We are really looking forward to our 28th public meeting tonight A Woman's Place is NOT in prison. To celebrate, we are launching our new website with this updated post detailing all the public events we have organised since 2017 womansplaceuk.org/2021/10/27/rec… Image @LilyLilyMaynard
We think the new web site looks fabulous and we hope it will enable everyone to more easily find all our resources, blogs and statements (as well as better understanding what our campaign is about). womansplaceuk.org/about/
Thank you to all the women who have helped us organise meetings all over UK and supported right of women to speak and to self-organise. We want to ensure that women’s voices are heard in all areas of public life women’s rights are upheld in law and policy. womansplaceuk.org/wpuk-manifesto…
Our campaign resolutions or ‘wants’ are:
•Women have a right to self-organise
•An end to violence against women
•Nothing about us without us
•The law must work for women
•Sex matters.
We look forward to seeing lots of you tonight. We will be recording the fabulous speakers for our YouTube channel and there will be people live-tweeting the event at #WPUKPrisons if you would like to follow the discussion in real time.
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We are setting up here for A Woman’s Place is NOT in prison. We are looking forward to a brilliant discussion tonight. If you can’t be here in person. you can follow #WPUKPrisons for live tweets. Speakers will be filmed and recordings uploaded to our YouTube channel.
Welcome from Charlie Weinberg from Centre for Crime and Justice Studies #wpukprisons
I believe women in prison are each different and distinct, says Charlie Weinberg #WPUKprisons
Read our statement on the court ruling which dismissed the claim by FDJ, a woman prisoner who had suffered a sexual assault by a male prisoner whilst in a women’s prison. Further proof, were it needed, that UK law does not work for women. womansplaceuk.org/2021/07/07/wom…
Women make up 5% of the total prison population in England & Wales (in Scotland the figure is 5.5%).
80% of women have been sentenced for a non-violent offence.
70% women in prison are survivors of domestic abuse.
The right of women to determine the language that describes us is not an abstract demand. It is rooted in the material reality of our lives. It is vital for us to describe our experience; to uphold & improve our rights. Our manifesto: womansplaceuk.org/wpuk-manifesto…#Cervix#Women#Lab21
Our manifesto has a long list of demands to be enacted so that society can begin to address the oppression and discrimination women face. We are tired of being told to wait for equality. We refuse to be told how and when we can make these demands or the language we must use.
The fact that there are so many demands is an indictment of a political estate which continues to fail women. Women have been repeatedly let down by politicians across the spectrum and organisations which should be advocating for and with us.
We recently co-hosted a meeting with @portsmouthuni to launch a series on feminism in 21st C. We were disappointed that the Dean did not permit filming. We have therefore published texts of all speeches so you can read what they said #WPUKPortsmouthwomansplaceuk.org/2021/09/18/wom… 1/5
We've just tidied up our chart (and rationalised the colours). So far over 230 political representatives have been contacted by their constituents raising concerns about women in prisons.
When you have emailed, please complete this very simple form so that we can add this to our data and build a picture of which political representaives care about their constituents' concerns and which do not. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
Since it is becoming increasingly clear that women cannot trust political parties to do the right thing by us, we will need to continue organising ourselves. We are delighted to be working with @CrimeandJustice on this next meeting. Book your ticket here eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-womans-pla…
Women make up 5% of the total prison population in England & Wales (in Scotland the figure is 5.5%).
80% of women have been sentenced for a non-violent offence.
70% women in prison are survivors of domestic abuse.
Women prisoners are more likely to report mental health problems, physical disability, having drug and alcohol problems, money worries and housing worries and twice as many women as men self-harm.