Let me tell you what it's like to live in state-sanctioned, gender-based violence.
In prison, we wake up when male guards tell us to. We wear what they tell us to wear. We eat what they give us, when they decide to give it. We go where they permit, speak when they allow, and exist under their constant surveillance. Our bodies belong to the state. Our movements are controlled. Our communications are monitored. They have the power to deny or delay our medical care, and our complaints go ignored or punished.
Incarcerated journalist Kwaneta Harris explains that when we tolerate sexual assault in women's prisons, we signal that the state can commit violence against people without consequences.
The post For Many Incarcerated Women, the State Is Their Abuser appeared first on Ms. Magazine.