Prison is a Feminist Issue: Reimagining Justice - A Concurrent Session at Women Deliver 2026
Prison is a Feminist Issue: Reimagining Justice A Concurrent Session at Women Deliver 2026
Wednesday 29 April | 14:00–15:30 | Room 219 Hosted in cooperation by Women Beyond Walls and Sisters Inside
What does it mean to take a truly feminist approach to justice? This session brings together advocates, practitioners, policymakers and people with lived experience to ask a question the feminist movement has too often sidestepped: why is prison a feminist issue — and what would it look like to move beyond it?
Set in a circle format designed for genuine dialogue, the session opens with a series of short provocations from across the movement — on criminalisation, on the links between gender-based violence and incarceration, on the experiences of sex workers, people who use drugs, and women behind bars around the world. From there, participants break into small discussion circles before reconvening to share insights and shape collective next steps.
This is not a panel. This is a space to think together — and to leave with something to act on.
Why now? The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women marked a historic moment: for the first time, the Agreed Conclusions explicitly named women in detention and imprisonment, acknowledging the links between discriminatory laws, violence against women, and incarceration. Women Deliver 2026 is an opportunity to build on that momentum — across silos, across movements, and across borders.
Session Co-hosts Laura Cook — Women Beyond Walls Debbie Kilroy OAM — Sisters Inside, INFIW
Provocations from Maria Alesi — Legal Empowerment Fund; Cameron Billie — SWOP NT / SWRG; Ruth Birgin — WHRIN; Dr Elena Jeffreys — Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association
Note: Capacity for this session is 100. Signing up here does not mean automatic entry, but is very helpful for organiser.