A World Apart—Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars

To mark the publication of Soros Justice Fellow Cristina Rathbone’s new book, A World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars (Random House), OSI hosted a panel discussion. Speakers included:

• Cristina Rathbone, Investigative Journalist and Author;
• Eve Ensler, Author and Activist, V-Day, The Vagina Monologues;
• Vivian Nixon, Executive Director, College and Community Fellowship, CUNY Graduate Center;
• Deborah Small, Executive Director, Break the Chains (moderator).

Cristina Rathbone spent five years visiting women prisoners at MCI-Framingham outside of Boston. A World Apart provides a first-hand look at prison and the women Rathbone came to know there. The book also describes the author’s long legal struggle to gain access to the women inside. It took Rathbone a full year and two law suits against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to win access to the women and hear their stories. A World Apart shows why prison officials are so eager to keep journalists out.

Women are the fastest-growing population incarcerated in the United States; over 950,000 women are currently under some form of correctional supervision. Putting a human face to the statistics, Rathbone examines the devastating consequences of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, the use of male guards for women prisoners, substandard medical care that leads to high rates of suicide, and the drastic effects skyrocketing incarceration rates have on millions of families across the country.

Read a summary of the event.

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