Women in prison are beyond delighted to celebrate 40 years of radical, boundary pushing drive for change. This has been a period of reflection , strategic steering of women in prisons’ next steps and celebrating the fact they stand strong and are still delivering impactful change today with a plan to stay and of course all of the past milestones and accomplishments since Women in Prison was first founded.
Celebrations have included an oral history project which provided media training to women with lived experience in which I participated .We were taught interviewing techniques for both interviewing and being interviewed. I got to learn how to use them to work with various technological recording devices such as a Dictaphone and Tascam . I then had the privilege and honor to interview two awe inspiring women integral to Women in Prisons history who have been unrelenting in their fight for equality and justice. The other ladies who took part in the media training have also interviewed phenomenal women Key to the legacy of Women in Prison .
I personally thought this was a brilliant and beautiful idea to give ladies like myself with lived experience the chance to learn new and transferable skills ,whilst helping to build confidence and a sense of accomplishment in the women whilst simultaneously capturing the voices key to Women in Prisons legacy. I personally felt it was like the voices of the older generation inspiring and sharing the history with the newer generation .
Women in Prison also held a fundraising event In which I was honoured and privileged to share my journey as a guest speaker . where all different people came together to celebrate the successes of women in prison and its heroic founder.
Women in Prison was set up by Chris Tchaikovsky in 1983 alongside criminologist Pat Carlen. Chris was moved to set up women in prison as she was shocked and horrified by the treatment in which she witnessed fellow female inmates receive whilst serving a custodial sentence at HMP Holloway in the 1970s. During her time in Prison a woman died after setting fire to her own cell.
Chris soon realized that the detrimental and damaging impact that prison was having on women, their families and the wider community was missing from public and political conversations .Outraged by this she was determined to bring about change . Chris began campaigning but in the early 1990s WIP was able to start to provide direct support to women in prison and this widened to WIP being able to provide support to women in the community via the women’s hubs .
Chris passed away in 2002 but her memory , the impactful work she did and heroic legacy will never be forgotten by those who knew and loved her and even those like myself who didn’t have the privilege to meet her personally however the work she has done and legacy she has left behind has helped to transform my life despite having not known her personally .
Direct quote from Miranda Dobson head of communications at women in prison
“Women in prisons 40th anniversary is a marker of the organisations long-held dedication to ending the harm of the criminal justice system on women’s lives. It is a reminder of our rich heritage and radical roots. Its been incredibly inspiring to learn about the organisations origins. Our founder Chris Tchaikovsky,who’s own lived experience in Holloway prison sparked the founding of women in prison and the work we still do today . Lived experience remains at the heart of what we do, and I’ve felt most proud of the co-produced work carried out in this heritage project. This includes oral history interviews carried out by the women we work with, who heard from key figures from women in prison’s work over the years. while some great progress has been made through out campaigning, and the work of our partners since 1983, much more still needs to change for women swept up by the system . Our anniversary project is a motivator to continue our legacy to bring about radical change and I’m so proud to be a part of it”.
I think it’s only right to end this blog with one of my favourite quotes from Chris Tchaikovsky “Taking the most hurt people out of society and punishing them in order to teach them how to live in society is, at best, futile. Whatever else a prisoner knows, she knows everything there is to know about punishment because that is exactly what she has grown up with. Whether it is childhood sexual abuse indifference, neglect, punishment is most familiar to her .
Photo of Natasha Ankrah one of the speakers at women in prisons 40th anniversary private funders event
