Prisons are perhaps the most rigidly sex-segregated institutions in contemporary society, and yet feminist critiques of mass incarceration have yet to receive widespread attention. Given the long afterlife of U.S. slavery as well as present-day disparities, scholarly and popular conversations about the prison industrial complex have rightly centered issues of race and class—however, an intersectional feminist perspective is necessary to address the fact that women have become the fastest-growing demographic of people incarcerated in the United States.

An intersectional feminist perspective on mass incarceration is essential because experiences of the criminal-legal system vary widely on the basis of factors like sexuality, language, disability, education, citizenship status, or age. Gender presents unique challenges related to healthcare, interpersonal responsibilities, and experiences of trauma, but precisely because they comprise a relatively small percentage of the prison population, women and LGBTQ+ people are often overlooked and denied equitable access to even the meager services available behind bars.

Abolitionist Feminisms aspire not only to rectify these injustices, but also to build a world without violence. The methods of control, domination, and surveillance that define our criminal-legal system today will never bring about the truly safe communities we need and deserve. Instead, Abolitionist Feminisms invite us to imagine systems of care and accountability Beyond Survival. 

This website collates work at Grinnell College under the direction of Dr. Clara Montague, including the Summer 2024 Mentored Advanced Project, “Feminist Mental Health Justice and the Prison Industrial Complex.”