilience.

Drawing on concrete examples of transnational solidarity, the event will emphasize the importance of collective action and cross-movement collaboration in advancing accountability, protection, and justice for WHRDs worldwide.

Speakers

• Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of the Amnesty International

• Emilie De Wolf, Advocacy Co-coordinator, IM-Defensoras

• Amel Hadjadj, Journal féministe algérien, Alliance féministe francophone

• Tatiana Mukaniré, SEMA network, Democratic Republic of Congo

Additional details

• Languages: English and French (interpretation provided)

• The event is co-organised by:

  • The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC),

  • International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH),

  • Amnesty International,

  • Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IM-Defensoras),

  • Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in the SWANA region (WHRD MENA),

  • Women’s International Peace Center

  • International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

• Co-supported by the Alliance féministe francophone (AFF).

Wednesday 11 March

Repensar la justicia desde las mujeres indígenas en América Latina

📅 11 March | 09:00 - 11:00 a.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in-person

📍 New York City Bar Association - Salón Cromwell, 42 W 44th St, New York City

Description

This event is in Spanish only.

En el marco de la CSW, la RAI, EQUIS Justicia para las Mujeres, ECMIA, SEPREM y el Colegio de Abogados de Nueva York les invitamos a un espacio de diálogo sobre los desafíos que enfrentan mujeres y niñas indígenas para acceder a los sistemas de justicia y cómo repensar las justicias desde un enfoque intercultural, antirracista y con perspectiva de género.

Desde la experiencia de defensoras y lideresas indígenas, el panel abordará las múltiples barreras estructurales que limitan el acceso a la justicia —como las distancias geográficas, la falta de recursos económicos, la ausencia de intérpretes en lenguas indígenas y la escasa coordinación entre los sistemas de justicia— y propondrá caminos para repensar el acceso a las justicias desde un enfoque intercultural, antirracista, con perspectiva de género e interseccionalidad.

Reclaiming Justice: Addressing the Criminalization of Women from Global Perspectives

📅 11 March | 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person (scroll to the bottom of the page for the form)

📍Address: Akin Gump Law firm, Bank of America Tower, 1 Bryant Pk, New York, NY 10036

Description

This panel will explore how gender inequality, discrimination, and violence shape women’s involvement with criminal legal systems across different regions. Speakers will examine discriminatory laws, gender-blind procedures, and systemic bias that contribute to the rising number of women in prison worldwide.

Speakers

• Doreen N. Kyazze (Penal Reform International Uganda)

• Ambika Satkunanathan ( Justice Future Collaborative/Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network)

• Anne Applebaum (The Advocates for Human Rights)

Moderator

• Laura Nyirinkindi (Former chair and member of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls)

Additional details

• Lunch will be provided.

Feminist Approaches to Justice: Gender and Access to Justice

📅 11 March | 12:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ No registration link – attend in-person

📍Address: Church Center of the United Nations, 8th Floor, 777 UN Plaza, New York

Description

The panel focuses on the CSW70 priority theme: ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls. Panelists examine numerous facets of access as it intersects with education, reproductive rights, peace and security.

Comparative Justice for Women: Women, Justice, and Carceral Systems: Iran to USA

📅 11 March | 2:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend online

📍Address: Online, on Zoom

More information on the Instagram page of the Iranian Circle of the Women’s Intercultural Network (ICWIN)

Punishment. Then What? Shortcomings of Criminalization as a Route for Justice

📅 11 March | 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: Rodney’s Bar, 1118 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10065

Description

This event aims to highlight some of the faultlines that emerge when access to justice fails to be comprehensive and when international commitments fail to capture what is actually needed to access justice on the ground.

Speakers

• Nana Abuelsoud, RESURJ Member

• Mirta (Michi) Moragas, Consultorio Jurídico Feminista, former RESURJ Member

• Chantal Umuhoza, RESURJ Member

• Moderator: Sara Martínez Cabello, RESURJ Member

Read the full “Punishment. Then What?” event brief.

Additional Details

With:

• Realizing sexual and reproductive justice (RESURJ)

• Tanga Community by Spectra

• Consultorio Juridico Feminista

Feminist Approaches to Justice: Feminist Approaches to Access to Justice

📅 11 March | 4:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ No registration link – attend in-person

📍Address: Church Center of the United Nations, 8th Floor, 777 UN Plaza, New York

Description

The panel aligns with the CSW70 focus of access to justice. Panelists will examine the intersections of gender and access to justice for individuals in conflict with the law, including victims/survivors and detained or incarcerated persons.

Access to Justice: South-South Strategies for Dismantling Discriminatory Laws and Practices Against Women

📅 11 March | 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person (hybrid event)

✍️Register here to attend virtually (hybrid event)

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: Carter/Evarts Room, New York City Bar Association, 42 W. 44th St., New York or Zoom

Event link here

Description

This event will provide a space to share cross-regional strategies for reforming discriminatory laws and policies to ensure that women and girls have full access to justice.

The opening panel discussion will explore how discriminatory laws and practices, such as legacies of colonial legal systems, patriarchal norms, and structural discrimination, present barriers to access to justice for women and girls. Expert speakers will highlight innovative, movement-based approaches to reforming some of these laws and offer insights into best practices and effective strategies. Following the panel, attendees will participate in small-group conversations to identify opportunities for cross-regional collaboration and concrete next steps.

A reception will follow the discussions.

Panelists

• Dr. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women

• Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Professor of Public Law; former UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

• Revai Makanje Aalbaek, Global Lead and Advisor, Rule of Law, Justice and Security, UN Development Programme

Thursday 12 March

Decarceration as access to justice: Gender-responsive pathways for women

📅 12 March | 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person (hybrid event)

✍️Register here to attend virtually (hybrid event)

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: New York City Bar Association, 42 W. 44th St., New York and on Zoom

Event link here

Description

This hybrid event will:

• Position decarceration within the access-to-justice agenda of CSW70.

• Identify effective release mechanisms and gender-responsive criteria that work in practice.

• Surface harmful practices and structural barriers that impede women’s release.

• Center women’s lived experience to inform policy and implementation.

Additional details

• Women Beyond Walls is a co-sponsor and our very own Sabrina is a panelist.

• In English and Spanish, virtual interpretation available.

• With PRI, Women Beyond Walls, ILANUD, Pathfinders, Corporación Humanas, EQUIS, Articulación Regional Feminista

• Coffee/tea and light snacks will be provided.

Legal Empowerment Strategies for Cultural Transformation: Taking on Anti-Gender Narratives and Norms

📅 12 March | 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: Uganda House, 226 E 45th St. New York, NY

Description

This 90-minute interactive side event during the Commission on the Status of Women 70 (CSW70) brings together feminist justice defenders from across the world, including Uganda, Mexico, and Bangladesh, to discuss how legal empowerment – which enables communities to know, use, and shape the law – can transform gender discriminatory practices while preserving cultural identity. They will share practical approaches to using culture as a tool in advancing justice for women and girls. Participants will discuss how legal empowerment approaches can be applied in their contexts and how to craft effective narratives around women’s rights, leaving with tangible ideas and real-time feedback for action.

Our panelists will include:

• Fátima Gamboa, Director, Equis: Justicia para las Mujeres, México

• Elizabeth Kemigisha, Advocacy and Policy Manager, FIDA Uganda

• Lipi Rahman, Executive Director, Badabon Sangho, Bangladesh

The discussion will be moderated by Denise Dora, Board Member, THEMIS (Brazil).

Access to Justice Denied: Women Facing the Death Penalty

📅 12 March | 3:00 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: Permanent Mission of Switzerland, 633 3rd Ave 29th Floor, New York.

Description

This event will examine the systemic and intersectional discrimination faced by women exposed to the death penalty, with particular attention to the structural barriers that limit their access to justice. It will explore how criminal justice systems often reproduce gender inequality, especially for women from marginalized and disadvantaged backgrounds.

The discussion will highlight gendered pathways to criminalization, including gender-based violence, poverty, coercion, caregiving responsibilities, and discriminatory legal frameworks. A speaker with lived experience of being sentenced to death will share her story, alongside experts who will address cases involving survivors of violence prosecuted or sentenced to death for acts linked to prolonged abuse, coercive control, or survival-driven conduct.

Panelists

• Ambika Satkunanathan,

• Doreen N Kyazze,

• Laura Nyirinkindi,

• Sabrina Butler Smith (Witness to Innocence).

• Moderator: Sabrina Mahtani (Women Beyond Walls)

Reproductive Justice in the Digital Age

📅 12 March | 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: New York City Bar Association, 42 W. 44th St., New York;

Description

This panel will examine key challenges such as content moderation, online harassment, and the criminalization of digital expression, while highlighting the role of health providers, feminist organizations, and grassroots networks in delivering accurate information and support. We will also discuss legal strategies to protect defenders and advance accountability in digital spaces.

A brief reception will follow the panel.

Panelists

• Jovana Ríos Cisnero, Executive Director, Women’s Link Worldwide

• Venny Ala-Siurua, Executive Director, Women on Web

• Lina López, Founder and Director, AbortionData

• Angie Jean-Marie, Co-Director, Plan C

Women’s Access to Justice Free from Legal Retaliation

📅 12 March | 1:15 - 2.30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

✍️ Register here to attend online

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: UN Women Headquarters, Daily News Building, New York

Event link here

Description

Women’s access to justice is a fundamental human right and a central concern of international and regional human rights frameworks. Legal systems are a fundamental pillar of every society and play a crucial role in protecting rights and upholding justice at international, regional, and national levels. Yet in many parts of the world, instead of safeguarding those who advocate for equality and justice, legal systems are increasingly misused as instruments to silence, intimidate, or punish women who challenge discrimination, violence, or unequal laws. [...]

For some time, the different members of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW Platform) have been pointing to these developments within the work carried out under their respective mandates. By speaking to the situation across the globe, this side event seeks to highlight the findings they have made as global and regional women’s rights bodies and to offer possible solutions, including for States/national authorities.

Speakers

• Janet R. Sallah Njie, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa (SRRWA)

• Miriam Roache, President of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI)

• Maria-Andriani Kostopoulou, Chair of the EDVAW Platform and President of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO)

• Patsili Toledo Vasquez, Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee)

• Laura Nyirinkindi, Member of the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls (WGDAWG)

Additional details

• Light lunch will be provided.

Criminalization of Women-Justice Operators in Guatemala: Structural Challenges and Institutional Responses / Criminalización de las operadoras de justicia en Guatemala: Desafíos estructurales y respuestas institucionales

📅 12 March | 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

✍️ Register here to attend online

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: New York City Bar Association, 42 W. 44th St., New York, and on Zoom

Event link here

Description

This is an essential conversation on criminal proceedings targeting anti-corruption prosecutors, human rights lawyers, and other women justice operators in Guatemala.

We will hear directly from three of those lawyers, two of whom were forced into exile from Guatemala, and from experts in international law, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. Drawing on these personal experiences and perspectives, we will gain a greater understanding of the realities of judicial persecution, how to view these practices through a gender framework, and what responses are necessary to address them.

Additional details:

• The discussion will be in English and Spanish, with interpretation available via a Zoom link.

• If you will require interpretation, please register here and bring your own device with headphones.

From Punishment to Protection: A Feminist Case for Drug Policy Reform.

📅 12 March | 4:00 - 6:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: Open Society Foundations Offices – 1ABC, 224 West 57 Street, New York NY, 10019

Description

The side event will be developed in two parts.

First, we will host a panel discussion with representatives from the Colombian Government, Corporación Humanas, Metzineres, and Open Society Foundations. The panel will focus on:

• Promoting drug policy reform from a feminist and human rights perspective;

• Raising awareness about the impact of prohibitionist and punitive drug policies on the criminalization and discrimination of women;

• Examining how the prohibitionist paradigm has been used to justify interventionism, militarization, and human rights violations; and

• Sharing best practices and evidence from alternative approaches at the global level.

As a second and complementary moment, we will present a photographic exhibition titled “Punishment Within Punishment: Social Stigmatization of Women Deprived of Liberty,” highlighting the lived experiences and layered forms of punishment faced by incarcerated women in Colombia.

Friday 13 March

Attacking Our Movements: Far Right Securization Regimes Threatening Access to Justice

📅 13 March | 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

📍Address: Salvation Army, Lower Level, 221 E. 52nd St, New York, NY, 10022

Description

Expanding securitization practices claw back on feminist movements’ ability to participate fully in civic and public life, undermining access to justice. As anti-rights security narratives spread transnationally, shaping policy and digital governance, women and gender-diverse communities encounter criminalization and profound barriers to organizing and expression. Launching new research, we explore how far-right security frameworks police our borders and seek to block, derail, and delegitimize our movements. Speakers will discuss these tactics and discourses, examining the role of Big Tech and colonial legacies, and look toward feminist possibilities of safety, community, and care that would make us secure, not securitized.

Organized by Noor & The Polis Project.

Sociological Approaches to Gender Justice

📅 13 March | 8:30 a.m. EDT

💻 Register here to attend online

📍Address: On Zoom

Description

This event features sociological research on access to justice for women and girls in several countries. Panelists examine gendered barriers to justice, including gender inequality in education and decision making.

Moderator: Rosemary Barberet, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Representative to the United Nations for the International Sociological Association and Criminologists without Borders

Presentations

• Amazonian Women’s Power: Eco-Solidarity in the Pursuit of Gender and Environmental Justice Marian Orjuela, Heidelberg University

• When Protection Becomes Predation: Legal Accountability Gaps for Sexual Harassment of Vulnerable Women in Clinical and leisure Support Settings Huimei Liu, Zhejiang University

• Global Perspectives on the Feminization of Poverty Sheila Katz, University of Houston

• Higher Education and Gender Inequality Natasha Quadlin, University of California, Los Angeles

• Plus c’est la même chose Máiréad Dunne, University College Cork Barbara Crossouard, University of Sussex

• Bridging the Gender Gap in Legislative Representation: Lessons from Electoral Systems, Quota Laws, and Women Legislative Representation Daniel Amoah, Memorial University of Newfoundland

• Gender Justice Issues in the Context of Mental Transition in Kazakhstan: Combating Violence, Distorted Normality, and Overcoming the Illusions of Masculine Consciousness Sergey Konovalov; Institute of Contemporary Politics

Beyond Prison Walls: Weaving Networks for Women’s Access to Justice in the Americas/ Más allá del castigo: Tejiendo redes para el acceso a la justicia de mujeres en América

📅 13 March | 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person

✍️ Register here to attend online

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: New York City Bar Association - 42 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

Description

Join the Women in Prison Network for a dialogue on the structural barriers and challenges faced by women deprived of liberty in accessing justice across the Americas. The event will explore dynamics of criminalization, pathways into alleged offenses, and the role of institutional violence, while also highlighting diverse strategies that support and advocate for women in these contexts.

More event details to come.

Additional details

• With:

  • Cyrus Vance Center for International Justice

  • Bernstein Institute for Human Rights

  • CEA Justicia Social

  • The Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative

Pathways to People-Centered Justice: Women’s Trajectories and Inequalities in Ibero-America

📅 13 March | 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in person (select in-person ticket)

✍️ Register here to attend online (select online ticket)

💻 Zoom link here

📍Address: Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office (866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120)

Event link with more information here

Description

The event aims to present the Alliance’s new thematic report to a diverse audience of policymakers, justice operators, civil society actors, and international organizations. Through the dissemination of its key findings, the event seeks to position Ibero-America within global debates on women’s access to justice, highlight structural gaps, and showcase good practices and innovative responses moving towards more people-centered justice systems, with a specific in-focus emphasis on women deprived of liberty.

Additional details

• ​The event will be in Spanish and English, online and in-person.

• Zoom link details: Meeting ID: 929 2402 0829 | Passcode: 787365

Monday 16 March

From Punishment to Power: Gender-Based Violence, Criminalization, and Access to Justice

📅 16 March | 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT

✍️ No registration link, attend in-person

📍Address: UN Church Center, New York City, NY

Description

This panel brings together activists, researchers, and survivors to ask hard questions: Does criminalization actually deliver justice? Who gets protected by the law — and who gets punished by it? And in an era of rising authoritarianism and shrinking resources, how do we build a bolder, more honest agenda for tackling GBV?

Featuring voices from across movements — community-based restorative justice, digital rights, survivor advocacy, and legal reform — this is a space for candid, cross-regional dialogue about what justice really means, and how we get there without causing more harm along the way.

Moderated by Subha Wijesiriwardena (Just Futures Collaborative)

Speakers:

• Karla Velasco (APC)

• Ambika Satkunanathan (Just Futures Collaborative)

• Pupul Lama (COFEM)

• Mon Mohapatra (Survived and Punished)

• Kika (Actos Transformadores, Mexico)

• Sabrina Mahtani (Women Beyond Walls)

• Bronwyn Masters (AMAFA Foundation, South Africa)

Tuesday 17 March

Feminist Approaches to Justice: Access to Justice for All

📅 17 March | 2:30 p.m. EDT

💻 Register here to attend online

📍Address: On Zoom

Description

The panel examines access to justice barriers and ways to strengthen access to justice for all through equitable and inclusive legal systems. Particular focus is given to women at the margins, including human trafficking survivors, indigenous women, and women and girls in conflict and post conflict settings.

Justice Beyond Jails - Campaign Launch

📅 17 March | 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. EDT

✍️ Register here to attend in-person

📍Address: UN Church Center, New York City, NY

Description

Justice beyond Jails is a global campaign that calls attention to how responses to gender-based violence are too often centered in policing and incarceration. The campaign foregrounds opportunities to advance safety, accountability, and justice that prioritize those who have experienced harm, beyond criminal legal systems. The campaign will run from 18 March to 17 September 2026.

The launch panel and presentation will explore: how do we respond to gender-based violence with strategies that create justice, safety and freedom for all? How do we interrogate the overwhelming and serious limitations of punitive responses to GBV? The conversation will also call attention to the growing weaponization of violence narratives, especially how these narratives are misused in ways that demonize people who already face discrimination and exclusion.

At the launch event, they will introduce the Justice beyond Jails interactive storytelling tool. This tool places the user in the shoes of four characters, each navigating their own experience of gender-based violence across different ages, locations, and circumstances. The user will join their search for a resolution, and their choices will shape the story’s outcome, inviting deeper reflection on what shapes real safety, accountability, and justice. The campaign and interactive tool will go live on 18 March.

Speakers at the event include:

• Guadalupe Marengo, Amnesty International

• Catherine Nyambura, the Athena Network

• Ambika Satkunanathan, Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust, Sri Lanka.

Moderator: Susana T Fried, Just Futures Collaborative

Wednesday 18 March

Enfoques feministas de la justicia

📅 18 March | 8:30 a.m. EDT

💻 Register here to attend online

📍Address: On Zoom

This event is in Spanish only.

Este evento paralelo presentará investigaciones relevantes del mundo hispano sobre el acceso a la justicia para las mujeres y las niñas.

Addressing the Laws and Practices that Criminalize Women due to Poverty and Status Worldwide

📅 18 March | 10:00 - 11:15 a.m. EDT

✍️ Register here by March 12 (for those without a valid UN or CSW grounds pass)

💻 Live videostream link here

📍Address: Room CR-E, United Nations Headquarters, New York

Description

Speakers from Member States, UN entities, civil society, and women with lived experience will discuss key recommendations for gender-transformative, rights-based justice reform.

Key note speaker: Mary Robinson (former president of Ireland, Chair at The Elders; Co-Founder of Project Dandelion)

Additional details

• This is an official UN side event.

• WBW is a co-sponsor, with

  • The Permanent Missions of Thailand, Colombia, Liechtenstein

  • The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),

  • The Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ),

  • United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD),

  • Penal Reform International

  • The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.

  ---

  Friday 20 March

Access to Justice Denied: Women Facing the Death Penalty: focus on solutions and tools (World Coalition Against the Death Penalty)

📅 20 March | 08:30 - 10:00 a.m. EDT

✍️ No registration details, in-person only

📍Address: Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, 10th Floor

Description

Building on the analysis of systemic and intersectional discrimination, this session will focus on practical tools, legal strategies, and advocacy approaches to better protect women facing the death penalty. It will explore how a gender-sensitive and trauma-informed framework can be integrated at every stage of the criminal legal process — from investigation and sentencing to appeals, clemency, and post-conviction advocacy.

The discussion will highlight promising practices, including the use of gender-based mitigation evidence, strategic litigation, legislative reform efforts, and international human rights mechanisms. Speakers will present concrete examples of how lawyers, civil society organizations, and advocates have successfully challenged death sentences in cases involving survivors of gender-based violence, coercion, or exploitation. Particular attention will be given to building gender-responsive defense strategies, strengthening data collection, and developing advocacy campaigns that center the lived experiences and agency of women directly impacted.

Panelists:

• Debra Mike (WTI)

• Amy Bergquist (TAHR)

• Chelsea L Halstead (Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide)

• Ambika Satkunanatha (JFC/ADPAN).

Additional details

• WBW is a co-sponsor.

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This newsletter will be updated daily until 20 March 2026. If you have more updates, events, or other CSW related activities that are not in here, please let us know at communications@womenbeyondwalls.org.

Newsletter in Spanish

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Dear Friends,

Next month, the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) will take place in New York City. Held between 9 and 20 March, this year’s theme will focus on “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.”

We acknowledge the many challenges that surround CSW and how this convening is not meeting feminist movements’ collective standards and needs, which was well articulated in a recent statement by AWID. We also acknowledge the escalating border violence and security risks in the US, as well as the longstanding challenges for many feminists to access visas and funds to attend. This is particularly acute for many in our community who have been criminalised and therefore face even greater challenges obtaining visas and other travel permissions.

Women Beyond Walls have carefully considered our participation at CSW and feel that attending is important to push forward strategic objectives for gender justice and to counter the growing anti-rights movement. This builds on our work over several years advocating for high-level forums on women’s rights to be inclusive of all women, especially those who are criminalised, and for greater funding for work with and for incarcerated women and girls. We were pleased this week to see this statement by several UN Human Rights experts urging urgent action to protect incarcerated women and reduce over-criminalisation ahead of CSW70. We reinforce the statement which stresses that:

“CSW70 can and should become a turning point, ensuring that women and girls in contact with criminal justice systems are made visible, protected and heard in global gender policy.”

We stand in solidarity with those who do not feel CSW is representative of feminist movements as well as those who cannot attend due to cost, restrictions or fear.

For those who will be attending, please do reach out to us if you would like to collaborate, meet up or if you would just like to see a friendly face in New York.

We were honoured to participate in AWID’s CSW Teach In this week - Understanding Multilateral Spaces and Access to Justice at the UN. If the Teach In is shared on AWID’s YouTube channel, we will update this newsletter with that link as soon as it is released.

This year we will be producing another Women Beyond Walls CSW Guide to spotlight events focused on addressing the mass-incarceration and criminalisation of women and girls. This will include events taking place in person in New York, as well as hybrid and fully virtual events. We welcome any suggestions or contributions on content or events to highlight for the guide - please do share this with us at communications@womenbeyondwalls.org. You can find inspiration from our 2025 CSW guide here.

We will be co-sponsoring a number of events as well as supporting events by partners. These include:

• Thursday, March 12, 9:00 am: Decarceration as access to justice: Gender-responsive pathways for women In English and Spanish, virtual interpretation available. With PRI, Women Beyond Walls, ILANUD, Pathfinders, Corporación Humanas, EQUIS, Articulación Regional Feminista

• Official UN side event: Wednesday, 18 March 18, 10 am, Addressing the Laws and Practices that Criminalize Women due to Poverty and Status Worldwide, with key note speaker - Mary Robinson (Former President of Ireland). With the Permanent Missions of Thailand and Colombia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), and the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), Penal Reform International, Women Beyond Walls and The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.

• Friday 20 March, 8:30 am: Access to Justice Denied: Women Facing the Death Penalty: focus on solutions and tools, CCUN, 10th Floor. With World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Women Beyond Walls, WTI, TAHR, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and JFC/ADPAN.

The CSW70 Guide will launch next week and be updated regularly with more information and events. We will send it to all our regular newsletter subscribers automatically.

We are pleased to see so many events from our community this year, especially when we look back just a few years ago and there was only one event! Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make this happen.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

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Women Beyond Walls News

• We are excited to launch our global mapping exercise soon, inspired by a key recommendation of our Forgotten by Funders Report. We are building the first-ever map of organisations and groups working with and for women affected by the criminal legal system. The map will be published in 2026 and will be open source and freely accessible for anyone to use. Its purpose is to increase visibility, foster collaboration, and strengthen recognition of the vital work being done around the world. We already have many funders, media organisations and networks excited about this map and how it can support their work! Stay tuned for more updates and launch of the questionnaire.

• 14 February marked Valentine’s Day across the world. A day taken over by corporations in many ways but also an important day for love as liberation. Here are some of our social media assets - feel free to use these throughout the year! And do check out our website which has lots of other resources to download and share.

• Women Beyond Walls will be at Women Deliver, the UN Crime Congress and Rights Con this year! Are you planning to attend? If so, let us know - we would love to connect and collaborate.

News from around the world

• Australia - In Queensland women being transferred to custody were denied access to toilets after arriving at a women’s prison, being forced to urinate using disposable devices inside the back of a police vehicle. Debbie Kilroy and Tabitha Lean from Sisters Inside report how these are not isolated incidents, and are a prime example of how the rights of women in the criminal justice system are being abused.

• India - Recent data in a report from the Times of India has shown the number of incarcerated women in India has grown from 9,089 in 2000 to 23,772 in 2022, placing India with the sixth highest rates of women in prison globally. Criminal justice initiative the Square Circle Clinic has shared these statistics and highlights a number of issues incarcerated women in India are facing, including vulnerability to family abandonment.

• Ireland - The Irish Prison Service has released information on the worsening overcrowding crisis in prisons in Ireland, sharing the critical need for a review of this situation. Irish Penal Reform Trust have noted how this is particularly impacting incarcerated women, including Limerick Prison where capacity has reached 175%. They cite the need for gender-sensitive responses to this crisis, ensuring women are supported and diverted away from the criminal justice system as they are more likely to be serving short sentences and for non-violent, low-level offences.

• UK - The Independent Review of the Criminal Courts has published its second part, including the recommendation that the Ministry of Justice increase funding for community‑based support for women, enabling courts to divert more women away from custody. The review highlights how gaps in community provision can limit the courts’ ability to deliver effective and appropriate sentences for women.

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Opportunities

• ⏰ Join the TAP Network for an upcoming webinar ahead of the 70th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). Given the close ties to SDG16+ themes and issues this year, the TAP Network is convening a virtual webinar to unpack and understand how we can advance our collective priorities for SDG16 in this space, featuring insights from members of the TAP Network and other experts. The virtual webinar will take place on 25 February at 9AM ET / 14 GMT. You can register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/oz-10fRBRzSg00isbuHH4Q

• ⏰ Join the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty on Thursday, Feb 26th (10AM-11AM EST) for an engaging dialogue on the nuances of gender bias within capital trials and beyond. Hear from Bahar Mirhosseni, Anjil Parrin, and Angela Uwandu Uzoma- Iwuchukwu. Register here: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qROfmU1MRueDv93RKVWvjA#/registration

• ⏰ The UN Secretary-General will produce a report on the question of the death penalty (63rd session of the Human Rights Council). According to the call for input, the report will provide an update on developments since 1 July 2024 concerning the question of the death penalty and the implementation of safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. Among other the report will pay particular attention to:

  • Persons who were under 18 years of age at the time of the offence;

  • Persons with mental or intellectual disabilities;

  • Women and the gender dimensions of the death penalty

  • The human rights of children of parents sentenced to death or executed.

The deadline for input is Feb 28, 2026

• ⏰ HRI’s new briefing, highlights opportunities to address drug policy issues at the next Human Rights Council session, starting 23 February - available at this link.

  

• OHCHR has released a call for input into its forthcoming report on the human rights impact of drug policy. Deadline is 31 March 2026.

• The Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement published a call for input on systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in the enforcement of drug laws and policies (deadline April 10, 2026)

• The ACHPR published a call for input on Joint Study on Litigating Women’s and Girls’ Rights (deadline March 30, 2026).

• One Small Thing has launched a consultation seeking views from practitioners on support available for women in prison. The organisation is collecting the experiences of professionals in this field to “understand more about the impact the type of support currently available has for women, and the resources you think are needed to ensure women are effectively supported to rebuild their lives in the community.”

• The expression of interest process is now open for the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) Expansion Programme by the JABBS Foundation for Women & Girls and Henry Smith Foundation in the UK. The project aims to “evidence the effectiveness of Women’s Centres as community-based alternatives to custody using the most validated, gender-informed and trauma-responsive assessment tool to date for women in the justice system.” Applications are open in this round until 15 March, and successful applicants will receive a package of intensive support and training.

• Register for the Better Justice Partnership webinar ‘How can we shift the dial on criminal justice system change?’ on Tuesday 3 March. The Better Justice Partnership aims to “drive government support for early intervention and diversion” in the UK.

  

• ⏰ Justice Project Pakistan is hiring for a Communications Officer based in Lahore - you can find more information on their LinkedIn.

• Flat Out, Fan organisation supporting women impacted by the criminal justice system in Australia, are hiring for a Chief Executive Officer - apply before the deadline of 6th March. Flat Out’s current CEO, Karen Fletcher, will be speaking about her experience advocating for incarcerated women at IPAA Victoria’s International Women’s Day Gala 2026 on 5 March at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre - find more details here.

• ⏰ The Dawn Fellowship for young women in Africa centres on the Political Economy of Gender-Based Violence and Conflict. Groups focusing on research advocacy, mobilisation or creative expression on issues of Gender Justice, SGBV, Women Rights. Consideration on applications focusing on conflict-affected contexts in Sudan, Palestine and DRC. Deadline: 1 March 2026

  Media and literature recommendations

• Unchained Voices podcast has launched this month, hosted by Lady Unchained and exploring the lived experience of the UK criminal justice system. You can find out more on Renegade Productions Instagram, and subscribe to their mailing list to be notified as soon as the latest episode goes live. We were also honoured to have been joined by Lady Unchained on the first series of our podcast - listen here!

• It is never too late to catch up on the Women Beyond Walls Podcast either! We kicked off 2026 with an episode swap with the excellent ‘Everyday Injustice’ podcast from Davis Vanguard, a nonprofit watchdog news organization based in Davis, California. You can find all episodes, including the swaps, here.

• The National Women’s Justice Coalition has published a report on their Women’s Services Map to mark the map’s second anniversary. The report demonstrates how the UK’s only directory of specialist services for women and girls in contact with the criminal justice system is “making a real difference to the women and organisations using it.”

• Read One Small Thing’s most recent blog post reflecting on the last year of their work advocating for women with lived experience of incarceration. The blog post explores “how lived experience can and must shape a justice system that is fairer, safer, and more trauma‑informed for women and their children.”

• A powerful blog series sharing insights and research into aging and incarceration in California prisons. The author, Ruby P, is a peer caregiver at the California Institution for Women, where she is seeing firsthand what it is like for women to age in prison.

• Read Women in Prison’s winter edition of their Still I Rise magazine, a resource which offers a crucial platform for women to be heard beyond prison walls.

• The Justice Reform Initiative have commented on new data which reveals increasing prison costs in Australia as the Government doubles down on their costly approach of investing more in prisons themselves. Justice Reform Initiative chair Robert Tickner has said “The evidence is very clear: the experience of prison increases the likelihood of future offending. If we want to get serious about community safety, we need to invest in the underlying drivers of incarceration rather than simply building and filling more prison cells.”

  

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Don’t forget to send us your CSW70 events and resources to communications@womenbeyondwalls.org. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify. 

Newsletter in Spanish

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Dear Friends

We would like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year - we look forward to working together in 2026. As we welcome the hope, renewal and motivation that comes with the new year, we want to take this opportunity to recommit to our global collaborative efforts in combating the mass incarceration and over-criminalisation of women and girls worldwide.

This month Women Beyond Walls have kicked off our new monthly social series, ‘Beyond Invisibility’. Each month, we’ll be highlighting key insights from important global reports that speak to women’s mass incarceration - you can find more information on LinkedIn and on Instagram.

The first report under the spotlight in our series is INQUEST’s ‘Built to Harm: how women’s prisons take lives’. The report analyses the deaths of women in prison in the UK and exposes systemic issues including failures to believe women in distress, problems with prison processes and the criminalisation of social inequality and trauma.

We are also thrilled to share our latest episode in our second Podcast series in discussion with Canadian Senator Kim Pate, who shares with us the importance of community and investment in people to break the cycle of incarceration. The episode is available on your chosen podcast platform as well as on YouTube with Spanish subtitles.

Once again we look forward to working together towards our mutual goals this year, and we want to thank you in advance for your support and collaboration.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

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News from around the world

• Ireland: An unannounced inspection and report by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons of the Dóchas Centre in Dublin, Ireland, found that women were “infantilised” by prison officers, with many interactions “observably disrespectful”. The poor treatment includes prison officers ignoring the incarcerated women, using dismissive or aggressive language, and treating the women like numbers.

• Luxembourg: A new report presented in Luxembourg has “renewed scrutiny of the prison system” warning that female inmates “remain marginalised and underserved despite years of promised reform.” The report notes a need for improvement of living conditions, as well as the modernisation of workshops and training opportunities for incarcerated women.

• Kenya: Following a Review of Conduct for women in Eldoret Women’s Prison, 20 incarcerated mothers were released early to be reunited with their families before the festive period in 2025. This early release represents a “growing shift toward restorative justice” in Kenya.

• UK: At the end of 2025 the Prison Minister in the UK, Lord Timpson, recognised that too many women in the prison system are victims of domestic abuse. The BBC reported on Lord Timpson’s comments on this issue, including his statement “I don’t believe prison is the right place for them. They need to be in a safe place, preferably with their kids and away from violence.” The BBC also reports that new laws are expected in 2026 reducing short custodial sentences and focusing more on community-based punishment.

• UK:The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), which assesses the treatment of people in custody, has released its annual report into HMP Bronzefield in Surrey in the UK. The report includes a key finding that some of the women incarcerated in HMP Bronzefield should be in a mental health facility but are imprisoned due to a shortage of secure psychiatric hospital beds.

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Opportunities

• ⏰ Join Harm Reduction International, Mujeres Libres Colombia, European Prison Litigation Network and partners for an online webinar, Drug Policy and People Deprived of Liberty, on 27 January at 2pm (UK time). The session will explore access to health and harm reduction in prisons and how international advocacy can strengthen the human rights of people deprived of liberty, with speakers from different regions. Spanish–English interpretation provided. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Luca6D_SSWu6dhXQ8pNLBQ#/registration

• in the UK, Daddyless Daughters is supporting the call out for a BBC documentary research project highlighting the experiences of girls and young women affected by exploitation and the challenges they’ve faced in accessing support. You can find more information, including where to contact, here.

• Women in Prison are recruiting for a number of roles based in the UK.

• There’s still time to donate to Colectivo Artesana, a small grassroots collective, who have launched a powerful new initiative: La Casa de las Mujeres (The House of Women) — Guatemala’s first self-sustaining cooperative led by formerly incarcerated women, focused on catering services, culinary training, and therapy

• We would also be grateful for any further support for the Sunny Scholarship, honouring the life and work of Sunny Jacobs. In partnership with the International Network for Formerly Incarcerated Women (INFIW), this scholarship aims to break down a critical barrier for key advocacy opportunities in 2026 for women with lived experience of the legal system. Support for the fund will enable women with lived experience to attend international forums, such as the UN Commission on the Status of Women or the UN Crime Congress, and play a vital role in shaping policies that impact them. Funds given so far have enabled us to transfer the first sum of money to the INFIW for allocation to women seeking to travel. We will let you know how this is used in coming months.

  Media and literature recommendations

• We highly recommend a read of The Guardian’s Women in prison series, examining the experiences of incarcerated women across the world and the abuses and injustices they face.

  

• Lollipop, a British film about the challenges women experience following incarceration, is now available on BBC iPlayer in the UK. The film focuses on why supporting women in the community, rather than sending them to prison, reduces harm not only for women but also their children.

• ‘Reformer: Research for Mozambique’ has provided an important discussion on the specific challenges faced by women impacted by the criminal justice system in Mozambique. Their article ‘Challenges and Perspectives of Female Incarceration in Mozambique: A Legal-Social Approach’ reinforces the “need for a more humane, inclusive, and rights-based justice system.”

• Centre for Women’s Justice founder Harriet Wistrich has featured on another inspiring podcast, the Lawmanity Podcast, where she discussed her justice seeking work with women who have killed their abusive partners. We encourage readers to explore the wealth of topics the podcast examines on their website.

  

• Read about the vital work of TOSTAN, a Senegal based organisation which has launched a pilot program in prisons to bring its human rights, education and empowerment approach to incarcerated people. The article notes the impact of the work on incarcerated women, many of whom had never been to school, as they gained a voice and understanding of their rights through the educational program.

• Founders of Sisters Inside Debbie Kilroy and Tabitha Lean have shared a compelling article on the use of women in prison as weapons in the war on Trans women in Australia. Debbie and Tabitha poignantly note that those championing the rights of incarcerated women in relation to ‘protection’ from trans women have not raised their voice in any other issues around women’s safety in prison, and that as such “women in prison are being used as weapons in a broader campaign of transphobia, our suffering leveraged not to protect us but to punish someone else.”

• An article on the growing population of women in prison in Brazil, noting its position as the country with the third highest levels of incarcerated women and the impact the considerable increase in these levels has had on women over the last two decades.

  

• Another important read - the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies discusses the criminalisation of victims of coercive control, examining research by the Centre for Women’s Justice which shows that “women coerced into offending – by traffickers or abusive partners – are more often punished than protected.” You can access the full report by CWJ here.

• A new US report on prisons and menstruation has been published, highlighting the denial of basic dignity of having sanitary products and practices for incarcerated women.

• One Small Thing’s Women’s Involvement Advisor, Lilly Lewis, has written an insightful piece introducing work of The Remand Collective, a group of women with lived experience and justice organisations working together to end the unjust and unsafe use of remand against women in England and Wales.

  

• An inspiring article on life after prison by a previously incarcerated woman in India. Sudha Bhardwaj highlights her experiences of the lack of social and financial support upon her release, and the process of rebuilding her life and relationships including the reunion with her only daughter.

• Read a recent publication from The Lancet Public Health on ‘Essential standards for perinatal care of women and children living in prison’

• The Mcgill International Review has published an article on the overincarceration of the Māori population in New Zealand, and the impact this has on the Indigenous community.

• An excellent article from Patricia Gestoso titled ‘Criminalised, Incarcerated, Forgotten: The Women Left Behind’.

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify. 

Newsletter en espagnol

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Dear Friends,

Gratitude

December marks the end of the calendar year in many countries and a time for reflection, moments with family and friends and planning for the new year. It is a time of joy for many but also grief for many others, especially women and their loved ones separated due to incarceration.

We acknowledge that 2025 has been a very hard year for our community with severe cuts in women’s rights funding, and women’s mass incarceration, and its impacts, an area that was already underfunded and overlooked. There has been increased criminalisation with mounting pressure on immigration, activism and queer and reproductive rights. We have also lost many bright lights, including Sunny Jacobs and Valerie Summers.

However, despite these setbacks we have been constantly encouraged by the ways our community has come together and found new ways of resistance and resilience. Thank you to all of you for the work you have done this year and the ways you have shown up and held space. We have been so encouraged to be present at multiple moments this year when women with lived experience, impacted family members, lawyers, NGOs, funders, policy makers and others came together to raise our voices to combat the mass incarceration of women and girls. To see the increased visibility of our work and the strengthened connections between our struggles.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has volunteered their time to Women Beyond Walls in 2025. Jenna, who usually curates our newsletter, our Podcast Angels, our report contributors, those who have reviewed work or offered guidance and many more have each helped to strengthen all we do. Our thanks go to every person who has given their time to support this work and, we are certain, others across this community too. Volunteers are often powering the engine room of so much activity!

We know, like us, many of you may be feeling depleted as this year draws to a close. We wish you times of rest and restoration as we prepare for what 2026 will bring - more challenges but also more opportunities. We have witnessed so much courage, creativity and commitment this year and look forward to collaborating and standing alongside you in solidarity as we continue to push for a world for women based in community and not cages.

Giving

This season is a time of giving and, if you are able, we encourage you to give to organisations in your community that are working with and for women impacted by the legal system. Below are a few organisations with special Christmas/ End of Year fundraising appeals but we encourage you to check out groups in your countries and local communities as well.

• Sisters Inside Australia have a 20 Days of Christmas Appeal

  

• Women in Prison UK have a winter appeal - winter is an especially tough time for women in prison and those trying to rebuild life after contact with the criminal justice system

• Colectivo Artesana, a small grassroots collective, are launching a powerful new initiative: La Casa de las Mujeres (The House of Women) — Guatemala’s first self-sustaining cooperative led by formerly incarcerated women, focused on catering services, culinary training, and therapy

• AdvocAid Sierra Leone is raising funds to support women currently detained in prison with hygiene items and items for their babies as well as Christmas gifts

• In partnership with the International Network for Formerly Incarcerated Women, we are raising funds for the Sunny Scholarship to honour the life and work of Sunny Jacobs. 2026 presents key advocacy opportunities but women with lived experience of the legal system are often excluded - lack of funding being a critical barrier. Your support will enable women with lived experience to attend international forums, such as the UN Commission on the Status of Women or the UN Crime Congress, and play a vital role in shaping policies that impact them.

Growing

If you have time during the holidays, listen to series one and two of the Women Beyond Walls podcast and be inspired by people across the world reimagining justice for women. And share this with a loved one - an important act of solidarity.

In need of something to read? Check out our list of book recommendations. Feel free to suggest your favourites too by emailing us at hello@womenbeyondwalls.org.

Catch up on the brilliant Guardian series on women in prison across the world. Our thanks to journalist Sarah Johnson for the care she has taken on these stories. We are thrilled that coverage in international media of Goli Kouhkan’s case, a child bride from Iran, led to her being spared execution. You can hear more about Goli’s case and the situation for other women on death row in Iran by listening to our moving podcast episode with Leila from Iran Human Rights.

In January, we will be launching an exciting global mapping of groups working with and for incarcerated women across the world - stay tuned for more information!

With gratitude and solidarity and wishing you a peaceful season,

The Women Beyond Walls Team

Newsletter in Spanish

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Dear Friends

As we approach the 15th anniversary of the United Nations landmark adoption of the Bangkok Rules, Women Beyond Walls recognise that these global standards - the first to explicitly recognise the gender-specific needs of women in prison and in the criminal justice system - are as important as ever.

The Bangkok Rules were adopted by the 193 member states during the United Nations General Assembly on 21st December 2010.

The Bangkok Rules recognise that violence, poverty and abuse are the main drivers behind women’s entry into prison and call for prison to be a last resort, with investment in more alternatives to prison. The Rules include areas such as women’s hygiene and healthcare, search procedures, and children accompanying their mothers’ in prison. Penal Reform International has a helpful Guidance document on the Bangkok Rules with more information on these rules and how they aim to meet the needs of women and girls. UNODC has also published an article on five women who are pushing for change. They reflect on the need for the Rules, the progress achieved since their adoption, and the challenges that remain.

You can also download printable posters of Rules 1-35 on our website, and look out for more of the rules on our social media platforms including LinkedIn and Instagram in the coming weeks.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

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Women Beyond Walls News

Since we last shared our newsletter three excellent episodes in our podcast series have dropped:

• We were honoured to be joined in our recent podcast episode by Harriet Wistrich, a pioneering lawyer, activist and founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice, who has spent 30 years supporting women impacted by the criminal justice system. In the episode, Harriet discusses landmark cases where women were punished for defending themselves against abuse, and explains why it’s so important for courts to consider long-term abuse, coercive control, and trauma for fair trials for women. Read an excellent fact sheet prepared by Jo Baker, a social justice strategist and writer, on the links between violence and women’s incarceration. An important read (and something to share!) ahead of the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women and Girls.

  

• We are also grateful to be able to share the latest minisode in the second series of our Women Beyond Walls podcast, looking at how poverty, violence, and inequality contribute to women’s criminalisation. The vital conversation with lawyer and human rights advocate Nicolás Laino examines the importance of gender-sensitive legal aid, how lawyers and policymakers can better support incarcerated women, and global efforts to train legal professionals and include people with lived experience in shaping justice.

• Finally, we featured Leila, a British-Iranian human rights advocate with Iran Human Rights, an organisation fighting to abolish the death penalty. Leila reveals how Iran’s justice system is used as a tool of repression against women and why international solidarity can literally save lives. As we enter the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence we remember that the death penalty is the ultimate form of violence against a person.

• In November, we had the joy of being in Bogota, Colombia for a convening organised by the Vance Center Women in Prison Network. It was a tearful, inspiring and galvanising few days as women with lived experience, lawyers, activists and researchers came together from across the world to better understand the challenges and discuss how we can work together to collectively end the mass incarceration of women worldwide. Our thanks to the Vance Center and all the participants for a moving few days. Follow the Vance Center for more updates and we will share more developments in future newsletters.

News from around the world

• Australia: The Victorian Government’s decision to reopen the decommissioned Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre has been opposed by civil society organisations, including the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls. Debbie Kilroy, founder of Sisters Inside, comments on the decision - “if this government had a real plan for community safety, it would be investing in keeping young people in their communities, in their schools, and in their homes, not reopening abandoned cages. Rebuilding an old youth prison is not smart policy. It’s a cruel and unimaginative one.”

• Europe: Earlier this month 40 member states of the Council of Europe were brought together for the multilateral meeting on women in prison and “the role of gender-sensitive approaches in improving rehabilitation, reducing reoffending, and promoting equality within correctional systems.” Follow the link to read more on the meeting and the member states’ ongoing commitment to, equality, and the protection of human dignity for women in detention.

• UK: The UK Government has announced their plans for major reforms to improve care for girls in the youth justice system. The plans include the establishment of a Girls in Youth Justice Board, an advisory board which will include individuals with lived experience set up to champion girls’ needs. It also promises targeted investments made into alternatives to custody, and new training for staff in responding to self-harm.

• UK: The UK Government has also added measures to the Crime and Policing Bill which will “disregard and pardon unjust ‘child prostitution’ convictions and cautions received before the law changed in 2015.” This measure has been welcomed by the Centre for Women’s Justice as an important step for justice for victims of child exploitation and abuse who were not supported as victims, and were instead criminalised for actions taken under fear and coercion. In their comments, CWJ urge the Government to go further in “decriminalising the outdated offence of loitering or soliciting, and by extending the disregard and pardon scheme to convictions and cautions received by those aged 18 and over for this offence.”

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Opportunities

• Amnesty International is calling on the Ghanaian government to sign the Anti-Witchcraft bill into law. Amnesty have documented how women, particularly older women, are often victimised by witchcraft accusations. You can join over 6000 people in signing their petition. In our From Poverty to Punishment report, together with Penal Reform International, we highlighted how women in some countries are criminalised due to witchcraft accusations.

  

• Colectivo Artesana, a civil society group in Guatemala, is launching a powerful new initiative: La Casa de las Mujeres (The House of Women) — Guatemala’s first self-sustaining cooperative led by formerly incarcerated women, focused on catering services, culinary training, and therapy. You can help them with a donation that will support them to install a fully equipped kitchen, furnish the cooperative space, offer thirty scholarships to women and launch a community-based mental health program.

• The UN Human Rights Committee is drafting General Comment No. 38 on Article 22 (Freedom of Association), and are seeking input from civil society, unions, academics, and more. Deadline: 19 December 2025.

• Clean Break Theatre Company have launched their Commissioning Circle, a new fundraising programme for individuals who are passionate about supporting emerging writers, the creation of new plays, and affecting positive change for women impacted by the criminal justice system.

• The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in London, UK is launching a new fundraising initiative. The Girls and Young Women Local Groups Fund in London will be offering grants to London-based community groups working with women and girls impacted by gangs, violence and exploitation. The fund will open for applications in January 2026, however you can register your interest now to sign up for market engagement webinars run by Social Finance who are overseeing the fund. Find out more and register your interest here.

• A number of organisations including Women in Prison, Women’s Aid and Agenda Alliance are calling on the UK Government to halt proposals in the new Sentencing Bill that would allow the government to publish photographs of people serving community sentences. These organisations have expressed their concerns for the 70% of women in prison or on community sentences who are survivors of domestic abuse, where publishing their photographs would expose them to further risk. To support this call, Women in Prison are asking for shares of their social post and have offered briefings for representatives.

• ⏰ Women in Prison are also still hiring for a number of roles in London, UK - find out more here.

• The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty published an article on the Sunny Scholarship, an initiative by Women Beyond Walls and the the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women.The Fund seeks to provide support to formerly incarcerated women to engage in international and regional advocacy opportunities, in honour of Sunny Jacobs.

• FemFocus aims to advance women’s economic participation as entrepreneurs, combat violence against women and girls, and strengthen women’s leadership in conflict prevention, mediation, and peacebuilding. Civil society organisations can apply for grants until January 7, 2026.

Media and literature recommendations

• Read about the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women who are “building a global network to fight imprisonment.” The article draws attention to a number of inspiring women working in this field, including Susan Kigula and Debbie Kilroy who have featured on the Women Beyond Walls podcast.

  

• A powerful article by Jame from Kenya about the challenges she faced being pregnant in prison.

• The FreeHer Podcast looks at how young people are sentenced to life without parole and why the U.S. keeps sentencing Black children, especially Black girls, to die in prison.

• Read the blog post from Centre for Women’s Justice on the UK Government’s Sentencing Bill. In the post, Dame Vera Baird DBE KC examines the Sentencing Bill which had its second reading this month, highlighting concerns that it could increase rather than reduce the number of women who are imprisoned for short sentences.

• Access research and resources from Penal Reform International, Terre des Hommes in Hungary, Terre des hommes Foundation in Romania and Fundación Tierra de hombres in Spain on ‘Protecting the Procedural Rights of Children in the Digital Age.’ The research identifies the impact of remote hearing practices on children’s procedural rights and their access to fair trials.

  

• Read the report from Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Witty on access to health support and services for incarcerated people in the UK. Key findings in the report confirm the harms caused to women’s health in prison, including risks during pregnancy, self-harm and trauma related mental health concerns.

• An article by Coletta Youngers for WOLA which focuses on the Movement for the Victims of the Regime in El Salvador (MOVIR) and their work and the historic Inter-American Commission on Human Rights resolution on the The Rights of Family Members and Persons with Affective Ties of Persons Deprived of Liberty.

• This article from Alliance Magazine which looks at why drug policy and financing is a feminist issue.

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify. 

Newsletter in Spanish

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Dear Friends

Every year on 10 October we join organisations and individuals across the world in marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Like last year, this year’s World Day is dedicated to challenging the misconception that the death penalty makes people and communities safer. Instead, we recognise that the death penalty deepens cycles of violence, threatens human dignity, and can be used by those in power to silence or control. You can find more on our position as members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and solidarity with the call for the universal abolition of capital punishment here.

This year we also take the opportunity to collectively remember Sunny Jacobs, a woman who turned 17 years of wrongful imprisonment, including 5 years on death row, into a courageous and lifelong mission for justice, healing and hope. Sunny passed away earlier this year, and the Sunny Scholarship Travel Fund was created in her memory to help women with lived experience of criminalisation attend international conferences and advocacy spaces where their voices are too often missing.

You can help us to carry Sunny’s light forward by donating to the Sunny Scholarship Travel Fund, where funds go directly to the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women (INFIW), who will manage the scholarships. You can also watch a number of very special videos from members of the INFIW on Sunny Jacobs and the World Day Against the Death Penalty, including from Susan Kigula who became a lawyer while on death row in Uganda and was deeply inspired by her friendship with Sunny.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

Women Beyond Walls News

The second series of our podcast has continued with episodes focused on drugs and women’s incarceration. In our latest minisode we are joined by Marie Nougier from the International Drug Policy Consortium to examine the impact of the growing population of women incarcerated for low-level drug offences often tied to poverty, coercion, or survival. Marie talks about moving beyond punitive drug laws that harm women and what compassionate, evidence-based alternatives could look like. You can also read the article published by the International Drug Policy Consortium on the episode.

In another episode, we spoke with Rosma

Karlina about her experiences with drug use and her time in prison, highlighting the harm caused by incarceration and forced rehabilitation programs. Rosma also examines the support that is incredibly important to women who use drugs, including approaches like peer support, counselling and community programmes. Rosma is director of SPINN, an Indonesian community group supporting women and trans women who use drugs, and is also part of the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women.

Community Spotlight

Congratulations to Akosua Kaumba Akuffo who received the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) and International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD) Emerging Female Leader Award. Akosua said, “This recognition means so much to me, not only personally but for my community of Chibolya, where so many women are in urgent need of support through harm reduction. This award strengthens my resolve to continue advocating for those whose voices are often unheard and to work toward real, life-changing solutions.”

Please email hello@womenbeyondwalls.org if you would like to share anything for our community spotlight series.

News from around the world

• ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations): Bangkok Post have reported on the recent meeting of the ASEAN governments in Singapore for a regional meeting where the host nation urged renewed commitment to a “drug-free region.” The article details the issues this approach brings in this region, including high levels of prison overcrowding for people held for drug offences in Thailand including the second highest rate of women’s incarceration which is predominantly for drug offences. In addition, the article refers to abusive drug rehabilitation systems and continued executions of people for drug offences in the region.

• Australia: The Keeping Women Out of Prison (KWOOP) Coalition launched a new strategy following their recent meeting in Parliament to reduce the number of women in New South Wales’ prisons by addressing systemic drivers of incarceration. The three priorities of the plans are “diversion and bail support, trauma-informed care in custody, and reintegration planning from the first day of a sentence.” You can read KWOOP’s strategy and roadmap to reform here. 

  

• England and Wales: Prisons in England and Wales are having the budget for their education courses reduced by up to 50%, including basic English and maths courses, as well as specialist teaching to support illiterate prisoners to read. You can read about literacy and education for women in prison in our newsletter from last month.

• England: The HM Inspectorate of Prisons has released their report on HMP Eastwood Park, a women’s prison in South Gloucestershire. They, found extremely high rates of self-harm, frequent use of force and assaults often linked to staff trying to prevent self-harm, women with severe mental health conditions waiting for too long for transfer to secure hospitals, and a lack of dedicated spaces for women to access meaningful activity.

• Iran: Iran Human Rights reports that Goli Kouhkan, a 25 year old undocumented Baluch woman who was a child bride in an abusive marriage, is scheduled to be executed following her arrest for the murder of her husband in 2018 when she was 18 years old. The article reports that Goli has had limited access to her son since her arrest, and her husband’s family have said they will only forgo execution if she pays 10 billion tomans in ‘blood money’. Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide has shared Goli’s story, and highlights that Iran continues to record the highest number of women executions globally, with a growing rate every year. In November, Women Beyond Walls will be sharing a podcast episode focused on understanding the impacts of the death penalty in Iran. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it.

  

• United States: Prison Policy Initiative examines the high rate of women in prison in the US, examining this in light of the global context.

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Opportunities

• Women in Prison are advertising for a number of roles in the UK!

• Children Heard and Seen are offering a training opportunity in November around supporting children and young people with a parent in prison - find out more here.

• ⏰ A reminder for the ‘Justice Beyond Criminal Justice’ event at the University of Bath on Wednesday 29 October.

• ⏰ NGOs without ECOSOC Status can apply for registration for the UN Crime Congress by 3 November.

• Applications are open for the Dalai Lama Fellowship. Deadline 12 November.

• ⏰ During the end of 2025 and 2026, the IACHR Rapporteurship on Persons Deprived of Liberty will be elaborating a Study on the Social Reintegration of Persons deprived of liberty and released from prison in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deadline is 29 October and the questionnaire to complete to help contribute is available in four languages.

Are you planning a campaign or sharing your work during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (25 November - 10 December)? Make sure to tag Women Beyond Walls on social media so we can amplify your work.

Media and literature recommendations

• Read an important essay from Tabitha Lean and Debbie Kilroy, founders of Sisters Inside, on “the brutal realities of incarceration, particularly for Indigenous women in Australia.” Tabitha and Debbie explain that the essay was started following the death of Selesa Tafaifa who was killed in custody despite begging for help from officers. This piece of work continues Debbie and Tabitha’s commitment to advocating for imprisoned women, sharing that “It is for the women left inside that we keep fighting, and it is the women like Selesa that make a global abolition movement the only path to liberation available to us today.”

• Watch Fightback, a short film by the Centre for Women’s Justice on the experiences of women who are imprisoned as a result of surviving male violence. As the CWJ state, the film “lays bare a misogynistic justice system that betrays women, and rallies a movement for change”

• Prison Reform Trust has published new resources to “help inform understanding of local trends in the use of imprisonment for women in England and Wales.”

• Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre have published their vital report ‘This Keeps Women out of Prison’. The report is based on insights from their From Now Program on rebuilding women’s lives after prison and draws on participant stories as well as data and analysis to unpack why women are the fastest growing population in Australia and how the cycle of incarceration can be broken.

• Women in Prison have shared their assessment of the UK Government’s Sentencing Bill in its efforts to transform the justice system for women, highlighting both positive and negative aspects of the bill.

• Listen to the final episode of the first season of the FreeHer Podcast with Tia, the President of Sisters Inside and a member of the Australian National Network of Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. Tia shares her journey of being imprisoned in an adult’s prison at 17 years old, and the sisterhood that grew out of these experiences.

• Read the article in the Nation titled The Activists Fighting for Dignity for Incarcerated Pregnant Women. The article details the experiences of women in accessing healthcare and support whilst giving birth in prison, and those working towards a solution to “abolish prison births altogether.”

• Another brilliant podcast - listen to the recent episode of the Transform Justice Podcast about “how the prison system is failing women and what could be done to improve how society responds when women are in crisis.”

• An important read on the experiences of women imprisoned in Mexico, including incarcerated mothers.

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Newsletter in Spanish

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Dear Friends

This month International Literacy Day has provided us with the opportunity to reflect on the intersection between education and women’s imprisonment. The United Nations day highlights the importance of literacy, as well as “raises awareness of the literacy problems that impact around 771 million adults and children around the world.”

Women in prison frequently have lower literacy rates and levels of education. For example, in the UK, 71% of women who enter prisons doing so without qualifications. Research suggests that 31% have been expelled or permanently excluded from school and the same percentage have been taken into care, both significant disruptions to their education and contributing to lower literacy levels when women enter the criminal justice system. In Sierra Leone, a research report documented that 54% of women in prison were illiterate.

Supporting women with literacy and education is vital. As the Prisoner’s Education Trust points out, “completing education in prison can be a huge boost to self-confidence, particularly for people who might not have thought that educational achievements were possible for them.” This increased self-belief, empowerment and optimism opens doors for women in life outside of prison, increasing chances of employment and ability to rebuild lives. It also allows many women who may have faced exploitative or abusive relationships prior to their incarceration increased opportunity to be financially independent.

We acknowledge the hard work of many organisations supporting incarcerated women with education including the Prisoner’s Education Trust, the Shannon Trust, Clean Start Africa, INN and, as well as educational institutions and businesses that offer academic and practical training for incarcerated women.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

Women Beyond Walls News

Our podcast series has continued with two important episodes. Last month Pamela Winn shared her experiences of incarceration in the USA whilst pregnant and her subsequent work with RestoreHER - an organisation pushing for policy change to help women caught in the criminal legal system.

And in the latest episode, Dr Shona Minson talks about the impact of imprisonment on children who experience extensive trauma, grief and stigma. Dr Minson reflects on the need for change and why we must reimagine justice for mothers and their children.

Community Spotlight

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged to guarantee the rights of the families of the imprisoned

By Romina Otero, Lawyer specialized in International Human Rights Law and Criminal Law

On July 24, 2025, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS), in compliance with its mandate to promote the observance and defence of human rights in the Americas, adopted Resolution N. 2/25 on The Rights of Family Members and Persons with Affective Ties of Persons Deprived of Liberty, which was published on August 19, 2025. This action represents a milestone in the fight for the defence of the rights of the families of incarcerated people.

For the first time in history, a regional organisation recognised the multiple effects that families of people deprived of their liberty suffer, and urged States to implement actions to remedy it. This Resolution is the first pronouncement on this issue not only within the scope of the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights, but also in the Universal System.

The Resolution makes visible the social, economic and emotional effects suffered by families of people deprived of their liberty, especially children and adolescents, women, the elderly and people with disabilities. Due to the imprisonment of their family member, these people face the loss of protection and care, difficulties in maintaining personal contact, discrimination, stigmatisation and even violence by prison authorities during prison visits. In addition, because unpaid care work falls mainly on women, they face a significant increase in their care burden.

This situation is particularly serious considering that it is estimated that each arrest affects approximately five people in the immediate environment of the detained person, regardless of the degree of kinship, whether by blood, legal, by affinity, by choice, or affective bond derived from frequent and trusting treatment.

This Resolution will allow thousands of family members in the Americas to demand respect for their rights before the competent authorities. At the same time, it can serve as a reference for States when adopting or reviewing prison policy measures.

Based on the principle of the non-transcendence of the penalty, the protection of the family, the best interests of the child and the principle of equality and non-discrimination, the Resolution recognises the main duties of States to ensure the rights of these families. They include: incorporating their views into the framework of prison policy development, implementation, and evaluation; to privilege the maintenance of family ties; recognise the right of incarcerated people to be deprived of liberty in spaces close to their families; guarantee visits in dignified and safe conditions; ensure that family members of incarcerated persons have access to information regarding their detained family member; and to combat violence and discrimination against family members in their interaction with prison systems.

News from around the world

• Australia: A new report on South Australia’s only youth detention centre, Kurlana Tapa, was tabled in state parliament. The report exposes the use of isolation as a form of punishment, despite this being prohibited by the state’s youth justice regulations. The report states the “failure of care” of young people through the use of isolation, with one child reporting the experience as being “punished like a dog and forgotten.” You can read an important article on the report from Debbie Kilroy and Tabitha Lean of Sisters Inside.

• Australia: Sisters Inside have also shared a statement to condemn the Queensland Government’s guidelines restricting government funded youth justice organisations from speaking to the media without the government’s authority. Debbie Kilroy, CEO of Sisters Inside, has called this “censorship” which is “designed to prevent organisations from telling the truth about what is happening to children in so-called ‘youth justice’ systems, predominantly Aboriginal children.”

• England: The BBC has reported an 20% annual increase in self-harm incidents in the women’s prison, HMP Send in Surrey, as well as more assaults, safety separations and ‘use-of-force’ incidents.

• South Africa: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) and the Dullah Omar institute have been formally admitted as amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) to provide information and advice to help the court reach a just decision in S.H. & others v Minister of Justice, a case which is challenging South Africa’s criminalisation of sex work. The full hearing is set for May 2026 - read information on the case and their press statement including how their submission will “focus on the impact that the enforcement of the offences has on women who are economically and socially vulnerable”. You can also read more coverage of the case on radio and print.

• UK: The Women’s Justice Reimagined Partnership has launched a briefing which sets out vital recommendations to the UK Government’s Women’s Justice Board “to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system.” The specialist organisations working with Black, Asian, racially minoritised and migrant women emphasise a need for an intersectional, anti-racist approach in policy and legislation around the criminal justice system, including the centring of lived experience. Read the full briefing paper here.

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Opportunities

• The Community Helpline for Incarcerated People (CHIP) is a newly developed helpline that “connects federally incarcerated people in British Columbia (Canada) to well-trained trauma-informed, anti-oppressive support workers who provide emotional support and resource referrals.” The service is accessible on Saturdays and Sundays 3pm-9pm and aims to reduce isolation in prisons and provide access to services and care for imprisoned people.

• Level Up are encouraging those in the UK to email their MP to ask for legislation protecting pregnant women from imprisonment. Find out more - and email your MP - here!

• SVRI Forum 2026! The world’s leading conference on the prevention of, and response to, violence against women and children will be held on 5th-9 October 2026 in Thailand. Follow the links to:

  • Register attendance for the forum - Early bird rates will apply until 28th February 2026

  • Submit an abstract - the call for single research/programme abstracts and panel group abstracts is open until 30th January 2026

  • Register for Preconference workshops

  • Book an exhibition stand

  • Book a participation driven event

  • SVRI fundraising pack - help to ensure that SVRI Forum 2026 “remains accessible, inclusive, and influential in shaping the global response to violence against women and violence against children.”

    

• The University of Bath in the UK is hosting a ‘Justice Beyond Criminal Justice’ event on Wednesday 29 October. Follow the link to book tickets and find more information on abstract submissions.

• ⏰ (Deadline: 30 September) The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has a call out right now to hear directly from (W)HRDs responding to the human rights crisis. There's a lot the Special Rapporteur wants to hear about including the funding crisis, specifically:

  • Has your work been impacted by funding cuts in the past 12 months? If so, please describe what these cuts have prevented you from being able to do.

  • If your work has been impacted by funding cuts, please describe how you are attempting to mitigate the impact of the cuts.

  • What is the single biggest risk you face in your work? This could be, for example, financial sustainability, restrictive legislation, a hostile public, physical attack, legal action, criminalisation, unsupportive community/family, media or social media smear campaigns or gendered discrimination (this list is non-exhaustive).

• ⏰ (Deadline: 25 September) Her Voice Fund (HVF) provides flexible funding to women’s rights and feminist organisations and activists in the Global South with an intersectional focus, supporting them in their advocacy efforts to influence policy at local, national, regional and international levels.

  Who is eligible: Womankind’s HVF supports feminist organisations and activists in the Global South working with women who face discrimination based on their marginalised identities – such as women with disabilities, LBTQI+ women, young women and incarcerated women – as they are often excluded from decision-making spaces.

  What is provided: Partners are eligible to apply for up to GBP 40,000 for 24 months (2 years), while Informal Groups eligible to apply for up to GBP 20,000 for 24 months (2 years).

  🗓️ Deadline : Applications are open until Thursday 25th September 2025. Please see these guidelines for more details.

Media and literature recommendations

• Read an important piece on ending the incarceration of girls. The article explores the advocacy model for young women in a number of states in America, including the development of girls courts which “focus on listening to girls and addressing their trauma.”

• Watch the inspiring interview with Lady Unchained who discusses her journey in prison and her work as a poet and advocate since. The interview explores the need for trauma-informed and rehabilitation focused justice systems. Lady Unchained also features in the new documentary film Holloway, a review of which you can find in our July newsletter edition.

• Sisters Inside have launched their new podcast series Free Her. The podcast holds conversations with women who “have lived through the prison system in Australia- and who are now leading the fight to dismantle it.” The first two episodes of the podcast are available now. You can read more about the podcast series, and scan the QR code for the first episode here. To learn more about Debbie Kilroy’s inspirational story, listen to the podcast episode from the first series of the Woman Beyond Walls podcast.

  

• Another podcast recommendation, Justice Beyond the Bench by the International Association of Women Judges

• Read a new report from the Dullah Omar Institute and their partners titled ‘Comparative study and findings on the impact of criminal, security and other exceptional laws and policies in select Francophone and Lusophone countries (Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire and Mozambique)’. Executive summaries of the report are available in English, French and Portuguese.

• ‘Born in chains’, an article in the New Statesman, examines the issues for pregnant women in prison through a number of stories, including Lousie whose baby born in prison sadly died as she gave birth in her cell without medical assistance.

  

• Another important read - an article exploring the challenges faced by pregnant and breastfeeding women in the criminal justice system and the need for global reform.

• Prison Insider have published a new interview with a lawyer who was incarcerated as a result of her work to defend women and children in Burundi. The interview covers issues of overcrowding, deprivation of basic services including food and healthcare, and the dangers for defenders of human rights.

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify. 

• Si quieres leer una versión en español de nuestro boletín informativo, puedes hacerlo aquí.

• Si vous souhaitez lire une version française de notre newsletter, vous pouvez le faire ici.

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Dear Friends

This month we are thrilled to share with you the first special minisode in the Women Beyond Walls Podcast second series. In this conversation we are joined by Olivia Rope, Executive Director of Penal Reform International, to discuss how the criminalisation of poverty is driving the alarming increase in women’s imprisonment and the power in listening to stories of women to question the system of incarceration.

Listen to the full minisode

In this important discussion we also reflect on solutions such as community-based alternatives to prison, as well as the investment and leadership from the women’s rights movements that’s needed to make change in the over-incarceration of women. If you enjoy the episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform!

We are proud to have published our report ‘From Poverty to Punishment’ earlier this year alongside Penal Reform International, and would encourage you to review the report if you haven’t already alongside this month’s podcast episode.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

News from Women Beyond Walls

We want to say a massive thank you to those who have already donated to our Sunny Scholarship Travel Fund! We are proud to continue Sunny Jacobs’ legacy of global engagement by enabling women to share their experiences and voices on international platforms - something that sadly does not happen due to multiple barriers. The fund, a joint initiative with the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women, will support women with lived experience of incarceration to attend international conferences and advocacy spaces so their critical voices and insights can be shared.

Give now to the Sunny Scholarship

This video released by Afri in 2023 gives a wonderful summary of a lot Sunny Jacob’s remarkable life.

Community Spotlight

This month we are thrilled to share an inspiring poem by Claudia Cardona from Mujeres Libres Colombia. Learn more about their important work here and in the Instagram takeover they did for Women Beyond Walls (saved in our Highlights reels).

Solutions cannot be built without us 
By Claudia A. Cardona., Director, Corporación Mujeres Libres

Because no one knows confinement better than those who have survived it. 
Because you cannot transform what you don't hear. 
Because for years they've talked about us, but rarely with us. 
And when they do, it's often too late, superficial, or without the will to change. 

We know what it means when medical care isn't available. 
We know what hunger, anguish, and imposed silence feel like. 
We know what it feels like when there's no access to justice, when we're tried twice: once for the crime, once for being a woman. 

But we also know what it means to resist. 
What it means to build networks among our colleagues, to support each other, to survive a system that wasn't designed to care for us, but to punish us. And from there, from that experience that hurts but also transforms, we have much to contribute. 

Solutions cannot be built without us. 
Because without our experience, change will be incomplete. 
Because without our voice, policies will continue to be born from ignorance. 
Because without us, there is no justice, no real reintegration, no guaranteed dignity. 

We are here, demanding, resisting, and transforming! 

If you would like to write or share something in the newsletter, please email hello@womenbeyondwalls.org. We would love to feature it!

News from around the world

• Australia: An inquest into the death in custody of Heather Calgaret, an Aboriginal woman in Australia, has recommended “wide-ranging improvements to healthcare provided in prisons.” The recommendations specifically include the establishment of measures to ensure adequate screening and monitoring for postnatal mental health symptoms in women who give birth in custody, and improved access to psychological services.

  

• Canada: The Quebec government recently announced that transgender individuals will now be incarcerated according to their ‘anatomical sex’ rather than their gender. Read about this in French or in English.

• UK: The UK Ministry of Justice have published Dame Anne Owers’ Independent Review on Prison Capacity. As Women in Prison highlight, the report exposes a prison system in crisis in the UK and calls for strengthened probation capacity and community services, reinforcing the need for investment in Women’s Centres as an effective community based alternative to imprisonment.

• UK: The UK Government has also announced legislation that would allow the immediate deportation of migrant people convicted of criminal offences in the UK. Read the concerns of Hibiscus, an organisation that supports Black and minoritised women in contact with the criminal legal and immigration systems. They highlight that for Black and minority migrant women “whose offending is often closely linked to their experiences of human trafficking and violence against women and girls, or driven by unmet basic needs in a system that fails to support them, the impact will be devastating.”

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Opportunities

• Donate to Sisters Inside’s urgent fundraising campaign Five to Free Her to help address the issues affecting criminalised women and children in Australia. The campaign calls for supporters to sign up for regular donation of $5, less than the cost of a coffee each week, to enable Sisters Inside to provide court support and legal advocacy, secure safe housing for women and families, provide counselling for women impacted by abuse and imprisonment, and reunite mothers and children separated by the prison system.

  

• Join the Zahid Mubarek Trust for their ‘Race in Prisons: learning from the past, shaping the future’ conference in London, UK on Tuesday 28 October. You can find out more about the conference, and how to register here.

• Colectivo Artesana, a small grassroots collective who have supported women impacted by incarceration, have launched a new initiative, La Casa de las Mujeres (The House of Women), Guatemala’s first self-sustaining cooperative led by formerly incarcerated women. The initiative aims to “help women heal, rebuild their lives, and avoid re-incarceration.” Colectivo Artesana are welcoming donations to support this ground-breaking project - find out more here!

• Another fundraising opportunity - consider giving to the gofundme for incarcerated journalist Kwaneta Harris’ children to visit her for the first time in a decade. Kwaneta, who is incarcerated in Texas, USA away from her family in Detroit, has illuminated the intersection of gender and race in women’s experience of incarceration through her writing.

• For our UK based readers - Join Harriet Wistrich, CEO of Centre for Women’s Justice and author of Sister in Law: Fighting for justice in a system designed by men, at two wonderful events in September:

  • 7 September - Every Little Thing Festival in Reading

  • 18 September - Bow Street Museum of Crime and Justice in London

  We are also delighted to announce that Harriet will soon feature as a guest on our own podcast – watch this space!

• Find out more about the Center on Gender and Extreme Sentencing, which aims to “expose intersectional discrimination practices within the criminal legal system”, and subscribe to their newsletter.

• Justice Project Pakistan is recruiting for a Lahore-based Communications Intern to assist them with content creation, social media management and communications. Find out more information on their LinkedIn.

• Support the Centre for Women’s Justice’ campaign urging the UK government to “change law, policy and practice to protect victim/survivors from being silenced or unfairly criminalised and address racial injustice.” Those in the UK can use the Centre’s template letter to write to their MP.

  

• Applications are open for the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (UN Crime Congress) to be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 25 to 30 April 2026, with pre-session consultations scheduled for Friday, 24 April 2026. Non governmental organisations without ECOSOC status can apply here by 4 November 2025.

Media and literature recommendations

• Listen to Women in Prison’s new podcast series - Women in Prison: An Oral History. The podcast series shares the stories of women “across four decades of activism, frontline work, and solidarity” and each episode was recorded by women who’ve been directly affected by the criminal justice system in the UK. You can find more details, plus links to the podcast on major podcast platforms, here.

• Read StrongMinds report titled ‘Hope and Dignity Behind Bars: Expanding Mental Healthcare Access in Prisons in Uganda and Kenya.’ The report examines StrongMinds' work addressing mental health among incarcerated individuals in Uganda, and the wider issues around the links between imprisonment and mental health in Uganda and Kenya.

• Listen to the three part Justice Podcast series Voices of Holloway which centres on the voices of women previously incarcerated in Holloway Prison in the UK. The podcast has been released alongside the film Holloway, giving a further platform to women who have shared their stories and reflections of Holloway prison and how the justice system should be reformed.

• Another important read - The Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide have recently published guidance on ‘Best Practices in Defending Women and Gender Minorities.’

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify. 

• Si quieres leer una versión en español de nuestro boletín informativo, puedes hacerlo aquí.

• Si vous souhaitez lire une version française de notre newsletter, vous pouvez le faire ici.

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Dear Friends

We are very excited to share with you our second series of the Women Beyond Walls Podcast, the podcast exploring the human stories behind women’s incarceration.

In the first episode of our new series, we speak with Teresa Njoroge — a mother, banker, and now justice advocate, whose wrongful imprisonment in Kenya transformed her life and mission.

During her sentence, she witnessed firsthand how the system punishes poverty, meeting women incarcerated for selling food without a licence, loitering, or surviving abuse. After her release and exoneration, Teresa founded Clean Start Africa, now operating in several prisons and communities across Kenya.

As our recent report ‘From Poverty to Punishment’ highlights, “poverty is not gender-neutral, and women are overrepresented amongst the poor, resulting in the criminalisation of poverty having an excessive impact on women.” In the podcast episode Teresa highlights the issue of poverty as a driving force of incarceration, and challenges the way society labels some women as “criminals”.

Season 2 features seven full episodes and three deep-dive minisodes unpacking the global drivers behind the mass incarceration of women — from poverty and gender-based violence to criminal justice failures and discriminatory laws. From Kenya to the US to Indonesia, we hear from women directly impacted by incarceration, as well as from those daring to imagine alternatives.

Watch the season trailer now and subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms. New episodes drop regularly through to December 2025.

If you’re as excited as we are about the launch of the second series, we encourage you to leave a review on your preferred podcast platform - you can find out more on our LinkedIn or reach out to us at hello@womenbeyondwalls.org.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

News from Women Beyond Walls

• Earlier this month, Women Beyond Walls were honoured to co-host a screening of award-winning documentary Holloway alongside our friends at Clean Break Theatre Company.

Jenna Taylor, the wonderful volunteer who drafts our newsletter, attended and wrote these reflections of the screening:

“Holloway offers a unique and emotional insight into the experience of six women as they return to Holloway Prison in London where they had all previously been incarcerated. The women recount their memories of incarceration invoked by their return to the prison, whilst also exploring aspects of their lives that led to their sentences.

The importance of the film’s trauma-informed and co-creative approach cannot be understated - the film sees the building of a safe space through experienced and considered facilitation which allows the women to delve deeply into topics of abuse, neglect and addiction, all vital issues which intersect closely with the over-incarceration of women. In one particularly poignant scene, the women are asked to step forwards at each disadvantage or vulnerability that the facilitator reads out, and it is clear that each woman’s journey to incarceration was heavily influenced by a failure of systems and relationships.

In the Q&A facilitated by Clean Break we heard from some of the wonderful co-creators and collaborators on the film who spoke on their feelings about being part of such a groundbreaking project. Sabrina Mahtani, shared her reflections of the film as a powerful portal to discussion of how justice can be reimagined, not just for women in the UK but for women globally. Sabrina noted the film's purpose of exposing the need for rehabilitation and healing opportunities over incarceration and isolation, particularly given the experiences of trauma that so many incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated women are impacted by.”

• On World Drug Day on 26 June we were proud to join 70 organisations calling on the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to unequivocally condemn the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences and take concrete steps to ensure that international human rights safeguards restricting the imposition of this cruel punishment are fully implemented, with a view to its full abolition.

• We’ve reached 15% of our initial funding goal for our Sunny Scholarship Travel Fund! In memory of the inspirational Sunny Jacobs, we’ve launched this joint initiative with the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women to support women with lived experience of incarceration to attend international conferences and advocacy spaces. We hope this will continue Sunny’s legacy of global engagement by enabling women to share their experiences and voices on international platforms. We invite you to help grow this fund where you can!

News from around the world

• Iran: The Children of Imprisoned Parents International have reported on its latest findings on the conditions for children in the mothers’ ward of Qarchak Prison and Evin Prison in Iran. The new data from Qarchak Prison suggests there are at least 50 mothers and pregnant women currently incarcerated, up from the estimated 30 from reports in 2023. The report reveals overcrowding and inadequate resourcing which is preventing the children in prison with their mothers from meeting their basic rights of education, play, good health and protection from violence. The report highlights the “lack of transparency, absence of independent expert oversight, and the low prioritisation of children’s rights in these contexts.”

• Ireland: Research conducted by the Irish Examiner highlights trauma, abuse, unresolved grief, homelessness and addiction as key drivers of criminalisation for women in Cork. The research also includes recommendations for reform from a number of professionals.

• Tunisia: Sonia Dahmani, a human rights lawyer in Tunisia, was arrested for speaking out against the Tunisian government in 2024. Dahmani is facing a potential cumulative sentence of forty years for speaking out against authoritarian measures the Tunisian government introduced in 2023 around immigration control which threaten the human rights of Sub-Saharan immigrants. Dahmani is reported to be experiencing inhumane conditions in Manouba prison, including significant food and hygiene restrictions. (Article in French)

• UK - ITV News were given unprecedented access to the mother and baby unit at HMP New Hall, one of the UK’s biggest women’s prisons. ITV confirmed they were granted rare access “as the government prepares to radically overhaul the way women’s justice works in this country.”

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Opportunities

• ⏰ Karibu Foundation is open for grant applications from across Africa. Deadline 6 August.

• Prison Insider is recruiting a Director based in Lyon, France. Deadline 24 August.

• If you’re UK-based you can catch one of the remaining screenings of Holloway - it really is a must-see!

• The creators of Holloway are also inviting universities, academics, training providers, and organisations in the women’s and/or criminal justice sector to licence the film for private screenings with optional Q&As. They’d like to spread the messages and learnings far and wide! You can contact the team behind the film to arrange a screening or ask any questions about the film.

• Kairos Outside is a UK-based free, special weekend retreat designed to support women who have been incarcerated, or have currently or formerly incarcerated loved ones. The weekend is designed to give women a safe environment to interact with others who are experiencing similar challenges. The organisation also offers ongoing support for women up to one year after the weekend.

• RestoreHer USA is hosting the Data is Life Conference from 15-17 August 2025 in Atlanta, USA. It is a converging ground for academia, healthcare professionals, researchers, stakeholders, and those directly impacted by the system to exchange data, innovative ideas, and create actionable solutions.

  

• Criminology students at the University of Derby in the UK are looking for powerful ideas or pressing issues relating to crime for undergraduate research projects - find more details on how to submit ideas here.

• Outreach International is conducting research on experiences of trans people in detention across the world. If you have knowledge or experience you’d like to contribute you can fill out their survey (currently available in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese.)

• Calling all attendees of Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland) this summer - catch ‘A MONKEY TRIAL; The passion of Pauline Campbell’. The show is inspired by the story of Pauline Campbell, a campaigner for change in the justice system who aimed to prevent deaths in women's prisons following the death by suicide of her daughter in prison.

• Women in Prison are recruiting new trustees to join their board in the UK - find more details on their website.

  Media and literature recommendations

• 📖 The International Bar Association has shared an article on our report ‘From Poverty to Punishment’ published earlier this year alongside Penal Reform International.

• 📖 Read Centre for Women’s Justice report on ‘How the Criminal Justice System Colludes With Perpetrators of Coercive Control to Criminalise their Victims’. The report includes accounts of seven women who experienced coercive control and were unfairly criminalised as a result of their experiences of abuse. Centre for Women’s Justice makes a number of recommendations for reform, including “the introduction of an effective defence for victims of coercive control who are coerced into offending, and a joint police and CPS protocol for gathering, passing on and taking account of evidence of coercive control where a suspect in an offence may also be a victim.”

• 📖 Another read - The Pride Flag Above The Prison - by Kitya Mark. The book explores the flying of the Pride flag outside of prisons through different mediums including essay, memoir and poetry.

  

• 📺 Listen to Carolyn Harris MP (UK) raise the importance of Dr Laura Abbott’s Lost Mothers report and Clean Break’s play Scenes from Lost Mothers in the House of Commons, advocating for women and mothers in prison.

  

• 📖 In an exposing article, Rümeysa Öztürk details her experiences of her arrest and 45 day imprisonment in a South Louisiana ICE facility in the USA.

• 📖 Read the recent blog post from Penal Reform International which reflects on the urgent need for meaningful prison reform following the United Nations General Assembly debate on global prison challenges.

• 📺 Watch the BBC short film ‘What happens when your mum goes to prison?’ which explores the consequences of the imprisonment of mothers.

• 📖 An article highlighting the experiences of women in the Ivory Coast and Senegal who are incarcerated for having abortions, even in cases of incest or risks to the woman’s health, and the impact this has on families with the majority of women in caregiving roles (article in French).

  

• 📖 Another recent article highlighting women’s experience of incarceration in France. The article highlights the 85% of incarcerated women who have experienced sexual violence and abuse, as well as the impact imprisonment has on familial relationships and access to socio-cultural activities and exercise. (Article in French)

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At the end of May we marked Menstrual Health Day, reflecting on the injustice incarcerated women face in a global prison system that neglects menstrual health and does not meet women’s basic needs. As we shared on LinkedIn, women continue to experience menstruation as a tool of punishment where they face restricted access to pads and tampons.

In India, prison visits by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) exposed limited provision of sanitary products and a lack of awareness amongst women in prison of their rights and entitlement. It was revealed that women bought sanitary products whilst entitled to free ones, relied on family members to bring products during visits, or in some cases even used old cloths and rags which raises concerns around their health. The CHRI’s highlighted the needs for improvements including the provision of a sufficient quantity of quality sanitary sanitary pads, a means of safe disposal of pads, regular visits of female prison doctors to ensure monitoring of reproductive health, and raising awareness among prison staff and incarcerated women of menstrual health.

In the U.S, accounts from incarcerated women expose similar experiences and barriers around menstrual health. One account reported by TIME notes the restricted number of pads and tampons provided, the use of toilet paper for women who cannot afford to buy additional products when needed, inappropriate disposal methods, and the inspection of tampons and pad packets by prison guards for contraband. It also shares experiences of the required removal of tampons or pads before strip-searches, adding significantly to the feelings of humiliation and dehumanisation women face around menstruation in prison.

In ensuring that menstrual health remains a respected human right in prisons, we highlight the essential work of Mujeres Unidas x la Libertad, an organisation based in Mexico City which supports incarcerated women by providing access to menstrual hygiene products. The Prison Flow Project is also shining a light on this issue, sharing information for access to menstrual products across federal and state women’s prisons across the U.S. Back in 2023, we also saw the great advocacy work of Mujeres Libres in Colombia contributing to a law guaranteeing menstrual pads in prison being passed.

Access to sufficient menstrual and reproductive health services and products for incarcerated women remains a significant challenge globally, and whilst stigma still remains around these topics we must use opportunities like Menstrual Health Day to draw attention to the neglected needs of incarcerated women in this area.

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

News from Women Beyond Walls

The Sunny Scholarship

Friends of Women Beyond Walls and the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women (INFIW) have launched the ‘Sunny Scholarship’ Travel Fund! Please donate and share this fundraising appeal with others.

• In memory of Sunny Jacobs, we’ve launched a fund to support women with lived experience of criminalisation—especially formerly incarcerated women—to attend international conferences and advocacy spaces. We want to continue Sunny’s legacy of global engagement, connection, and justice.

• Sonia ‘Sunny’ Jacobs was wrongfully convicted in 1976 and spent 17 years in prison—five of them on death row in Florida. After her release in 1992, she dedicated her life to ending the death penalty and supporting those with lived experience of incarceration.

• She became a powerful voice through her speeches, her nonprofit (The Sunny Center Foundation), her work with the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP), and the play and film ‘The Exonerated’. Sunny was planning to attend the Human Rights Council with the WCADP Gender Working Group before her tragic death in a house fire in Connemara, Ireland on 3 June 2025.

• Sunny Scholarship Travel Fund to help women with lived experience share their voices on international stages.

Members of the Women Beyond Walls team are seeding the fund with personal donations.

All funds raised will go directly to INFIW, who will manage the scholarship process.

The goal: reduce the financial barriers that keep powerful voices out of global spaces.

10th Anniversary of the Nelson Mandela Rules

We had the honour of being invited to speak at a high-level session at the UN General Assembly to mark the tenth anniversary of the Nelson Mandela Rules.

We spoke about the urgent need to decrease the number of women in prison and reduce the harmful impact of imprisonment on women and their families, sharing findings from our recent report with Penal Reform International - From Poverty to Punishment.

We spoke alongside other civil society colleagues, such as Dr Raymund E. Narag, who was incarcerated for several years in the Philippines and now a renowned criminology professor.

For more details, read this blog by Olivia Rope from Penal Reform International - sharing 5 key takeaways from the General Assembly debate on global prison challenges

News from around the world

• Australia: The Western Australia Coroner has issued recommendations for the provision of culturally safe care to Aboriginal Prisoners in the region following an inquest into the death of Dannielle Lowe, a 41-year-old Martu woman who died in custody in Wandoo Rehabilitation Prison. The inquest found missed opportunities for care and treatment, as well as evidence that care Danielle received was not “culturally safe.”

• England and Wales: The UK Government has announced plans to decriminalise rough sleeping in England and Wales by scrapping the Vagrancy Act which outlaws rough sleeping. As many countries retain outdated vagrancy laws, vulnerable women continue to face criminal injustice due to their experiences of homelessness, which this plan seeks to address.

• Malawi: A new report from the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s TrialWatch initiative, together with the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law International Human Rights Clinic (USC IHRC), reveals that women incarcerated for violent offences in Malawi are often survivors of gender-based violence who have been criminalised for incidents connected to their own abuse.

  

• Saudi Arabia: Reports have emerged of secretive prisons, or so-called ‘care homes’, for ‘disobedient’ women in Saudi Arabia. The Guardian report suggests women are being banished from their home by husbands and family members for “disobedience, extramarital sexual relations or being absent from home” with the aim of being ‘rehabilitated’ and returning to their families. The prisons are understood to have terrible conditions, no visits from the outside world, forced religious teachings and punishments like flogging.

• UK: Due to pressure from civil society groups including the law firm, Bhatt Murphy, The UK Government has also announced an independent investigation into the use of restraints on pregnant women incarcerated at HMP/YOI Bronzefield during hospital escorts between 2021 and 2025. This will be conducted by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

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Opportunities

• ⏰ If you are attending the 59th Human Rights Council session in Geneva, here is an event you don’t want to miss…

  Join United Nations Human Rights, the Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva | Mission permanente du Canada à Genève, and APT for a Human Rights Council side event.

  📅 Tuesday, 1 July 2025

  🕐 13:00–14:00 CEST

  📍 Room XXVII, Palais des Nations, Geneva

  🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/e2ZYNcSP

  We’re proud to see Lady Unchained on this panel, whose beautiful music forms our podcast soundtrack. Listen to Lady Unchained’s podcast on the first series of the Women Beyond Walls podcast.

• Global 50/50 have opened submissions for their photography competition, ‘This is Gender: Law and Justice’. The project invites photographers to explore how gender shapes legal systems, calling for photography that “uncovers injustice and offers new ways of seeing justice, challenging systems shaped by capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy.” Submissions close on the 22 July 2025.

• A great new resource and database from AWID titled ‘Who Can Fund Me?’. “A easy-to-use, practical tool for movements looking for funders from philanthropic foundations, multilateral funders to women’s and feminist funds to support vital lifesaving efforts.”

• A number of showings and Q&A sessions of the recently released film Holloway are being held in the UK in the coming weeks. Holloway follows six previously incarcerated women who revisit HMP Holloway in London to recount their experiences inside the prison. The Q&A opportunities include the film's contributors, directors and professionals in the field of the incarceration of women. You can also read a review of the documentary in The Guardian

• Another UK based opportunity - Sign Level Up’s petition aiming to keep pregnant women out of prison. Level Up have been shortlisted for campaign of the year with the Sheila McKechnie Foundation. Their campaign, No Births Behind Bars, fights to end the imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers.

• Calls for submissions for a research paper on women and remand from the University of Glasgow. The project is looking for creative contributions such as poetry or short stories from women who have spent time on remand in a Scottish prison.

• Probation Journal is calling for submissions of academic articles and creative pieces for a special edition of their journal in 2027 which will focus on women and girls in the criminal justice system. Find out more details on their LinkedIn.

• Clean Break is starting a new Young Company, delivering theatre and performance training for women and non-binary people aged 18-25. The programme is designed for young people with lived experience of the criminal justice system or are at risk of joining it in the UK, and you can find out more information on their instagram.

• ⏰ Marking the End of the (Australian) Financial Year (EOFY) Sisters Inside are raising funds for their work with children of incarcerated parents. In Australia and got some Aussie dollars to spare this June, support if you using the details on the image below.

  

  Media and literature recommendations

• 📖 Read this article about moves to expand alternatives to imprisonment for women in Colombia

• 📺 Watch the BBC series ‘Jailed: Women in Prison’ which explores the struggles for women in prison including mental health issues, historical abuse and the challenges in rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

• Watch a short but moving documentary, ‘Weekend Visits’, on a mother and child spending the day together in Virginia Correctional Center for Women (USA).

• 📖 Read an article on the high levels of women being remanded in custody in the UK, the overrepresentation of ethnic minority women in the criminal justice system, and the impact of prison on women’s mental health.
  

• 🎧 Listen to the Secret Lives of Prisons podcast episode from Cherie Blair KC and Kate Morrisey discussing women and the criminal justice system in the UK.

• 📖 An article by Debangi Sanyal explores how India’s criminal justice system reflects carceral patriarchy, examining the rising number of women prisoners and how their incarceration is shaped by gender, caste, and structural inequality.

• 📺 Watch Senator Kim Pate at the 2nd reading of Tona’s Law (Bill S-205), which seeks to end the systemic abuse of prisoners through prolonged solitary confinement, lack of oversight, and impunity in federal institutions in Canada: “So little has changed since the ultra familiar certain events at the prison for women in Kingston 31 years ago”
  

• 📖 Read the Big Issue article from CEO of Women in Prison *UK) Sonya Ruparel on how "prison is unsafe, inappropriate, and ineffective for women."
  

• 🎥 In the UK? Catch the release of Lollipop, a film about a young mother and the challenges she faces following her release from prison. and read a moving article with the lead actress, highlighting the important work of Clean Break.

• 📖 Read an article by Scout Tzofiya Bolton detailing her experiences of incarceration following episodes of psychosis. Scout writes about her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, which Prison Radio Association points out is particularly poignant as, in UK prisons, around 14% of women and 7% of men are living with a psychotic disorder.
  

• 💻 Watch the webinar from Birth Companions and Advance on supporting pregnant women and mothers of young children under probation supervision.
  

• 📖 OpenDemocracy have shared alarming articles from England and Wales about the high rates of women in prison who are restrained during mental health crises and numbers of domestic abuse victims facing jail.
  

• 📖 Read a recently published research paper titled Problematising ‘Vulnerability’ in Women’s Prison which explores the use of the ‘vulnerable’ label of incarcerated women with consideration of agency and resilience

• 🎥 Watch this short film - Beyond the Prison Walls - about the work of Elas Existem in Brazil

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify. 

“Debt should be seen as a human rights issue rather than a personal failure and efforts should be taken to address underlying gender inequalities. Efforts should be made to address the root and gender-specific causes of personal debt, including through research to understand the complex causes and impacts of personal debt on women.” - From Poverty to Punishment

With gratitude and solidarity,
The Women Beyond Walls Team

News from Women Beyond Walls

• We’re at the 34th session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ34) this week. Sabrina Mahtani will be participating in the Side Event: 'Promoting non-custodial measures for women in line with the Bangkok Rules'. This event is being organised by the UNODC Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section with the support of Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Thailand Institute of Justice, the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders and the UNODC Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section.
  
  ⏰ This is a hybrid event taking place on Fri May 23, 2025, 13:00—14:00 (CET). You can join online on Teams on the day via the following link (also on the QR code on the image below): https://lnkd.in/eaTkK9fH

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• We have begun our new weekly series, ‘Spotlight Friday’, where we will shine a light on organisations around the world who are working to end the over-criminalisation and over-incarceration of women. We hope to highlight the work of grassroots groups to global networks who are challenging injustice, supporting women affected by the criminal legal system, and pushing for real, lasting change. You can keep updated on our ‘Spotlight Friday’ series on our LinkedIn and Instagram.

• Something good is coming… Get ready for Season 2 of the Women Beyond Walls Podcast! The podcast that aims to take you beyond tired prison stereotypes to listen to real-life stories from incredible individuals – women with lived experience of the so-called justice system, feminist lawyers, activists and experts – all committed to seeing an end to the over-incarceration and over-criminalisation of women worldwide.

  🎧 Did you miss out on Season 1? It’s not too late to have a listen! Check out all the fabulous episodes from Season 1 on your favourite pod platform, and get ready for the next round coming in July. Watch this space!

  

News from around the world

• Afghanistan - The Guardian has reported on three Afghan women who have spoken out about their public flogging by the Taliban after being accused of ‘moral crimes’ including leaving home without a close male relative or being seen speaking to men they are not related to. According to court records and media reports, at least 200 women are known to have been publicly flogged since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.

• Australia - National Indigenous Times have published a damning article on the conditions and experiences of women in The Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (DPFC) in Victoria. It is the state's only women's maximum-security facility. The article outlines experiences of women, especially Indigenous women, being kept in their cells for extended periods leading to a lack of access to mental health services.

• Iran - NGO Iran Human Rights has shared information regarding three women who are currently at risk of execution in Iran as political prisoners. These women are Sharifeh Mohammidi, a workers rights activist, Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish Civil Activist and Varisheh Moradi, a Kurdish women’s rights activist. You can read more about their cases here.

• Iran - An investigation by IranWire, based on interviews with women formerly incarcerated on the women's ward of Sepidar prison, in southern Ahvaz (which houses around 400 women) reveals a place where basic human rights are not only ignored but deliberately violated as part of the prison’s operational structure.

• Greece - Imprisoned mothers at the Female Prison of Eleanos in Greece have protested against the hazardous conditions in prison which they had raised with prison authorities and had been left unaddressed. The peaceful protest saw the women refusing to return to their cells while issues remained unresolved, however they report being punished with disciplinary hearings and threats of exclusion from rehabilitation programs and the removal of their children.

  

• UK - A London Assembly report has found a “chronic shortage of affordable and safe housing, local authority failures, and inconsistent practice across prisons” for women leaving prison in London. They have concluded that the London Probation Service and London Boroughs are “creating a crisis for women leaving prison.” The report has highlighted that many of the issues facing previously incarcerated women in London are issues on a national scale, and outlines recommendations for the Mayor or London and the Government.

• UK - Level Up, the campaigning organisation working towards ending the imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers, has published their concerns with the Sentencing Guidelines Bill in the UK and the impact it will have on pregnant women and mothers of young children who are facing custody.

• UK - Too many women are being remanded to custody, including those who are severely mentally unwell who should be receiving treatment in the community, according to a new briefing published in April by the Prison Reform Trust.

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Opportunities

• 💰⏰ The Black Feminist Fund (BFF)’s ‘Sustain Fund’ is open until 24 May 2025, at 11:59PM PST. The fund is described as open to “registered and non-registered groups that are at the forefront of ​Black feminist resistance​, who are building Black feminist joy, creativity, alternatives and futures, and who strengthen the Black feminist movement architecture and infrastructure in their communities and transnationally​.” The BFF currently provides funding to groups in the Caribbean, South and Central America, Africa, the Middle East, and North America and Europe.

• 💰 Funding opportunity (UK): The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund has opened its first round of funding for 2025 which is open to women-led organisations that are working with women and girls in the criminal justice system or those who are highly vulnerable. You can find more information and how to apply here.

• 💰 Another funding opportunity (Global South): Together Women Rise are accepting applications for their Featured Grants Program for funding to organisations that empower and support women and girls in low-income and marginalised communities in the Global South.

• 📚 We Are Feminist Leaders have shared an opportunity to book a place on their 12-week online Feminist Leadership Programme in September 2025. There is a sliding scale of programme fees for individual participants and organisations.

• 💰 A funding opportunity (UK) The 2025 Rosa Rise Fund is open for grant applications for Black- and racially minoritised-led women’s and girl’s organisations across the UK. Applications are open until 23rd June and are for grants of up to £40,000.

  Media and literature recommendations

• 🎥 In the UK? Then join Clean Break for an exclusive film screening of Lollipop in London on the 19th June. The film follows a young mum who is released from prison after serving four months, exploring the challenges she faces with housing and supporting her family.

• 📖 An important read! Intersecting Pathways: The Complex Understand of Roma Women Post-Incarceration Trajectories Through Intersectionality. - this paper highlights the unique challenges faced by Roma women upon their release from prison in Romania.

• 📖 Prison Reform Trust have published a report which calls for a reset to the approach to women’s imprisonment in England and Wales. The report includes details of the overuse of short sentences for women, high numbers of women being remanded to custody before trial, and the need for specialist services to support women outside of prison.

• 📖 Another good read - The Justice Map’s report Doing Time For Men’s Crimes which explores “how male violence is driving record numbers of women into Australian prisons.”

  

• 📖 The Lost Mothers Project, a collaboration between Dr Laura Abbott, researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, Birth Companions and an advisory team of women with experience of pregnancy and motherhood in prison, have published the full findings of their work. The project aims to bring attention to the experiences of women separated from their babies due to imprisonment, as well as professionals who provide care and support to these women and their babies. The report supports that prison is not a safe or suitable place for pregnant women, mothers and their babies. You can also read The Guardian’s article on the project.

• 📖 Read a new blog post by Tabitha Lean and Debbie Kilroy from Sisters Inside, Australia. The post, entitled ‘The End of Dreaming:How Prison Strips Us of Agency, Aspiration and Imagination’, explores the long-lasting impact incarceration has for women even beyond their prison sentence.

  📣 Tabitha and Debbie are also calling on the Australian Government to increase investment in services like mental health, family violence, housing, community-based diversion programs and legal assistance to keep people out of prison following their announcement of increasing spending on prison expansion. They are urging the Government to address the “mass imprisonment crisis” that is affecting so many women in Australia, investing in decarceration strategies and the issues that are criminalising women in the first place.

• 🎧 Listen to the Woman’s Hour episode ‘What is it like to be a woman in prison?’ which includes conversation with two previously incarcerated women from the UK.

• 🎧 Listen to Death Penalty Information Center’s podcast episode on ‘Wrongful Convictions and Motherhood’. The episode is in conversation with Sabrina Butler-Smith, who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death at age 17 for causing her baby’s death. Since her conviction was overturned, Sabrina is an advocate against wrongful convictions and works with Witness to Innocence which supports death row exonerees.

• 🎧🎵 Listen to Fiona Apple’s song ‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)’ which advocates for women in prison who can’t afford bail. The song was written after Fiona Apple’s experience (in the U.S.) of “witnessing the impact—and the disproportionate impact on Black women—of a cash-bail system that jails mothers who can’t afford bail without trial, separating them from their dependents.”

  

• 📖 Read an article on women being criminalised for assaulting emergency workers who call the police for assistance with their partners following experience of domestic abuse. Data shows that in the UK at least 1,486 women who were accused of assaulting an emergency worker in the four years to November 2024 had been victims of domestic abuse. The article highlights concerns that “vulnerable women are being criminalised when they seek help to deal with an abuser.”

• 📖 SHiFT have published their report titled ‘Invisibilised: Girls Caught Up In, Or At Risk Of, Crime.’ SHiFT aims to break the destructive cycle of children and young people caught up in crime, and their report explores how policy and practice must evolve to support girls who are vulnerable to criminalisation.
  

• 📖 Read a blog post from Dame Vera Baird with the Centre for Women’s Justice on pregnancy for women in prison.

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Thank you for following our newsletter, if you find it useful please share it with friends. Please also continue to share your news and important work that you want to be featured and tag us on social media so we can support and amplify.