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 fina...
Oct 05, 2022•36 min
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 Ou...
Jun 30, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 8
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, ...
Jun 16, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 7
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 sup...
Jun 02, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 6
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 ...
May 20, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 5
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...
Apr 28, 2021•46 min•Season 2Ep. 4
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 pun...
Apr 14, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 3
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.whinc...
Mar 31, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 2
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 c...
Mar 17, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Women's Health, Inc. (WHInc.) is back with another season. Tune in March 17, 2021 for our first episode. Music by Fesliyan Studios.
Mar 10, 2021•2 min
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 in...
Sep 23, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 12
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.whincthemove...
Sep 16, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 11
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 critica...
Sep 09, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 10
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 pr...
Sep 02, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 9
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 ...
Aug 26, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 8
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. Ja...
Aug 19, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 7
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...
Aug 05, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 6
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 h...
Jul 29, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 5
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 a...
Jul 22, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 4
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...
Jul 15, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Continuing our conversation with Mary Heinen McPherson, we gain more insight into the criminalization of the poor, especially of poor women. 80% of women in jails are the primary caretakers of their children, so what happens when moms get locked away for years? The incarceration of women can have immense and far-reaching implications for families and entire communities. Join us in learning from Mary’s personal experiences on what the criminal legal system does to those most vulnerable in our soc...
Jul 08, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Prior to a Michigan lawsuit brought forward by incarcerated women in 1977, women in Michigan lacked access to educational, vocational, and rehabilitative programming inside prisons. Today, there still remain great disparities between programming for men and women inside prisons. Here, we get to speak with Mary Heinen McPherson, the main plaintiff from the original case, as she shares her experiences and gives us a brief introduction into the unique issues incarcerated women face. For more inform...
Jul 01, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Learn a little more about your hosts, Bhavana and Vennela, and how it all began!
Jun 28, 2020•5 min
Welcome to Women's Health, Incarcerated., also known as WHInc. Conversations and education regarding the state of the American incarceration system and women's health. Premieres July 1, 2020.
Jun 21, 2020•4 min
