Building Justice Reform Through the Voices and Experiences of Women

Every individual with justice involvement has a past worth understanding. For women in particular, that past is often marked with violence. Data confirms this troubling picture. According to a report by Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School, as well as Women in Prison Project of the Correctional Association of New York:

94% of women studied in 1999 at New York’s Bedford Hills Correctional Facility experienced physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime, with 82% experiencing this abuse as children.

 

The correlation between individuals with abusive pasts and those who become justice involved is not a coincidence. As Kandra Clark, Fortune’s Strategic Partnerships Liaison and Senior Grant Writer, noted in her testimony to the New York City Council of Chambers on September 6, 2018:

“The intersectionality between trauma, sexual assault and incarceration is clearly evident…”

 

Inadequate mental health care to address traumatic experiences can lead impacted individuals down negative paths. In her testimony, Kandra shared her own story of substance use as an escape from pain:

“At 10 years old, drugs and alcohol were the only coping mechanisms available to suppress the symptoms of the trauma I experienced. I was very angry about what happened to me and didn’t know how to respond. I lacked a support system to confide in.”

 

Justice involvement followed soon after Kandra began using these unhealthy coping mechanisms, including time spent on Rikers Island. This period of incarceration did not offer Kandra positive paths to rehabilitation. In fact, it brought a new host of negative experiences that she internalized:

“Each and every night I spent on Rikers, I was fearful for my life and my body. It was not the other women I was incarcerated with that I feared. For me, it was the male correctional officers…”

 

Invaded privacy, harassing and sexist comments, and overly aggressive actions were regular parts of Kandra’s time in incarceration. Unfortunately, her story is not unique. According to an August 2016 Vera Institute report:

Between 2009 and 2011, women represented approximately 13 percent of people held in local jails, but 27 percent of victims of sexual victimization between other individuals with justice involvement and 67 percent of victims of sexual victimization involving staff members.

 

In order for our criminal justice system to truly be just, such glaring abuses of power must be addressed. The answer lies in those most impacted: women. As Kandra shares:

“Women impacted by the criminal justice system know what truly needs to be changed in order to drastically and immediately reform the legal system and therefore are the most compelling voices necessary at the table to lend expertise during this process.”

 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In this month and beyond, by prioritizing the voices and experiences of women, reexamining and changing toxic approaches to power, and adequately addressing the mental health needs of individuals impacted by trauma, we can build a criminal justice system that restores hope—not despair.

Discover how Kandra overcame her painful past to become a leading advocate for justice reform: Read her full testimony here.

---

*Written by Root Stitches LLC

CATEGORIES:

• DRCPP,

TAGS:

Share this Event

Back