If you missed our conversation earlier today on women's prisons in Norway and Finland, don't worry - you can still watch the recording here! A huge thank you to guests Andrea James from the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Teresa C. Younger from Ms. Foundation for Women, Terah Lawyer from CROP Organization, and our own Aishatu R. Yusuf, MPA. Ed.D for such a powerful, real, and profoundly hopeful dialogue.
Our experience visiting women’s prisons in Finland was eye-opening. From the fundamental understanding that women end up in prison due to society’s failures, to opportunities that open prisons provide to study, work, and spend time with family, to sauna access as a human right, Finland is doing many things differently. But with only 200 women in prison in the entire country, could Finland lead the way to not incarcerating women at all? We’ll discuss: - How Finland’s fundamental understanding of why women end up in prison impacts the structure and experience of incarceration - Our conversations with women incarcerated in Finland’s closed and open prisons and what we learned from them - Finland’s potential to address the root causes of incarceration and respond differently, and opportunities in the US to provide support and resources in community
