Women and the Prison System
Madison was a student in AMS311s Prison Art, Literature, and Protest this summer! This research comes from her final project.
Part 1: An Outside Look at Women and the Prison System
Carceral feminism is the idea that “increasing policing, prosecution, and imprisonment” is the solution to reducing violence against women. Some examples of the implementation of carceral feminism into US law include the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity and Reconciliation Act. VAWA was a federal law signed by Bill Clinton in 1994, which attempted to reduce domestic violence by increasing police responsiveness to domestic violence calls and increasing sentencing for abusers. However, not long after, Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity and Reconciliation Act in 1996, which reformed VAWA. This reform placed a five-year limit on welfare, required recipients to work after two years, and placed a lifetime ban on welfare for anyone who was convicted of a drug felony, violated probation, or violated parole (whether the convictions were valid). As a result, many, especially women of color, were ineligible for welfare, and had no means of escaping their abusive relationships, making VAWA otherwise useless and ineffective at fulfilling its intended purpose. (Law 2014)
Aside from the reform, there are many other issues with carceral feminism. To begin with, it fails to acknowledge that police are often instigators of violence. An example of this is the case of Cherie Williams. She was a 35-year-old African American woman who attempted to call the cops to report domestic violence. However, instead of responding to the call and arresting the abuser, the officers arrested and committed violence against her, even threatening to harm her in the future. In addition, carceral feminism fails to acknowledge the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system. Many victims who take their cases to court are often dismissed, invalidated, or blamed. The criminal justice system is controlled by men, and thus controlled by misogyny and ignorance of the needs and struggles of women. Additionally, carceral feminism fails to take into account the role of race, gender identity, immigration status, and social and economic inequities. As stated by Law, “Women marginalized by their identities, such as queers, immigrants, women of color, trans women, or even women who are perceived as loud or aggressive, often do not fit preconceived notions of abuse victims and are thus arrested.” (Law 2014)
Moreover, even if officers respond to the calls properly, incarceration rates of abusers are very low, with only 5 out of 1000 reported cases leading to incarceration. (Fulcher-Melendy 2021) Despite there being a great push to persuade women to report rapes to the police, the majority of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported because contrary to the beliefs proposed by carceral feminism, most victims do not want the incarceration of their assailant; they just want the violence to end.
For those in favor of carceral feminism, some questions to ask are: “Is incarceration justice for a sexual assaulter/domestic abuser/rapist? Do they learn, reflect, or feel guilty for what they’ve done? Does it provide closure for the victim? Does it help the victim heal?” As stated frankly by Fulcher-Melendy, “Prisons themselves are incapable of changing rapists.” (2011, pp. 11) In fact, rather than encouraging assailants to reflect on their violent actions, and seek to reform themselves, “male sex roles, violence, and power relations which lead to rape in the first place, are strongly reinforced within prison.” (Fulcher-Melendy, 2011, pp.11) In other words, carceral feminism is ineffective. And even worse, it diverts attention and resources away from real solutions. This includes programs that assist survivors in escaping abusive relationships by providing shelter, public housing, and welfare, community interventions, and long-term organizing. (Law 2014) These alternative solutions will be discussed later in Part 3 of this paper.
Part 2: An Inside Look of Women and the Prison System
Carceral feminism fails to effectively protect and support victims of domestic violence, and as a consequence, many women have been incarcerated for acts that were a means for their, and often their children’s, protection and survival. An example is the case of Marissa Alexander, a mother in Florida, who was routinely abused by her husband. During one incident, she fired a warning shot to protect herself from her husband. Instead of the police arresting the husband on accounts of domestic abuse, or providing Alexander with the resources she needed to leave her husband and find a safe place, she was arrested and prosecuted for aggravated assault. Alexander is not the only victim “forced to endure additional assault by the legal system.” In 2013, 67% of women sent to prison in the state of New York for murder were abused by that person; 93% in California. And in the past decades, the number of incarcerated women has continued to increase. (Law 2014)
Both within the legal system and inside the prison themselves, women are subject to a double standard. As stated by Davis, “There has always been a tendency to regard those women who have been publicly punished by the state for their misbehaviors as significantly more aberrant and far more threatening to society than their numerous male counterparts.” (Davis, 2011, pp. 66) As a result, women often receive longer sentences, with the justification that while men are there for punishment, women are there to be “reformed and retrained, a process that…required time.” (Davis, 2011, pp. 72) Additionally, longer sentences for women were supported by the belief that “genetically inferior” women needed to be “removed from society for as many of their childbearing years as possible.” In addition to longer sentences, while men are treated as criminals, women are treated as insane. As a result, a significantly greater proportion of women are sent to psychiatric institutions and prescribed psychiatric drugs.
Despite this view that incarcerated women are more threatening, the struggles of incarcerated women are often overlooked, as they only constitute a minor proportion of the incarcerated population. WIthin the prison itself, there are no arrangements made to accommodate sentenced women, their needs often neglected. In Davis’ book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, she cited an excerpt from Shakur’s autobiography that accurately describes the treatment of incarcerated women:
“‘...confined in a men’s prison, under twenty-four surveillance of her most intimate functions, without intellectual sustenance, adequate medical attention, and exercise, and without the company of other women…” (2011, pp.62)
Furthermore, some would think that incarceration meant safety for these women. Salvation from the abuse and violence they experienced in their day to day lives from their partners. On the contrary, those who “escape” domestic violence by incarceration, only become greater victims to state violence. Prisoners’ daily lives consist of routine strip searches and “internal examination of body cavities”. Pat-frisk or room searches where they are groped or touched inappropriately. Sexual violence, rape, verbal degradation, and harassment. Those with authority abuse their power and try to lure female prisoners to engage in sex by offering or denying goods. Those who refuse or attempt to oppose authority are threatened with force, violence, and sometimes even solitary confinement, until they concede. As described by the 1996 Human Rights Watch report, “...prison is a space in which the threat of sexualized violence that looms in the larger society is effectively sanctioned as a routine aspect of the landscape of punishment behind prison walls.” (Davis, 2011, pp.78) Similarly, in LeFlouria’s book Chained in Silence, she describes the prison environment as “...incessantly tormented by physical violence and rape” with “sexual predators that sometimes invaded the women’s quarters.” (2015, pp. 38-39)
Despite the horrid treatment and violation of women’s bodies and rights, those guilty of committing these actions rarely show remorse. Some justified their actions by stating that “women prisoners had rare opportunities for ‘male contact’” and therefore “welcomed” these actions. Others believed they could continue because they would not be held accountable or face any consequences. And some were not even aware of the wrong in their actions until a group of women reenacted the strip search that is so commonly performed on women in prisons. Many of the prison guards in the audience denied what they saw before them, in shock that that was how their actions were perceived. That’s when the reality hit that “without the uniform, without the power of the state [the strip search] would be sexual assault.” (Davis, 2011, pp. 83)
The mistreatment of women is magnified for women of color, especially Black women. In the past, Black women were often segregated from White women, disproportionately sentenced to men’s prisons, and received forms of punishment that overlooked their gender. In addition to this, they are deprived of proper medical treatment and overall care for their well being. A great illustration of this occurrence is described in Shakur’s autobiography. In it, she describes how her doctor refused to confirm her pregnancy, instead advocating that she had an “intestinal disorder”. Later, when she was having complications with her pregnancy, he insisted she receive an abortion saying “it will be better for you and for everyone else.’” (Shakur, 2016, pp. 126) This mistreatment wasn’t limited to the prison doctor, but included everyone in the prison system. Many attempted to prevent Dr. Garrett, a proper doctor who cared for Shakur’s well-being, from treating her. In some other incidents, she was left “anemic and malnourished” and “left in a room for three days with a woman who turned out later to have active tuberculosis.” (Shakur, 2016, pp. 141-142)
Not only were Black women, like Shakur, deprived of proper medical treatment, but they were also victims of racial violence. They were disproportionately subject to be kept in solitary confinement and psych wards. If they refused orders, they were jumped and beaten. This racial violence was evident in these depictions made by Shakur, describing her experience during pregnancy:
“...a million police cars buzzing around the vehicle in which I, a woman in labor, was riding.”
“They put me in an ambulance, chained me to a stretcher, and brought me back to the Women’s House of Detention at Rikers Island.” pg 144
“My mental stability was also threatened by the round-the-clock guards who sat outside my hospital room with shotguns trained at my head.” pg 141
(2015, pp.141-144)
The worst and most prominent form of this violence was sexual violence. The sexual violence that was commonly experienced by female prisoners was heightened for women of color, as preexisting images of hypersexuality and promiscuity in these women “justified” many of the sexual assaults committed against them. (Davis, 2011, pp. 80) Much of the sentiment that existed during slavery carried over to the prison system, with many guards believeing that they “owned” the right of sexual access to Black women. As a result, many were exempt from legal punishment for raping Black women prisoners. (LeFlouria, 2015, pp. 40-41)
Part 3: Consequences and Alternative Solutions
One of the largest consequences of the prison system is the toll it takes on women’s physical, mental, and emotional health, with the largest contributing factor being the sexual violence they experienced daily. During their time in the prison, and even when they leave, many women experience anxiety, fear, and depression. Some experience insomnia or hypersomnia, PTSD, social withdrawal, low self-esteem, and feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Many develop sexual dysfunction or avoid sexual intercourse due to loss of sexual satisfaction. This sometimes even manifested into avoiding marriage or intimacy with another person all together. (LeFlouria, 2015, pp. 42-43)
As discussed in Part 1, carceral feminism is essentially ineffective at protecting women from sexual violence, or connecting them to the resources needed to support their escape from it. So, what can be done instead of relying on carceral feminism and reporting abusers to the criminal justice system?
One alternative largely advocated by the writers in the Letter to the Anti-Rape Movement is the confrontation of the assailant. What this entails is holding the assailant accountable for their actions and making them responsible for making a change. This is especially important because in the majority of rape and sexual assault cases, victims often blame themselves for what happened. This may have been because of manipulation from the assailant or ideas upheld in society. Thus, it is important that they hold the assailant responsible for their actions and not themselves. In addition, this may be more effective than reporting the assailant. As stated in the letter, by using the criminal justice system, a woman takes on a passive role, where decisions are made for her. By confronting her assailant, she has the power and autonomy to receive the closure and healing she needs. (Fulcher-Melendy, 2021, pp. 12)
This idea of confronting the assailant is greatly demonstrated by “Goldflower’s Story”. This story speaks about a woman who was being routinely abused by her husband and father-in-law. Seeking help, she sought out the women’s association in her local village. She shared her sufferings with the women, and united they sought out her abusers. They tied them up and beat them up until they promised to reform themselves. Some did choose reform, others did not. However, those who chose to continue to abuse these women, were soon confronted again by the women’s association. (Sloan, 2005)
Although the above example is a bit extreme, it promotes the idea that when women build a reliable community, they can come together and challenge the existence of sexual violence. A modern example of this community is evident in the creation of the website Creative Interventions. Creative Interventions is a website that was designed by an anti-violence advocate, Mimi Kim, to offer tools and resources to the public to help address sexual violence. A notable feature of the website is the collection of peoples’s stories and experiences with sexual violence that fosters a community so others know they are not alone.
Closing Remarks
In summation, carceral feminism has many shortcomings that fail to provide women the support and protection they need from domestic violence. A consequence of this failure is the incarceration of many women who were simply trying to escape this violence. As a result, they then become trapped in the prison system, where domestic violence is replaced by state violence. The effect of both forms of violence take a large toll on women’s physical, mental, and emotional health. There are many alternative solutions to dealing with sexual violence and recovering from its effects. This includes confronting the assailant, rather than reporting them, and developing and relying on a community of women to both confront the problem and heal from it.
Sources:
Davis, A. Y. (2011). How Gender Structure the Prison System. Are prisons obsolete? (pp. 60-83) Seven Stories Press.
Davis, A., & Shakur, A. (2016). Assata: An autobiography. Zed Books.
Fulcher-Melendy, D., & Fulcher-Melendy, D. (2021, December 13). Open Letter to the Anti-Rape Movement. The Feminist Poetry Movement. Retrieved June 17, 2022, from https://sites.williams.edu/engl113-f18/fulcher-melendy/an-open-letter-to-the-anti-rape-movement/
Kim, M. (n.d.). Creative interventions. creative interventions. Retrieved June 17, 2022, from https://www.creative-interventions.org/
Law, V., Law, V., Oduor, J.-B., Nelson, S., Watt, F., Gill, T., Chomsky, N., Marcetic, B., Elrod, A., Shaw, D., Finn, D., Pagliarini, A., Sirota, D., Marx, P., Becker, J., Stetler, H., Jamie Allinson Asli Bali Allison McManus, Allinson, J., Bali, A., … Featherstone, L. (n.d.). Against Carceral Feminism. Jacobin. Retrieved June 17, 2022, from https://jacobin.com/2014/10/against-carceral-feminism/
Sloan, S. (2005, March 1). Socialist Revolution and Women's Liberation. Liberation News. Retrieved June 17, 2022, from https://www.liberationnews.org/05-03-01-socialist-revolution-womens-lib-html/