From Isolation to International Solidarity: The Power of the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women

When we first began building what would become the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women, we were responding to a reality that many people still struggle to see: the incarceration of women is not a local problem. It is a global one.

Across continents, women are being incarcerated at alarming rates. Different countries may have different laws, different languages, and different political systems, but the stories we hear from women around the world are remarkably similar. Women are criminalized for surviving poverty. Women are punished for responding to violence. Women are separated from their children, their communities, and their futures. And in nearly every country, women bear the consequences of systems that prioritize punishment over care.

What began as a handful of conversations among formerly incarcerated women across borders has grown into something much larger than any of us imagined. Today, the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women brings together hundreds of women and organizations across more than 35 countries and six continents. We have become a global sisterhood, a movement, and a living example of what becomes possible when women who have experienced incarceration lead the fight for change.

Why the Network Was Created

The network was born out of necessity.

For too long, formerly incarcerated women were isolated from one another. Our experiences were treated as individual tragedies rather than evidence of a global system. We knew that if policies, prisons, and punishment systems were being exported across borders, then our resistance needed to be international as well.

We created this network because women directly impacted by incarceration deserve a space where our leadership is centered. We created it because we understood that solutions developed without us would never truly address the harm we have experienced. And we created it because we recognized that our collective power is greater than any prison system designed to keep us divided.

From the beginning, our vision has been clear: a world free from all forms of punishment where women and children live with dignity, freedom, and full respect for their human rights.

What We Have Built Together

The most powerful thing we have built is not an organization. It is solidarity.

Women from Haiti, Kenya, Colombia, the Philippines, Brazil, South Africa, Jamaica, Ireland, the United States, and dozens of other countries have come together to share experiences, strategies, and hope. We have learned that while the details may vary, the underlying systems are often the same.

We have listened to women describe years of pretrial detention without ever seeing a judge. We have heard from mothers separated from their children because of poverty. We have witnessed the devastating impacts of the global war on drugs, a failed policy framework that has fueled the incarceration of women across the world.

But we have also witnessed something else.

We have witnessed courage.

We have witnessed women turning pain into leadership. We have witnessed formerly incarcerated women building organizations, leading campaigns, supporting one another's healing, and creating alternatives to incarceration in their communities.

The network has become a place where women are no longer isolated by their experiences but empowered by them.

What We Represent

We represent something the world has rarely seen: formerly incarcerated women leading an international movement for freedom.

We represent the belief that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.

We represent dignity and human rights.

We represent international solidarity.

We represent transformative justice instead of punishment.

We represent the understanding that safety comes from housing, healthcare, education, economic opportunity, healing, and community, not from cages.

Most importantly, we represent a shift in power. For generations, policies affecting incarcerated women have been developed by people who have never experienced incarceration themselves. We are changing that reality by ensuring that directly impacted women are not simply consulted but are leading.

From Building Relationships to Building Power

In our early years, much of our work focused on relationship-building. We spent time listening to one another, understanding different contexts, and creating trust across borders, cultures, and languages.

Today, we are entering a new chapter.

We are moving from connection to coordination.

From solidarity to collective action.

From sharing stories to building global campaigns.

We are organizing around issues that affect women everywhere: the criminalization of poverty, the war on drugs, family separation, gender-based violence, economic injustice, and the expansion of prisons worldwide. We are developing leadership, strengthening organizations, building economic alternatives, and creating pathways for women returning home from incarceration.

We understand that systems are not permanent. They are built by people, and they can be changed by people.

Looking Forward

When I think about where this network will be in five years, I do not simply see a larger membership. I see stronger infrastructure. I see formerly incarcerated women leading policy change in their countries. I see regional networks organizing collectively. I see cooperative economic projects creating opportunities for women and families. I see community-based alternatives replacing punishment.

Most importantly, I see a movement that continues to grow in power because it is rooted in lived experience, love, and collective liberation.

The forces we are fighting are global. They are well-funded, deeply entrenched, and designed to keep people divided.

But we have something stronger.

We have each other.

The International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women exists because we refuse to accept a world where women are punished for surviving. We refuse to accept a world where incarceration is treated as inevitable. And we refuse to believe that the systems that harm us are more powerful than the people determined to change them.

They built a global system to cage us.

And we are building a global movement to free us.