More Than A Magazine, A Movement
We send Ms. to 5,547 federal, state and county prisoners, and hundreds of shelters across the country. That’s a fraction of the total, but it’s a number we’re very proud of and hope to keep growing. Over the 19 years since this program’s birth, we’ve discovered that even this small gesture of recognition, support and information means a lot.
Women in prison often spend 17 hours a day isolated in their cells, with no reading material except the Bible, or with only books and magazines they must share with hundreds of other women. And this past year has seen reading bans inside prisons grow at a more concerning rate than those in public schools and libraries.
If you would like the deep satisfaction of knowing you’re a part of letting women know they’re not alone, please make a tax-deductible contribution to the Ms. Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program.
We send Ms. to 5,418 women in federal, state and county prisons through the Ms. magazine Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program—funded by charitable contributions earmarked for this purpose, as well as Ms. community members who buy an extra membership and subscription for a friend they don’t know. Over the 18 years since this program’s birth, we’ve discovered that even this small gesture of recognition, support and information means a lot.
Out of sight should not mean out of mind and heart. But the tragedy for women in prison is that it often does. This invisibility keeps many from realizing how much women in prison may resemble them.
That’s why we started the Ms. magazine Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program. For a tax-deductible donation of $25, you can send Ms. to a woman in prison or a domestic violence shelter for a year. And for just $10 more ($35 total), you can get a year’s worth of Ms. for yourself as well.
The Ms. Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program lets women on the inside know they are not alone. Every American should be ashamed that this country puts a greater proportion of its citizens in prison than any other nation on earth, because of racism, sexism and also because in many states, the Prison Industrial Complex allows corporations to build and run prisons for profit.
We at Ms. magazine want women in prison to know they are seen and valued. Because domestic violence shelters can be almost as isolating as prisons—and often lack libraries or any reading material, just as many prisons do—we decided to include women in those shelters, too. That’s why we started the Ms. Magazine Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program.
This March, for Women’s History Month, the Ms. Blog is profiling Wonder Women who have made history—and those who are making history right now. Join us each day as we bring you the stories of iconic and soon-to-be-famous feminist change-makers. The following is excerpted from a talk given by Gloria Steinem in November 2013, the night before […]