Friend,

Today, the first episode of Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Male Takeover of Female Prisons was released by Independent Women’s Forum’s storytelling team. This groundbreaking new series uncovers the fallout of policies that give convicted males access into women’s prisons and details the trauma of female inmates who are forcibly housed in small cells with violent men.

Jennifer Barela served 15 years behind bars at Central California Women’s Facility. She was released in 2023 and is now on parole. Barela is one of the many women who have been forced to live in tight quarters with men while serving time behind bars. She has courageously shared the shocking details with IWF in the exposé of episode one. 

Barela could have kept her head down, but she felt impassioned to stand up for the women she left behind. What she shared with us is evidence of the true discrimination happening right now to women in California and other U.S. prison systems. 
WATCH NOW
More and more states are following California's model allowing males, including the most violent convicted sex offenders, to identify as “women” and transfer to female-only prisons. IWF is committed to giving a voice to and amplifying the stories of incarcerated women who are victims of radical policies and practices that threaten women’s safety and rob them of their dignity. 

Jennifer’s story is one of many we will share in the Cruel and Unusual Punishment documentary series, so the public can truly understand the suffering that female inmates endure as a result of policies that prioritize the feelings of men over the safety and well-being of women. 

The trauma and abuse these women face is nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment. 
WATCH JENNIFER’S STORY
The stories shared by brave inmates like Jennifer, insiders and whistleblowers from the correctional world, shed light on the urgent need for change within our prison systems. If this story comes as a shock to you as much as it did initially for me, please share it wide and far to join us in our mission to ensure the safety and dignity of all women.

Together, we can make a difference.

Kelsey Bolar
Director of Storytelling
Independent Women’s Forum 
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