Tag: Women in Prison

Colorado-Based Water Protector Faces Trial for Involvement in Line 3 Pipeline Protest: ‘I Don’t Feel Guilty. Enbridge Should Feel Guilty.’

When Mylene Vialard followed her 21-year-old daughter across the U.S. to join the thousands of the resistance by Water Protectors led by Indigenous women at Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, her aim was clear: to help make change. The Boulder-based activist is one of several around the U.S. who face felony charges in northern Minnesota’s Aitkin County for allegedly “obstructing legal process.” Her trial is the week of Aug. 28. 

“Not taking the plea deal and going to trial is using my voice to point out where the problems are, what the issues are. And, you know, I don’t have that big of a voice, but it’s what I can do right now. The outcome of the trial is secondary to me. If we can raise the awareness and can plant seeds, it’s a victory for me.”

August 2023 Reads for the Rest of Us

Each month, we provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

I particularly enjoy books that are as entertaining as they are informative. Books that I just want to burn through because they are so good. Some call them “unputdownable,” and I dare say that on this list, you’ll find 30 that are just that.  (Another one that’s unputdownable? It’s 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution, and it’s available for pre-order now.) Happy reading!

How the International Women’s Media Foundation Fights for Women in Journalism and Strengthens Press Freedom

Last year, 12 women journalists were murdered, and the number of women journalists imprisoned rose by 64 percent. By continuing to award courageous journalists, the International Women’s Media Foundation is making it known that the threat of violence against women reporters is ever-present. Still, it also is a testament to the unwavering spirit of women journalists globally. 

Over the next several months, Ms. and IWMF will collaborate monthly to highlight the works of these journalists, all of whom are nominees or winners of the Courage in Journalism award.

(This essay is part of the “Feminist Journalism is Essential to Democracy” project—Ms. magazine’s latest installment of Women & Democracy, presented in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation.)

The Incarcerated Woman Who Wishes #MeToo Had Arrived Earlier

Celeste Blair landed in prison after a series of abusive relationships. She hopes the #MeToo movement saves younger women from a similar fate.

“They literally degraded me to the point that I felt like I was a convict and nothing more. … I’m hoping my granddaughter and my nieces are living in this new world where a girl has a lot more say.”

The Change Needed to Stop Saddling Young Black and Brown People with Massive Debt

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In addition to being sentenced to juvenile hall, many young people are ordered by the court to pay money—otherwise known as restitution. Hefty restitution orders are common and saddle young people and their families with crushing debt, while failing to provide the intended relief to survivors. Restitution also makes it harder for overpoliced communities to break free from the carceral system. If a family cannot pay, parents can be subjected to wage garnishment, tax refund interceptions and property liens—threatening the financial stability of the entire family.

California’s youth restitution system is in dire need of re-imagination so that it can be functional and effective. The REPAIR Act, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta and backed by Debt Free Justice California, does this by placing crime survivors on a secure pathway to receive accessible and timely funds through a newly formed fund.

Meet Three Women Peace-Builders and Peacekeepers

Three women who challenge traditional gender roles in peace-building and peacekeeping on a daily basis: Anny Modi, Téné Maimouna Zoungrana and Colonel Stephanie Tutton are at the forefront of the humanitarian responses, mobilizing communities, advocating for human rights and the restoration of peace. Their stories testify to their contribution to fostering positive change within peacekeeping operations and demonstrate why we need more women in peace- and political processes and U.N. Peacekeeping.

April 2023 Reads for the Rest of Us

My hope is that each of you reading this column will do some research in your own communities to find out where the threats to the freedom to read lie. Talk to your local school and public librarians. Call your legislators, sign the petitions, run for your local school board, raise hell. 

And also, keep reading. Read the 34 books on this list or whatever else you can get your hands on. Then pass those books on to your friends, your kids, your friends’ kids, or donate them to your libraries and schools.  

The ‘Anti-Life’ Implications of State Abortion Bans

In rural northern Idaho, Bonner General Hospital announced it had made the “difficult decision to discontinue providing obstetrical services.” Although the press release does not use the word “abortion,” there is no doubt it’s calling out the state’s lawmakers for enacting laws that “criminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care.”

Medical providers say they are facing impossible situations that pit their ethical obligation to patients who are dealing with traumatic and dangerous pregnancy complications against the fear of lawsuits, loss of their medical licenses and incarceration.

When Women Are Safe, We Will Finally Be Free

Safety is our most fundamental need, but the U.S. denies it to women—especially women of color. Every attack on our safety stands in the way of our freedom. We need to get serious about the problem with serious policy solutions. 

Securing safety for women is possible. State legislatures across the country are proposing legislation to ensure that people who have committed violence can’t get access to guns, support families who experience domestic violence, improve investigative processes for missing Indigenous people, and fund mental health crisis services.

(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)