On March 19, The Fortune Society will host its annual Women’s History Month webinar platforming the unique perspectives and voices of women impacted by the criminal legal system. Panelists Serena Martin, Leah Faria, and Helen ‘Skip’ Skipper, with moderator Tiffany Vulcain, will discuss the challenges women face upon reentry from incarceration and the value of community support and reentry services.   

Ahead of the upcoming webinar, we sat down with Skip, a panelist and Executive Director of the NYC Justice Peer Initiative, to learn about her lived experience, extensive history working in peer services, and the challenges she faced as a woman during incarceration.   

Skip was impacted by the criminal legal system in a cycle that lasted for 25 years, including time spent incarcerated, being released, violating parole, and returning to jail. She shared that, as someone with a long history of substance use and untreated mental health issues, she struggled without receiving support or resources before returning to her community after release. 

Skip was later hired as a peer specialist, introducing her to what would become her life’s work. In learning about peer services, she realized that, naturally, Skip had acted as a peer specialist for others without ever realizing it.   

“When I was on Rikers Island, my main job was always suicide prevention aid, which is just someone who is incarcerated, who sits on the unit, and who is available to talk to, and people navigate the space and surroundings,” Skip explained. “People would gravitate to the ones who’d already been there, like me.”  

Skip has also worked with programs designed to support and uplift women with system involvement, such as the College and Community Fellowship, which works with women who are system-impacted and creates pathways for them to pursue higher education and/or vocational training. These types of women-focused programs are designed to address the unique challenges women face during incarceration.   

Although men make up the majority of the incarcerated population in the United States, the population of women in incarceration is rapidly growing; in many states, women’s incarceration rates are climbing at a faster rate than men’s. However, as Skip points out, the experiences and needs of incarcerated women are often overlooked.   

As women’s needs are regularly disregarded in prisons and jails, Skip explained some of the gaps in care and support.   

“We need parenting resources and nurseries. We need domestic violence resources. We need substance abuse and mental health programs. Why are we forced as a round peg to be shoved into a square hole because the system was built for the men?”  

The annual Women’s History Month webinar will further explore these topics, shedding light on some of the challenges women face during incarceration. Register here to attend the webinar to hear from Skip and all the panelists.