Farah
Damji, a director of Kazuri Properties CiC, which specialises in providing
sustainable homes and wraparound support to women leaving prison, on
license in the community, exiting gang violence, domestic violence shelters
or supported housing and also women who head homeless families on the
housing register, is guest editing November's issue of The Record. The
publication is a popular free magazine produced by UNLOCK (The National Association
of Ex Offenders), now under dynamic new leadership of Chris Bath and Chris
Stacey.
November's
"women only edition" will feature contributions from women ex-offenders
and those at risk of offending behaviour. We ask services that work with vulnerable
women and those who have had some experience of the criminal justice system,
not necessarily prison sentences, but DTTOs, Community Orders, probation or
other forms of supervision, to cascade this information to their service
users to gather contributions. Farah hopes by presenting the issues faced
by women attempting to resettle into law abiding lives more can be done to
develop a gender specific framework around women's services.
Martina
Cole, crime fiction author is interviewed exclusively for Unlock, Women and
Violence and lends her support. She states "I've always been very vocal
about the treatment of women in prison and am happy to support anything that
helps ease their plight - I believe that the majority of women who are in
prison shouldn't be there anyway."
The issue hopes to bring to broader attention the way systemic abuse and
entrenched violence in our public institutions and our personal lives impacts
against women. We’re talking about violence in all its forms. Domestic abuse,
financial exclusion, the media’s portrayal of female defendants, punitive
sentencing, exclusion by enforced separation of the children of female
offenders and their families by women being incarcerated hundreds of miles from
their communities and roots.
If you would like to contribute or require further information, please
contact farah@kazuri.org.uk or Erica Crompton newsletter@unlock.org.uk
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