Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

This past Thursday, prison policy and advocacy organization the Correctional Association of New York released Reproductive Injustice: The State of Reproductive Health Care for Women in New York State Prisons. The report is a culmination of its five-year study and, not surprisingly, details horrifying experiences for women trying to access prenatal or other reproductive health care. I wrote about two of the issues the report identified:

Despite its 2009 law prohibiting the shackling of women during labor, delivery and postpartum recovery, the Correctional Association found that prisons routinely violate that law. Maria, for instance, was placed in handcuffs and ankle cuffs when being taken to the hospital for a c-section. Maria told the officers that they were violating the law, but was cuffed nonetheless. She gave birth with one hand cuffed to the side of the hospital bed. She held her daughter for the first time while handcuffed to the bed. I wrote about Maria's and others' experience with shackling during childbirth for The Guardian.

Solitary confinement has severe repercussions both for pregnant people and for those who need to access medical care. In New York, approximately 1,600 people are placed in solitary in women's prisons each year. (Keep in mind that New York incarcerates approximately 4000 women each year.) I interviewed two women about their experiences trying to access prenatal and reproductive health care while locked in the SHU for Solitary Watch.

You can read the entire report here.