WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
20 May 2015 |

Resources from the Working Group on Women, Drug Policies and Incarceration

The exceptional situation of women incarcerated for drug-related offences
new report by Articulación Feminista highlights how deprivation of liberty for drug offenses affects women in Colombia, Mexico, and Chile.

Argentina's Pagina12 newspaper interviews Coletta Youngers
In an interview with Pagina12, a major Argentine news outlet, WOLA's Coletta Youngers outlines the effect of the "war on drugs" on women in the Americas.

Portraits from Prison Tell Stories of Women in the Drug War
In a new analysis, Mary Miller Flowers of the Open Society Foundations highlights the photo essay and the effects of incarceration on women in the Americas.

United Nations Crime Congress: Addressing the causes, consequences of the over-incarceration of women for drug-related offenses
At the 2015 United Nations Crime Congress in Doha, IDPC presented on the situation of women incarcerated on drug crimes, offering important insights into this oft-overlooked issue to an international audience. To see what they presented, click here.

Project contributes to the 2015 Women and Justice conference
Working Group member Corina Giacomello offered a gendered-focused analysis of women and incarceration, and how the drug trade and drug laws affect women in particular, at the 2015 Conference on Women, Prison, and Gender-Based Violence
 
Women in the international drug policy debate
Writing for Voices of the Phoenix, working group member Corina Giacomello outlines how inequality, impunity, and gender asymmetries affect women in Latin America. 
 
Project presented before major UN drug policy body
At the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna, working group member Marie Nougier (IDPC) presented on the women and incarceration project. The testimony was a major achievement because despite being the leading drug policy arm of the United Nations, the CND has long insulated itself from the growing rejection of punitive drug policies throughout the world.
 
Semana Magazine: The "War on Drugs" has been primarily a war on poor women and families
Writing for Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, working group member Sergio Chaparro (Dejusticia) identifies the ways in which current drug policies target women and other vulnerable populations.

Women, drug offenses and penitentiary systems in Latin America
In this seminal 2013 paper, Working Group member Corina Giacomello outlines the effects drug laws and penitentiary systems have on women in Latin America.

Using employment to promote reintegration curb recidivism
As many as 70 million people in the United States have criminal records which can limit their abilities to secure employment–even if the offenses they were convicted for were non-violent. In a memo for Latin American audiences, Working Group member Adam Schaffer outlines new reforms to promote reintegration of people with criminal records through "Ban the Box" reforms.

Office of the Ombudsperson of Costa Rica promotes second chances for incarcerated women
In an article by the Costa Rican Judicial Observatory, Zhuyem Molina explains a new initiative to create more proportional punishments for women who introduce drugs into prisons, offering them an alternative to long-term imprisonment. 

OAS Working Paper: Women and drugs in the Americas
This policy working paper from the Organization of American States compiles resources from throughout the region on the issue of women and drugs in the Americas.

Photo essay and project featured in Truthout
On June 11, the project and photo essay were featured on the independent news website "Truthout".

Project contributes to media coverage of women and incarceration in Mexico
In an article published by El Daily Post (originally via Animal Político), data and commentary from working group members contribute to a story on women, drug policies and incarceration in Mexico.

Mexican TV station Milenio interviews Corina Giacomello on women, drug policies and incarceration.
In a widely-viewed segment with Carlos Puig of Milenio, Giacomello discussed the project and the issue in Mexico and the region (Spanish only).