Writer: Siena Iwasaki Milbauer
Social distancing can be an incredibly isolating experience. It is hard to feel connected to community when you can’t physically be in community. However, community organizations are stepping up to provide opportunities to connect, learn, and participate virtually.
To celebrate the wealth of online events out there, and to make content from these events accessible to folks who may not be able to virtually attend, AAOP is excited to be starting a new series of virtual event recaps. You can expect to see 1-3 of these a month, highlighting a diverse variety of online offerings.
Today’s spotlighted event is from the ACLU of Minnesota (ACLU of MN) and took place on January 13. “Women, Mass Incarceration, and Criminal Justice” was an hour-long panel moderated by Michelle Goodwin, ACLU of MN and National Executive Committee Member. Goodwin hosted a robust conversation between guests Professor Aziza Ahmed, Cynthia Chandler ESQ., and documentary filmmaker Erika Cohn on the gendered effects of mass incarceration.
The event particularly focused on how the intersection of classism, racism, and sexism makes non-economically privileged women of color the most vulnerable to our country’s unjust justice system. Chandler, who is white, spoke about how in her advocacy work, she had once had to inform an incarcerated black woman that she had been sterilized against her will while in the prison system. Chandler was able to access this information because of the economically and academically privileged position she found herself in as a white woman. Said Chandler “I knew more about her body than she did because of institutional racism.”
The panel spoke at length about the practice of nonconsensual sterilization within jails, particularly highlighting cases in California that Cohn had documented in her film “Belly of the Beast”. “When we think about the issue of sterilization, we are really thinking about the core issue of how the state tries to control women’s bodies.” noted Ahmed.
Chandler urged people who want to take action to be thoughtful about the ways they channel their time, money, and/or energy. “Always ask, am I investing in people or the institution? Is your work actually shrinking the system? [Make sure to] invest in people [and] invest in shrinking the system.”
All of the panelists expressed their hope that in the future, women won’t be left out of conversations about mass incarceration in the United States. After all, our nation has the highest incarceration rate for women in the world. The panelists also noted the importance of bringing into the light the incredible history and present of the advocacy work incarcerated women have done on behalf of themselves and their communities.
“Women, Mass Incarceration, and Criminal Justice” was the first in a four-part series ACLU of MN is hosting in 2021. The series, called “Advancing Women’s Equality”, will continue to focus on issues of gender equity. The next event is on February 8 and will center around the relationship between race, sex, and policing. Follow ACLU of MN on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/aclumn and on Instagram @aclumn for the latest updates!
Sources:
“BELLY OF THE BEAST | DOCUMENTARY FILM | OFFICIAL TRAILER”. YouTube, uploaded by Belly of the Beast, 11 Dec. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoD7VgFl9EI&feature=emb_logo.
Kajstura, Alexs, “States of Women’s Incarceration: The Global Context 2018”, Prison Policy Initiative, June 2018. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/women/2018.html. Accessed 14 Dec. 2021.
“Resources”, Women’s Prison Book Project. https://wpbp.org/about/resources/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2021.
Photo Credit: ACLU of MN
Special thanks to ACLU of MN for allowing AAOP to attend and recap this event!
If you would like to learn more about women and mass incarceration, or get involved, we recommend this list of resources put together by the Women’s Prison Book Project.