Women's Health, Incarcerated. (WHInc.)

Percy describes IGNITE as a cultural change…and after hearing more about it, we have to say that we agree with him. Based out of Genesee County Jail in Michigan, IGNITE is a program that offers extensive educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals. IGNITE is steadfast in its belief that education is the key to reducing recidivism and combating generational incarceration. People in the program are given time to explore a wide variety of careers, partake in group seminars addressing financial literacy and healthy lifestyle habits, and connect with community partners upon reentry. Join today’s conversation with Percy Glover, a formerly incarcerated individual at the center of IGNITE, and Deputy Clarke, a former team member of IGNITE, to learn more about this innovative work. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

While carceral settings are often branded as places of reform, individuals who experience incarceration in America often reflect on how so much of their time in this punitive environment is spent waiting: waiting for helpful services, waiting for educational resources, waiting for guidance and support. Those who do find ways to grow are often the exception to the norm. For our season 2 finale, we are joined by Ashley Goldon, a current DSW candidate and the Statewide Program Director of Nation Outside, as she takes us through her journey behind bars and shares how her time was lost and spent while in prison. Since her reentry to society, Ashley has worked tirelessly to bring her vision for a rehabilitative justice system to life. Tune in to hear her story and understand why change is so important. Find us on all podcasting platforms. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

America’s criminal legal system disproportionately traps individuals who don’t have access to many resources and come from lower-income backgrounds. With exorbitantly high bails and minimal legal aid, thousands of individuals are detained in jail just awaiting their trial. This is not news to Eileen Maher, an activist working with Vocal New York and the Justice for Women Taskforce. She is also a criminalized survivor of domestic violence and spent over two years incarcerated at Rikers, Bedford, and Albion for a crime she never committed. Tune in as we hear more about her experiences navigating the system that failed to bring her justice. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Tashoy Miller is an entrepreneur and an activist. Through her growing business, Ground Up, she hopes to assist formerly incarcerated individuals with reentry and navigating the job market. Tash herself was incarcerated in a Mississippi jail three years ago. We sat down with her to learn more about her experience with reentry after being incarcerated in a state far from her home. Tash describes the difficulty of balancing parole and probation regulations while job hunting without any systemic support. From multiple job rejections to the lasting mental health impacts of jail, tune in to hear how Tash persevered through her journey coming home. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

LGBTQI individuals, and more specifically LGBTQI people of color, are overrepresented in the U.S. criminal legal system. Why? And how does incarceration impact the health of people in this community specifically? For today’s episode, we delve into these issues by laying out a few facts and stats and speaking with expert Bradley Brockmann, a civil rights attorney and Assistant Professor at Brown University School of Public Health. Join us as we explore the experiences of individuals who identify as LGBTQI in the incarceration system, and discuss the impacts of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and its standards, specifically for transgender folks. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

LaWanda Hollister is an incoming college student and a chef who aspires to start her own food truck business. She was also incarcerated for 34 years. Today, we speak with her about the experience of entering prison as a teenager and leaving as an adult, and how one’s physical and mental health is affected by decades of being incarcerated with inaccessible healthcare. We also get a glimpse into what the COVID-19 pandemic was like behind bars. Join us as we get to know LaWanda and better learn the realities of the long-lasting impacts of growing up inside. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Incarcerated individuals gain the constitutional right to health care just as most of their other rights are taken away from them. This episode, we’re joined with Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, a medical anthropologist and OB/GYN, to unpack what this means. Tune in as we break down the concept of “jailcare,” a term used to describe many of the contradictions found in the criminal legal system, explore the implications mass incarceration has on reproductive justice, and discuss the responsibility that a punitive system has in providing adequate care. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Kayla Mach was formerly incarcerated at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. This episode follows her journey of substance use recovery and heartbreaking separation from her daughters. She is now dedicated to using various platforms to advocate for and uplift other system-impacted individuals. Be sure to tune in as we reflect on her experiences with faith-based programming and with reentry, and explore the concept of accountability. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

What is labor and delivery like for an incarcerated pregnant person? Is she shackled? Does she get to hold her baby? Today, we are joined by Dr. Deborah Landis Lewis, an OB/GYN and liaison between the women's prison in Michigan and the birthing hospital. Dr. Landis Lewis shares her expertise on what pregnancy care, labor, delivery, and the postpartum period look like for incarcerated patients. Tune in as we discuss various barriers that prevent incarcerated women from receiving the standard of care, and what healthcare providers can do to better advocate for this population. For more information on today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Fesliyan Studios, and Freesound.

Women's Health, Inc. (WHInc.) is back with another season. Tune in March 17, 2021 for our first episode. Music by Fesliyan Studios.

Incarceration is isolation. And amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, folks are more isolated than ever--having minimal interactions with their loved ones and even with legal representation. Today, Somil Trivedi continues to shed light on the sparse and ineffective public health precautions correctional facilities have taken to combat COVID-19 and what measures should be taken. Join us in our conversation to learn more about what we all can be doing on an individual level to advocate for incarcerated individuals and vulnerable communities. Spoiler alert: one of them is to please register to vote! For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

This week we’re joined by Somil Trivedi, a senior staff attorney from the ACLU, who shares his insight and experiences working to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in jails and prisons. With the pandemic in mind, we discuss the role that various stakeholders play in the criminal legal system, the responses we’ve been seeing in jails versus prisons, and how these issues speak to societal problems at large. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of violence, racism, and sexual violence. This week, we continue our conversation with Professor Michelle S. Jacobs to delve further into the ways in which state violence is committed against Black women and federal policy designed to protect survivors of domestic violence actually discriminates against Black women. Professor Jacobs goes on to describe how police violence translates into carceral violence and shares the value of thinking critically about reformist vs. abolitionist solutions to our broken criminal legal system. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of violence, racism, and sexual violence. Michelle S. Jacobs, a Professor of Law at the University of Florida, walks us through the layered nature of violence and oppression against Black women in America. During our conversation, we reckon with the fact that police killings of Black women rarely make headlines. To explain why Black women are often left out of racial discourse, Professor Jacobs unpacks the roles and stereotypes that have been prescribed to Black women throughout history. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode will contain discussion of trauma-related events and impacts including sexual assault, interpersonal or domestic violence, grief, and loss. Today, Jacqueline Williams continues to share her expertise with us regarding carceral trauma. The conversation is centered on the carceral trauma pregnant women experience and the immense impact this has on both the health of the mother as well as that of the baby. Jacqueline also talks us through the critical legislative work she is doing to improve the conditions of confinement for incarcerated pregnant individuals. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode will contain discussion of trauma-related events and impacts including sexual assault, interpersonal or domestic violence, grief, and loss. This week we invited the cofounder of the Michigan Prison Doula Initiative and a current Program Associate at the Michigan Criminal Justice Program of the American Friends Service Committee to speak with us about various forms of pre-carceral trauma individuals may experience, specifically interpersonal and structural trauma. Jacqueline Williams discusses with us the ways in which trauma during childhood, trauma prior to incarceration, and the resulting physiological reactions to trauma are criminalized, especially for girls and women. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you listen. For information on our sources for this episode, view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode discusses issues related to sexual assault, abuse, and violence. This week we continue our conversation with Asia Johnson as she shares her experiences reentering society and the opportunities she sought out that inspired and shaped her mission of working towards ending mass incarceration. From domestic violence and sexism to prison programming, Asia talks us through some of her personal experiences navigating incarceration as a woman and provides her perspective on prison abolition and criminal justice reform. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode discusses issues of trauma, sexual assault, violence, depression, and death. Our guest today is a filmmaker, essayist, poet, activist, and student, and has been formerly incarcerated. Asia Johnson speaks on pre-carceral trauma, navigating mental health behind bars, transitioning from jail to a hospital, hospital to a prison, and prison to the outside, all without adequate resources and in a debilitating environment. Join us as Asia shares her journey of growth and healing. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode discusses issues related to sexual assault, abuse, and violence.  Our entire carceral state is a mechanism of social control -- a way for those in power to abuse norms, sanctions, and laws to marginalize individuals. In our criminal legal system, the menstrual experience is a microcosm of social control, and the lack of access to menstrual products only reinforces these power structures. People who menstruate are stripped of their autonomy and are vulnerable to the abuse of officers who dictate the number and type of menstrual products they have access to. This inhumane treatment needs to end. Menstruation is natural, and accessibility to menstrual products should be a human right. Join us as we delve further into this complex topic. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Menstrual hygiene products are not free in jails and prisons across America. Policies regarding this issue are quite minimal--only recently, in 2018, did federal legislation addressing this get passed. But even then, the First Step Act only offers free menstrual products for those in federal prisons, meaning that 95% of women and girls who are incarcerated aren’t covered. In this episode, we discuss the lack of accessibility of menstrual hygiene products and the physical impacts this can have on those who menstruate. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.