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sarabz's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. It does a great job of capturing the diverse ways, both large and small, that women in prison resist the daily injustices they are faced with. The stories of resistance are given context with a thoughtful presentation of what those injustices look like, both through statistics and through personal stories.
cebolla's review against another edition
4.0
Another book that I should have read years ago. Even for someone as deep in prison abolition work as I am, there was still some shocking statistics in this study. My only complaint was that it was out of date, which obviously isn't the author's fault
letsgolesbians's review against another edition
4.0
Great starting off point for those who are, like me, new to the subject of prison reform/replacement and the issues within prisons. Some of the language is a little out-dated, obviously, but there is an effort to be inclusive (there was an added chapter about immigration detainment centers as well as how trans people are being treated in prisons).
gn606's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderfully written book on the oppression of women by the U.S. carceral state. Most of the testimonies of women are just absolutely heartbreaking. I cried several times while reading this. The book is not just about the types of oppression these women face, but more specifically how they resist and defy them. Law notes how women are missing from most literature, media cover, and activist focus on prison / prisoners - it's primarily male dominated. Even laws or reforms that affect federal and state prison are created with a masculine perspective of prisoners, and while they may improve conditions for men they can sometimes make things worse for women. Women prisoners have specific needs and issues that differ from their male counterparts such as pregnancy, child birth, and gynecological health. Women in prison are also 3x more likely than men to be assaulted and 3x more likely to be living with HIV or AIDS. Women also deal more often with custody battles. Law emphasizes that just because there isn't much coverage on women's resistance in prison doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, it does and often. Their ways of resistance are also different compared to men. While men are more often to riot and go on hunger or work strikes, women will resist in regards to fighting for better education, creating peer resources, building communities and solidarity among themselves, writing grievances and taking cases to court (despite inevitable retaliation from prison staff), helping each other retain custody of children and much more. This is just a basic overview of the the things covered in this book, Law goes into great detail using testimonials and research to cite instances of oppression and resistance from the 1970s till 2009 when it was originally published. It's second addition, published in 2012, goes into even greater historical context of incarcerated women and includes a section on transgender, transsexual, intersex, and gender-variant people in prison. I must note that Law discusses all of this from a radical leftist perspective and emphasizes abolition as the only way to truly end this type of oppression. Law also includes many resources for readers to learn more and also a detailed resource list of organizations that help women in prison.
ocereadsstuff's review against another edition
5.0
The reality that women face in prison often go unheard. This book not only shines a light on the harsh, inhumane conditions that are inherent to imprisonment, but the ways in which women have resisted them.
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