Women Beyond Walls

Today, instead of a Women Beyond Walls episode, we’re featuring an episode of Everyday Injustice.Everyday Injustice is a podcast from Davis Vanguard, a nonprofit watchdog news organization based in Davis, California. Their show dives into issues like reform, mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, and more. In this episode, they speak with Stephanie Akhter, director of the Women’s Justice Commission at the Council on Criminal Justice, about why women’s involvement in the criminal legal system is rising, how their experiences differ from men’s, and what meaningful reform actually requires.If you like what you hear, check out Everyday Injustice here: https://davisvanguard.org/everyday-injustice-a-criminal-justice-reform-podcast/

Today Lawyer and human rights advocate Nicolás Laino discusses how poverty, violence, and inequality contribute to women’s criminalization. He shares stories from his work as a public defender in Argentina, the importance of early, gender-sensitive legal aid, and how lawyers and policymakers can better support women behind bars. Nicolás also highlights global efforts to train legal professionals and include people with lived experience in shaping justice.To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in this episode, visit womenbeyondwalls.org/nicolasPhoto essay - women in prison in Argentina - drug offences: theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/07/argentina-drug-offences-women-jails-photo-essayGrassroots Justice Network: grassrootsjusticenetwork.orgUN Legal Aid Principles and Guidelines:penalreform.org/issues/pre-trial-justice/4716-2/legal-aid-principles-guidelines/https://legalempowermentfund.orgThe Woman in the Line movie:imdb.com/title/tt27698095/Follow Women Beyond WallsOn Instagram: instagram.com/womenbeyondwallsOn Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/women-beyond-walls/On BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/did:plc:x4hfl72t7456bi2w2ocajb6c

Women are the fastest-growing prison population worldwide, often locked up for low-level drug offenses tied to poverty, coercion, or survival. In this minisode, Marie Nougier from the International Drug Policy Consortium talks about moving beyond punitive drug laws that harm women and what compassionate, evidence-based alternatives could look like.Learn more about the International Drug Policy Consortium: idpc.net10-point plan: Gender-sensitive drug policies for women (2021):www.penalreform.org/resource/10-point-plan-gender-sensitive-drug-policies-for-women“No One Believed Me”: A Global Overview of Women Facing the Death Penalty for Drug Offenses:https://dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/No-One-Believed-Me-A-Global-Overview-of-Women-Facing-the-Death-Penalty-for-Drug-Offenses.pdf IDCP: Justice is setting them free: Women, drug policies, and incarceration in Latin America:​​https://idpc.net/publications/2023/11/justice-is-setting-them-free-women-drug-policies-and-incarceration-in-latin-america To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in this episode, visit www.womenbeyondwalls.org/marieFollow Women Beyond Walls:On Instagram: instagram.com/womenbeyondwallsOn Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/women-beyond-walls/On BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/did:plc:x4hfl72t7456bi2w2ocajb6c

Some say that when you imprison a mother, you imprison a family. Today, Dr. Shona Minson, Researcher at Oxford University’s Centre for Criminology, shares her groundbreaking work on the often invisible impact of maternal imprisonment on children. She goes beyond stereotypes that label incarcerated women as “bad mothers,” showing how poverty, stigma and systemic discrimination push women into prison and how these injustices reverberate through generations.BBC Video, What happens when your Mum goes to prison: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYLKW4aOhWETalking About Methods Podcast: Shona Minson on Vicarious Trauma in Socio-legal research: open.spotify.com/episode/0ZBIzHyDYOf1DohjY4gzavYouTube: Safeguarding Children when Sentencing Mothers: youtube.com/watch?v=XBY7hjsb-O0To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in Pamela’s episode, visit www.womenbeyondwalls.org/shonaFollow Women Beyond WallsOn Instagram: instagram.com/womenbeyondwallsOn Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/women-beyond-walls/On BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/did:plc:x4hfl72t7456bi2w2ocajb6c

From unpaid fines to laws that punish women for surviving violence, the system is locking up women who are simply trying to survive. Instead of addressing root causes, we’re criminalising poverty.In this minisode, Olivia Rope, Executive Director of Penal Reform International, challenges us to go beyond the surface, to really listen to women’s stories and even question the system itself.We also talk about what’s working, including the community-based alternatives to prison, as well as the bold leadership and investment we need from the women’s rights movements to really make change happen.Learn more about Penal Reform International: www.penalreform.orgFrom Poverty to Punishment Report: www.womenbeyondwalls.org/povertytopunishmentTo learn more about some of the issues touched upon in Olivia’s episode visit: From unpaid fines to laws that punish women for surviving violence, the system is locking up women who are simply trying to survive. Instead of addressing root causes, we’re criminalising poverty.In this minisode, Olivia Rope, Executive Director of Penal Reform International, challenges us to go beyond the surface, to really listen to women’s stories and even question the system itself.We also talk about what’s working, including the community-based alternatives to prison, as well as the bold leadership and investment we need from the women’s rights movements to really make change happen.Learn more about Penal Reform International: www.penalreform.org/From Poverty to Punishment Report: www.womenbeyondwalls.org/povertytopunishmentTo learn more about some of the issues touched upon in Olivia’s episode visit: www.womenbeyondwalls.org/pod

Across the world, women are being locked up in growing numbers—often not for serious crimes, but because they are poor, they’ve survived violence, or the system failed them.In Season 2 of the Women Beyond Walls Podcast, we speak to women around the world who’ve lived through incarceration and those reimagining what justice could look like.

On the fifth episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation by Debbie Kilroy OAM, the CEO of Sisters Inside, one of Queensland’s leading criminal solicitors, and one of Australia's leading advocates for the human rights of women in the criminal justice system. On this episode of Women Beyond Walls, Debbie shares her own compelling life-story and shines a powerful spotlight on the many injustices that still prevail in the criminal justice system. How does youth criminalisation feed in to the issue of the over-incarceration of women? Why is it vital to centre the voices of women with lived prison experience? What needs to happen to change lives and to change the system? Debbie unpacks all of this and more on this episode. Visit the Women Beyond Walls website to find out more.

On the third episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation by Samantha Chong, a former prosecutor and practicing criminal defence lawyer based in Malaysia. In this insightful episode Samantha and Sabrina examine some of the reasons behind the incarceration of women in Malaysia and discuss why the mandatory death sentence given for many drugs offences needs to challenged. Ahead of International Women's Day 2022, this episode unpicks some of the stereotypes around drug trafficking and asks us to consider the vital role legal professionals can play in breaking the bias that exists for women in touch with the criminal justice system.

On the first episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, host Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation with Susan Kigula. In 2002, Susan, then a young mother, was convicted of the murder of her husband and was sentenced to death. At the time, Uganda carried the mandatory death penalty for murder. Susan spent over a decade on death row in Uganda. During her time in prison, she invested in her own education and in the education of the women with her. She went on to become the lead applicant in a case that led to the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in the country and was eventually released from prison in 2016. Since her release, Susan has been a prominent advocate for death penalty abolition, traveling the world to speak about her experiences on death row.