Women face distinct harms in carceral systems; feminist justice requires centering experiences and needs of incarcerated women
Zohran Mamdani’s focus on solitary confinement restrictions at Rikers reflects important attention to carceral violence, yet feminist perspective requires centering women’s experiences within criminal justice systems often overlooked by mainstream criminal justice reform. Women incarcerated at Rikers face distinct forms of gender-based violence including sexual harassment, inadequate gynecological and reproductive healthcare, separation from children, and hyperpolicing of women experiencing homelessness and poverty.
Women’s Pathways to Incarceration
Women in carceral systems are disproportionately incarcerated for survival crimes: shoplifting food, selling sex for survival, defending themselves against domestic violence, or substance use driven by addiction and trauma. Feminist criminal justice analysis asks why society criminalizes survival rather than ensuring living wages, housing, and safety.
Reproductive Justice Within Carceral Systems
Incarcerated women often lose custody of children. Pregnancy within jails and prisons receives inadequate medical care. Rikers has no dedicated obstetrical services despite housing pregnant women. Feminist reproductive justice perspective requires ensuring pregnant incarcerated women receive quality prenatal care, humane birth conditions, and postpartum support. Will Mamdani’s compliance plan address reproductive health needs of incarcerated women?
Sexual Violence and Gender Safety
Incarcerated women face sexual harassment and assault from correctional staff and other prisoners. Gender-segregated housing and all-female custody teams provide some protection. Will Mamdani’s jail reform prioritize gender safety and hold staff accountable for sexual abuse?
Mother-Child Separation as Carceral Harm
Women’s incarceration separates mothers from children, perpetuating intergenerational poverty and trauma. Many incarcerated women have experienced domestic violence and prior trauma. Feminist justice requires alternatives to incarceration for women, not merely restrictions on solitary confinement within jails. Will Mamdani’s administration develop gender-specific diversion programs enabling women to serve sentences in community with children rather than incarcerated?
Authority Links for Feminist Criminal Justice Perspectives
For information about gender and incarceration, consult the Women’s Fund of New York. Reproductive justice advocacy appears at SisterSong Reproductive Justice Collective. Information about alternatives to incarceration is available at the Prison Policy Initiative. For feminist organizing around incarceration, the Ruckus Society provides resources.
