the need for writing inside VT
‘woman behind bars’
‘trapped’
‘which way out’
artwork by inmates at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility
- more than 1000 women are incarcerated in Vermont in any given year
- 75% of incarcerated women suffer some form of mental illness
- imprisoned women receive little to no treatment for mental illness or addiction
- prison care is a custodial system that reduces individuals to their misdeed
- it costs $90,000 tax dollars per year to keep a woman in prison in Vermont
- most of these women need someone to believe in them
“Just being in this safe place with wonderful women strengthens me; when I think and write, it’s like a therapy session.” – recent participant
