Resisting Carceral Violence

This book explores the dramatic evolution of a feminist movement that mobilised to challenge a women's prison system in crisis. Through in-depth historical research conducted in the Australian state of Victoria that spans the 1980s and 1990s, the authors uncover how incarcerated women have worked productively with feminist activists and community coalitions to expose, critique and resist the conditions and harms of their confinement.Resisting Carceral Violencetells the story of how activists-through a combination of creative direct actions, reformist lobbying and legal challenges-forged an anti-carceral feminist movement thattraversedthe prison walls. This powerful history provides vital lessons for service providers, social justice advocates and campaigners, academics and students concerned withthe violence of incarceration. It callsfor a willingness to look beyond the prisonand instead embrace creative solutions to broader structural inequalitiesandsocial harm.