The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/tag/women-and-justice/)
A stronger version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), reinforced to protect women from armed stalkers and increase funds for survivors of domestic violence, is shaping up as a test of the appetite for justice reform in the Biden era. One big sticking point for gun control critics is a provision barring anyone convicted of stalking from purchasing a firearm.
With over 200,000 women and girls incarcerated in the United States, the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls is challenging the Biden administration to rectify the faults of a punitive criminal justice system he helped support.
The Crime Report is proud to spotlight ten individuals whose work not only symbolizes the emerging roles of women as justice change-makers, but also reflects the issues that dominated the justice agenda during 2018. Our picks include Christine Blasey Ford whose testimony at the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings riveted the nation.
Criminal justice reform has not helped women to the same extent that it has benefited men, says a study from the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College. Drawing from women’s experience at Rikers Island, the report argues that reform should be trauma-informed and gender-responsive to account for women’s unique needs.
The number of women in the correctional system has grown fourteen-fold since 1970, making them the fastest growing incarcerated jail population in the U.S. Almost all are poor and more than 80 percent are mothers. Yet the special challenges they face remain largely overlooked in jail reform efforts, a Vera Institute study reports.