Why this Week of Action? Why Now?
Prisons destroy lives. The British Government intend to build 9 new mega prisons by 2020, while more & more women and trans* folk are caged and brutalised in our prison system. The enormous weight of supporting loved ones in prisons is carried by us who emotionally, financially and practically labour to support people in prison while caring for those left behind.
The prison industrial complex has been built on white supremacy. It is a racist institution with people of colour vastly over represented with growing racist border controls, raids & more. The prison system is part of the continuous state assault & long history of patriarchy & gender-conformity that we contend with every day. This week is an attempt to reclaim our lives.
Who is welcome at the gathering?
This week of action is for folks who identify as women, non-binary, transgender, transsexual, gender queer and gender variant. It is an intentional space to share campaign information, organising approaches and direct action skills in a supportive and empowering environment for those commonly excluded or dominated by cis-men.
If you are new to these terms, please find more info here.
What will be taking place?
There will be:
- Multiple days of action
- A three day gathering over the weekend to explore all of the issues in more depth
- Workshops, discussions, film showings & more
The focus of the gathering is to collectively explore how we respond to harm, from interpersonal violence, such as sexual assault, to state & structural violence such as poverty, detention centres & prisons.
This is a space for critical questions about how we move beyond the state and build alternatives.
How can I get involved?
Please get in touch to help make this happen. Support is needed with:
- Practical logistics e.g. securing accommodation, food, childcare
- Fundraising
- Publicity e.g. social media, writing articles, networking at events
- Preparing content, such as contacting people to facilitate workshops
- Planning actions
Please email info@prisonabolition.org to join the working group that is organising the gathering.
Please start organising autonomously in your local area to support this event e.g. planning local actions, info nights before hand and fundraisers.
Who is organising this gathering & week of action?
A small informal collective has emerged out of the recent Week of Action Against the Prison Industrial Complex in November 2015. We are a group of cis-women & gender queer folk who hate prisons with all our hearts. Some of us have been inside, others have spent far too many days in prison visits waiting rooms. We are survivors of rape, sexual assault, abuse and harassment. We do not want to be dominated by cis-men, patriarchy or capitalism any more. Each of us share a passion to build alternatives to prison, to actually find ways of supporting survivors and responding to harm in our communities. We have been greatly inspired by comrades a that have organised Trans and/or Women’s Action Camps in Cascadia. We are all volunteers, will most likely make a lot of mistakes but are doing our best to inspire resistance to the Prison Industrial Complex that plagues our lives.