Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition (SHaRC) demonstration in Chicopee, MA. This demonstration is one of many organized by SHaRC members between 2003 and 2006 to contest the need for a new women’s prison in western MA. They organized educational events monthly, each with a theme such as “Homes not Jails” and “Healthcare not Jails.” Despite protests from SHaRC and community members, the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center (WMRWCC) opened in September, 2007.

In July 2009, dozens of protesters gathered in Manhattan outside of then-governor David Paterson’s office to demand an end to the practice of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth. In May 2009, both houses of the New York State Legislature passed a bill that would bar the shackling of women during labor. At the time of the rally, the bill was being reviewed by the governor’s office. This image, depicting protesters in Manhattan, was published alongside a newspaper article that focuses on some of the experiences of formerly incarcerated women who experienced the practice of shackling during childbirth. This was one of several demonstrations that Women on the Rise Telling Her Story (WORTH) organized in 2009. At least once a week,...

Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition (SHaRC) demonstration in Chicopee, MA (2006). A demonstrator holds a sign that reads, “feminists for cages,” which is an ironic reference to arguments that building women-specific jails would benefit women. The construction of women-specific jails and prisons has been supported by three main arguments: issues of overcrowding, proximity to family and support, and the need to provide women with “a place of their own.” In 2005, Sheriff Michael Ashe said that the facility in Chicopee would “serve the women’s population better.” SHaRC responded saying that women would be best served by remaining in their communities and having access to affordable housing, food, job opportunities, childcare, quality education, and health care. They argued that building healthy communities...

Ruth Asawa, a Japanese American artist, was born in 1926 and lived her whole life in Southern California until 1942 when she and her family were forced into an Arkansas internment camp for 18 months. Describing internment, Asawa notes, “I would not be who I am today had it not been for the Internment, and I like who I am." Asawa is well known for her sculptures. One piece, “Faces on a Wall”, has involved collecting plaster masks made from the faces of her friends and family for 45 years. Internment camps and prisons represent a system that seeks to dehumanize and amass individuals into a group—In Asawa’s case, internment sought to label all Japanese Americans as threats...