Women Beyond Walls – Details, episodes & analysis

Today Lawyer and human rights advocate Nicolás Laino discusses how poverty, violence, and inequality contribute to women’s criminalization. He shares stories from his work as a public defender in Argentina, the importance of early, gender-sensitive legal aid, and how lawyers and policymakers can better support women behind bars. Nicolás also highlights global efforts to train legal professionals and include people with lived experience in shaping justice.

To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in this episode, visit womenbeyondwalls.org/nicolas

Photo essay - women in prison in Argentina - drug offences: theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/07/argentina-drug-offences-women-jails-photo-essay

Grassroots Justice Network: grassrootsjusticenetwork.org

UN Legal Aid Principles and Guidelines:

penalreform.org/issues/pre-trial-justice/4716-2/legal-aid-principles-guidelines/

https://legalempowermentfund.org

The Woman in the Line movie:

imdb.com/title/tt27698095/

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Harriet Wistrich is a pioneering lawyer and activist who has spent 30 years supporting survivors when the criminal legal system falls short. Today, we go beyond prejudices to discuss landmark cases where women were punished for defending themselves against abuse. Harriet explains why it’s so important for courts to consider long-term abuse, coercive control, and trauma and why legal reform is still needed to ensure women get fair trials.

To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in this episode, visit www.womenbeyondwalls.org/harriet

Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men – Harriet Wistrich’s Book: www.penguin.co.uk/books/455720/sister-in-law-by-wistrich-harriet/9781804995990

CWJ Report Women Who Kill: How the State Criminalizes Women We Might Otherwise Be Burying – 2021

Centre for Women’s Justice: www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk

International Feminist Legal Network: www.feminist-legal.com

Video: Emma Humphreys - An Inspiring Legacy by Pratibha Parmar

Video: Fri’s Story (CWJ):

https://vimeo.com/889156729/29c0b14998?fl=pl&fe=vl

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On the fifth episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation by Debbie Kilroy OAM, the CEO of Sisters Inside, one of Queensland’s leading criminal solicitors, and one of Australia's leading advocates for the human rights of women in the criminal justice system. On this episode of Women Beyond Walls, Debbie shares her own compelling life-story and shines a powerful spotlight on the many injustices that still prevail in the criminal justice system. How does youth criminalisation feed in to the issue of the over-incarceration of women? Why is it vital to centre the voices of women with lived prison experience? What needs to happen to change lives and to change the system? Debbie unpacks all of this and more on this episode. Visit the Women Beyond Walls website to find out more.

On the fourth episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation by Jhody Polk, the Founder/Director of the Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Hub (LEAH) and Director of Community Justice at the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding in the USA. LEAH is the home of the National Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative and is the first Participatory Defense Hub in the state of Florida. Jhody, a formerly incarcerated Jailhouse Lawyer and powerful advocate for change, explains why she believes we all need to be more open to learning - and unlearning - in the pursuit of justice for all. Sharing with us some of the barriers facing women both inside prisons and outside in their communities, Jhody powerfully unpacks the reasons she remains hopeful in the face of injustice and asks us all to consider what is "ours to do" in tackling the over-incarceration of women worldwide. 

On the third episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation by Samantha Chong, a former prosecutor and practicing criminal defence lawyer based in Malaysia. In this insightful episode Samantha and Sabrina examine some of the reasons behind the incarceration of women in Malaysia and discuss why the mandatory death sentence given for many drugs offences needs to challenged. Ahead of International Women's Day 2022, this episode unpicks some of the stereotypes around drug trafficking and asks us to consider the vital role legal professionals can play in breaking the bias that exists for women in touch with the criminal justice system.

On the second episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, host Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation by her friend and former colleague Simitie Lavaly from Sierra Leone. Simitie is the former Executive Director of AdvocAid, a qualified lawyer and women’s rights specialist, and is currently serving as a Commissioner on Sierra Leone's Human Rights Commission.  In this episode, Simitie and Sabrina explore some of the root causes of women's incarceration in Sierra Leone and her work with AdvocAid where she represented women on death row. Simitie explains in this episode why it is important for all people - especially legal professionals - to look beyond the stereotypes that surround women's incarceration.

On the first episode in the inaugural season of the Women Beyond Walls podcast, host Sabrina Mahtani is joined in conversation with Susan Kigula. In 2002, Susan, then a young mother, was convicted of the murder of her husband and was sentenced to death. At the time, Uganda carried the mandatory death penalty for murder. Susan spent over a decade on death row in Uganda. During her time in prison, she invested in her own education and in the education of the women with her. She went on to become the lead applicant in a case that led to the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in the country and was eventually released from prison in 2016. Since her release, Susan has been a prominent advocate for death penalty abolition, traveling the world to speak about her experiences on death row.

Over 741,000 women are in prison worldwide. The rate of women’s incarceration is growing at a faster rate than that of men’s. Women Beyond Walls is a podcast that takes you beyond tired prison stereotypes to listen to real-life stories from incredible individuals – women with lived experience of the justice system, feminist lawyers, activists and experts – all committed to seeing an end to the over-incarceration and over-criminalization of women worldwide. Our inaugural season is edited by Hueman Group Media, a podcast company for social change and impact.

Our first episode drops on November 18.

Women are the fastest-growing prison population worldwide, often locked up for low-level drug offenses tied to poverty, coercion, or survival. In this minisode, Marie Nougier from the International Drug Policy Consortium talks about moving beyond punitive drug laws that harm women and what  compassionate, evidence-based alternatives could look like.

Learn more about the International Drug Policy Consortium: idpc.net

10-point plan: Gender-sensitive drug policies for women (2021):

www.penalreform.org/resource/10-point-plan-gender-sensitive-drug-policies-for-women

“No One Believed Me”: A Global Overview of Women Facing the Death Penalty for Drug Offenses:

https://dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/No-One-Believed-Me-A-Global-Overview-of-Women-Facing-the-Death-Penalty-for-Drug-Offenses.pdf 

IDCP: Justice is setting them free: Women, drug policies, and incarceration in Latin America:

​​https://idpc.net/publications/2023/11/justice-is-setting-them-free-women-drug-policies-and-incarceration-in-latin-america  

To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in this episode, visit www.womenbeyondwalls.org/marie

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Today, Rosma Karlina talks about her experiences with drug use and her time in prison, highlighting the harm caused by incarceration and forced rehabilitation programs. She also explains why health-focused, human-rights approaches like peer support, counselling, and community programmes are so important for women who use drugs.

Rosma is the director of SPINN, an Indonesian community group supporting women and trans women who use drugs. She is also part of the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women. 

Learn more about the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women: theinfiw.com

To learn more about some of the issues touched upon in this episode, visit www.womenbeyondwalls.org/rosma

Follow Women Beyond Walls

On Instagram: instagram.com/womenbeyondwalls

On Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/women-beyond-walls/

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