More Women In Prison Than Ever Before

by Matt Kelley · 2009-03-07 03:26:00 UTC
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Today is International Women's Day, and more women than ever before are spending it behind bars in the U.S.

Women are among the fastest growing populations in American prisons - with shocking 757 percent growth in women serving more than a year from 1977 to 2004. Today, approximately 1 in 89 women in the country is under correctional control. But the news isn't all bad - there are groups around the country doing inspiring work to help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women. The New York group Women's Prison Association published a report last week detailing a few of these organizations, I'll mention a couple of them after the jump. 

Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers helps women in prison maintain contact with their kids.

A New Way of Life works with formerly incarcerated women in California to help them rebuild after time in prison.

There are several other groups highlighted in the WPA report here.

And here's a video for International Women's Day - I've posted it before but I like it so much I just can't stop posting it. Called "Empowering the Yard," the video profiles a group of Oklahoma prisoners working as peer educators to conduct trainings for fellow prisoners on the prevention of HIV, AIDS and other STDs.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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