Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women Book

A while back, I wrote about how frustrating it was that people were not paying attention to the prison hunger strikes in California and elsewhere. But as little attention as men's resistance gets, women's resistance gets even less. And while it is true that there are many more men than women in prison, it is also true that, per the sentencing project:

The number of women in prison, a third of whom are incarcerated for drug offenses, is increasing at nearly double the rate for men. These women often have significant histories of physical and sexual abuse, high rates of HIV infection, and substance abuse. Large-scale women's imprisonment has resulted in an increasing number of children who suffer from their mother's incarceration and the loss of family ties

Long before Orange is the New Black, Victoria Law wrote about the history of prisons and how women have resisted. The book is broken down by issues - health care, sexual abuse, education, labor... For each issue Law shares the stories that prisoners have shared with her about how the system has affected them. She puts their stories in historical and political context. And she shows how those women pushed back.

I've read a lot of books, articles, and research about women in prison over the last 10 years, but this book covered new territory. Most people focus only on the victimization of the women. Rarely do you hear from the women themselves. Even more rarely do you hear about the grievances, court cases, self organized groups, hunger strikes, whistle blowing - about the women's agency.

And unlike most of the material I come across, this book is written from a radical perspective. It doesn't set out a handful of legislative reforms that could make things better. In fact, it shows how legislative reforms have hurt the women. Even reforms like The Prison Rape Elimination Act that were ostensibly meant to help prisoners, ended up hurting women prisoners. Women are written up for sexual misconduct if they have any contact with other women in the prison. No hugs. No high fives.

Instead of legislation, you will get an extensive list of recommended reading, some resources for prisoners, and encouragement to reach out to these women and support them in how they chose to resist.