Friday, September 26, 2008
Spotlight on Incarcerated Women: Conditions, Profiteering and Resistance
New York's Bluestockings bookstore was packed one night last week: bookshelves pushed to the walls of what was really a small space, what seemed like every available surface area covered with bodies (though maybe my perspective is skewed because I had to get up in front of the crowd and say hi from DPA). People wanted to hear about women's resistance to the prison industrial complex. Why?
For one, the number of women in prison has nearly tripled within the last two decades. In this gathering, we would learn more about the realities incarcerated women face, from journalist Silja Talvi (author of Women Behind Bars: the Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System) and former drug war prisoner Yraida Guanipa, who was incarcerated in Florida state prisons for almost 11 years. We'd learn about recent events and the growth of the private industry and profit behind bars, direct from Prison Legal News founder and editor Paul Wright, who was locked up for 17 years in Washington state. Books Through Bars-New York City co-founder Vikki Law would share more with us about what incarcerated women and their allies have done to resist inhumane treatment and conditions. She wrote Resistance Behind Bars: the Struggles of Incarcerated Women. Books Through Bars NYC and Prison Legal News were the beneficiaries of the evening's suggested $5 - $10 donations.
I joined DPA this summer because of the hundreds of beautiful, incredible women I met while locked up in FPC Alderson for my anti-SOA action a few years ago. Most of them were there for these drug conspiracy charges, which have inflated the prison population, creating a large pool of slave labor for UNICOR and terrorized our communities, particularly low income communities of color. These women are separated from their loved ones, branded criminals, denied jobs, prohibited from accessing public assistance, often for life. Here are a few sobering facts to set the context, and the importance of working to end the war on drugs and its disproportionate impact on women of color:
Silja spoke about the injustice in the very framing of women's experiences in prison, and read excerpts of her book, including pieces of Yraida's story. She showed a clip from a National Geographic documentary on 'dangerous' women in prison, in which we saw the gross mis-representation of women prisoners, their stories, and the violence done to them through the prison system.
Yraida was sentenced to 15 years in what was essentially a drug conspiracy case, although because no one else was caught, she ended up being charged with 'attempt to possess with intent to distribute.' She had recently given birth to her second child, and would soon go on hunger strike while locked up in protest for mothers' rights, in efforts to gain access to her 10-month-old son. She spoke about the lack of educational opportunities in jail, and working 12-14 hour days, seven days a week, for a private company which had contracted with the U.S. Patent Office to process new patents.
Paul focused on the economics: sharing about the Liehman Brothers and other profiteers who've made gobs of money from the prison industrial complex, noting that when you have a large group of folks suffering at the bottom, there is a select few elsewhere who are reaping the benefits.
Vikki shared a little more about the resistance of women in prison, and Yraida gave a super inspirational call to hope and action. There is so much we can do! And there's lots that needs doing, wherever you are, not the least of which would be building connections of resistance, inside and out, to support one another in our work to take down this system. Some starting places to get those creative juices flowing:
For one, the number of women in prison has nearly tripled within the last two decades. In this gathering, we would learn more about the realities incarcerated women face, from journalist Silja Talvi (author of Women Behind Bars: the Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System) and former drug war prisoner Yraida Guanipa, who was incarcerated in Florida state prisons for almost 11 years. We'd learn about recent events and the growth of the private industry and profit behind bars, direct from Prison Legal News founder and editor Paul Wright, who was locked up for 17 years in Washington state. Books Through Bars-New York City co-founder Vikki Law would share more with us about what incarcerated women and their allies have done to resist inhumane treatment and conditions. She wrote Resistance Behind Bars: the Struggles of Incarcerated Women. Books Through Bars NYC and Prison Legal News were the beneficiaries of the evening's suggested $5 - $10 donations.
I joined DPA this summer because of the hundreds of beautiful, incredible women I met while locked up in FPC Alderson for my anti-SOA action a few years ago. Most of them were there for these drug conspiracy charges, which have inflated the prison population, creating a large pool of slave labor for UNICOR and terrorized our communities, particularly low income communities of color. These women are separated from their loved ones, branded criminals, denied jobs, prohibited from accessing public assistance, often for life. Here are a few sobering facts to set the context, and the importance of working to end the war on drugs and its disproportionate impact on women of color:
- The FBI recently released the 2007 Crime Report, which shows us that there were 1.8 million drug arrests last year, more than three times the number of arrests for violent crimes. More than 80 percent of these arrests were for simple possession, not sale or manufacture. That's a lot of drug arrests.
- Before mandatory minimums, the average federal drug sentence was 11 percent higher for blacks than for whites. After mandatory minimum sentencing was imposed, federal drug offense sentences were 49 percent higher for blacks.
- Human Rights Watch found that black women are 4.8 times more likely than white women to be sent to prison for a drug law offense. Also found that blacks arrested for drug violations increased at 3.4 times the rate of whites, despite nearly identical rates of drug use.
- Almost the entire increase (91 percent) in women sentenced to prison in NY from 1986 to 1995 resulted from drug law offenses.
Silja spoke about the injustice in the very framing of women's experiences in prison, and read excerpts of her book, including pieces of Yraida's story. She showed a clip from a National Geographic documentary on 'dangerous' women in prison, in which we saw the gross mis-representation of women prisoners, their stories, and the violence done to them through the prison system.
Yraida was sentenced to 15 years in what was essentially a drug conspiracy case, although because no one else was caught, she ended up being charged with 'attempt to possess with intent to distribute.' She had recently given birth to her second child, and would soon go on hunger strike while locked up in protest for mothers' rights, in efforts to gain access to her 10-month-old son. She spoke about the lack of educational opportunities in jail, and working 12-14 hour days, seven days a week, for a private company which had contracted with the U.S. Patent Office to process new patents.
Paul focused on the economics: sharing about the Liehman Brothers and other profiteers who've made gobs of money from the prison industrial complex, noting that when you have a large group of folks suffering at the bottom, there is a select few elsewhere who are reaping the benefits.
Vikki shared a little more about the resistance of women in prison, and Yraida gave a super inspirational call to hope and action. There is so much we can do! And there's lots that needs doing, wherever you are, not the least of which would be building connections of resistance, inside and out, to support one another in our work to take down this system. Some starting places to get those creative juices flowing:
- Check out Families for Freedom to learn about the prison crisis among immigrants in the U.S.
- Get involved in solidarity support for the New Jersey 4, black lesbian women who were attacked in the street after not welcoming catcalls and sentenced for "gang violence."
- Here in DC, a local chapter of Critical Resistance is starting up again soon.
- And there's DC's new Visions to Peace project for youth creating alternatives to violence (all forms of it - including state violence), and I heard there was a rockin dance off fundraiser for them ...
Labels: prison industrial complex, women
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Digg it.Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Discussion of Women and the Drug War
I, and my colleague Julie Roberts in the New Mexico office, organized a women's forum at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in December to create a space for women to meet and discuss the role of women as activists in the drug policy reform movement, as an issue topic in our work, and as victims of the drug war. The forum was a huge success. We had about 50 women from the conference attend, from all organizations, backgrounds, experiences and ages. We had veterans debating SSDPers and the discussions were really thoughtful and galvanizing.
We decided at the end of the meeting to use a listserve, which we have since reactivated, on which to discuss being female in the drug policy reform movement and the significance that women's issues are given in our work and day-to-day lives. We are also going to build a website of reports, recommended reading, journal articles and recent news about women and the drug war (and I'll update you all on that as it happens).
Our ultimate goal, as I see it, is to flip the common perception that that the unique ways in which women are impacted by drug laws are simply a "collateral consequence" of the war on drugs, as well as to move beyond pregnant women as the only vehicle to discuss women and drugs. Categorizing women's experiences as collateral consequences is not only false (the female prison population has grow at a rate three times that of the male since 1980 and women suffer harsher prison conditions and higher instances of sexual assault in prison), it's inexcusable. The term collateral consequences suggest - to me - that these "consequences" are somehow inconsequential to the argument against prohibition. That they are excusable considering the grander goal of the drug war. Either way, the term is counter-productive when used by anti-prohibitionists.
By not making women in the drug war a central focus of our work, we further marginalize the roles of women struggling with drug addiction and women using drugs recreationally. The perception of women as responsible, rational, recreational drug users is extremely threatening to our system of values, as is the stigmatized image of women as criminals, or addicts.
I don't know how the subject of pregnant women and drugs (which is so often the only women's issue the gets a panel at these conferences) fits in to all of this, but I know that we desperately need to expand that focus. Discussing the various roles of women in the drug war (not just the small percent of them that are with child) is the only way to really elevate this issue to the level that it deserves.
If you would be interested in adding to this discussion, disagreeing with me, or connecting with other women in the movement, please email me at swilliams@drugpolicy.org and I will add you to the listserve, all genders welcome!
(ok, so it was all an ad!)
We decided at the end of the meeting to use a listserve, which we have since reactivated, on which to discuss being female in the drug policy reform movement and the significance that women's issues are given in our work and day-to-day lives. We are also going to build a website of reports, recommended reading, journal articles and recent news about women and the drug war (and I'll update you all on that as it happens).
Our ultimate goal, as I see it, is to flip the common perception that that the unique ways in which women are impacted by drug laws are simply a "collateral consequence" of the war on drugs, as well as to move beyond pregnant women as the only vehicle to discuss women and drugs. Categorizing women's experiences as collateral consequences is not only false (the female prison population has grow at a rate three times that of the male since 1980 and women suffer harsher prison conditions and higher instances of sexual assault in prison), it's inexcusable. The term collateral consequences suggest - to me - that these "consequences" are somehow inconsequential to the argument against prohibition. That they are excusable considering the grander goal of the drug war. Either way, the term is counter-productive when used by anti-prohibitionists.
By not making women in the drug war a central focus of our work, we further marginalize the roles of women struggling with drug addiction and women using drugs recreationally. The perception of women as responsible, rational, recreational drug users is extremely threatening to our system of values, as is the stigmatized image of women as criminals, or addicts.
I don't know how the subject of pregnant women and drugs (which is so often the only women's issue the gets a panel at these conferences) fits in to all of this, but I know that we desperately need to expand that focus. Discussing the various roles of women in the drug war (not just the small percent of them that are with child) is the only way to really elevate this issue to the level that it deserves.
If you would be interested in adding to this discussion, disagreeing with me, or connecting with other women in the movement, please email me at swilliams@drugpolicy.org and I will add you to the listserve, all genders welcome!
(ok, so it was all an ad!)
Labels: drug policy reform movement, Drug War, listserve, women