Jessica William’sWilliams, Jessica K. advocacy has been, in part, shaped by personal experiences of arrest, incarceration, and male violence, which have fueled a strong commitment to advancing women’s rights. Her focus has been particularly on advocating for incarcerated and ex-incarcerated women and girls. Since moving from the United States of America to Australia in November 2010, her advocacy, lobbying, and research have extended across these countries, including the United Kingdom, highlighting the global dimensions of these critical issues. This chapter addresses the problems confronting women in the criminal justice system, particularly in the context of imprisonment. Women enter prison on charges that take few men to prison, the system operating from an age-old perspective that sees women in conflict with the law as not only transgressing the law but failing to comply with the stereotypical “requirements” that women be respectable, compliant, and “good,” as in good daughters, wives, mothers. Ironically, imprisonment takes women away from their children, with most incarcerated women being mothers despite the contention that “having children” is a barrier to women being sent to prison and hence advantaged over men. Conditions in prisons, violence, and body searches, which are in themselves a form of violence against women, as well as lack of educational programs or opportunities for employment when incarcerated, leave women at a disadvantage when they are released. The need for political action to address the conditions that lead to women’s incarceration in the first place is a given. International instruments and standards established under them, including CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) (NMR), United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) (BGR), and the third and fourth Geneva Conventions in relation to women deprived of their liberty should operate to ensure women’s safety and security whether in prison or outside it. Yet as this chapter shows, laws—whether domestic, national, or international—are simply not enough.

Lobbying for Change: One Woman’s Experiences of Incarceration and Male Violence

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2025年

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Jessica K. Williams

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Jessica William’sWilliams, Jessica K. advocacy has been, in part, shaped by personal experiences of arrest, incarceration, and male violence, which have fueled a strong commitment to advancing women’s rights. Her focus has been particularly on advocating for incarcerated and ex-incarcerated women and girls. Since moving from the United States of America to Australia in November 2010, her advocacy, lobbying, and research have extended across these countries, including the United Kingdom, highlighting the global dimensions of these critical issues. This chapter addresses the problems confronting women in the criminal justice system, particularly in the context of imprisonment. Women enter prison on charges that take few men to prison, the system operating from an age-old perspective that sees women in conflict with the law as not only transgressing the law but failing to comply with the stereotypical “requirements” that women be respectable, compliant, and “good,” as in good daughters, wives, mothers. Ironically, imprisonment takes women away from their children, with most incarcerated women being mothers despite the contention that “having children” is a barrier to women being sent to prison and hence advantaged over men. Conditions in prisons, violence, and body searches, which are in themselves a form of violence against women, as well as lack of educational programs or opportunities for employment when incarcerated, leave women at a disadvantage when they are released. The need for political action to address the conditions that lead to women’s incarceration in the first place is a given. International instruments and standards established under them, including CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) (NMR), United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) (BGR), and the third and fourth Geneva Conventions in relation to women deprived of their liberty should operate to ensure women’s safety and security whether in prison or outside it. Yet as this chapter shows, laws—whether domestic, national, or international—are simply not enough.