#16thcentury #Graffiti of #TowerOfLondon prisoners decoded for first time - From #Illegible #AsemicWriting to #Deciphered #GraffitiTexts. The latest technology, which includes raking light, laser scanning and X-ray analysis, has never been applied at the Tower before. There were supposed to be 79 examples of graffiti there, according to the historic survey. By the end of the survey that I conducted, there are 354.

One of the passages seems to be in #Breton and may well have been written by a woman. There are references to a “husband”, as well as honour and rivers. Ingram said: We haven’t got any specific records of female prisoners in that tower. This is possibly a woman’s voice, which is incredibly rare in the graffiti, and the first example we’ve got in the Salt Tower itself.
#History #Incarceration #WomenPrisoners #Writing #Symbols

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/dec/01/16th-century-graffiti-of-tower-of-london-prisoners-decoded-for-first-time

‘Help us, we can’t breathe’: Inmate at California women’s prison dies during heat wave

A woman incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla died Saturday during a statewide heat wave and prisoner advocates are blaming her death on heat exhaustion.
(8 July 2024)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/help-us-inmate-california-women-s-prison-19561544.php

#prison #heatwave #cruelandunusual #CCWF #womenprisoners #prisondeaths

California Women's Prisons Sexual Abuse Response and Prevention Working Group Report

In response to ongoing reports of sexual abuse by prison staff, the Solidarity Committee for Incarcerated Survivors was formed in December 2022 by Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Survived & Punished CA, and UnCommon Law.

Read the report here: https://www.sisterwarriors.org/prison_sexualassault_report

Summary:
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/swactionfund/pages/342/attachments/original/1709616358/rm_swfc_cdcrreport_fd_3_summary.pdf?1709616358

#California #prisons #sexualabuse #womenprisoners

Woman who testified about conditions at FCI Dublin, thrown in solitary, transferred

A woman who has spent years of her prison sentence at FCI Dublin, and who testified about the dire conditions there this month, was thrown in a special housing unit and transferred away from the facility, she told KTVU.

"It was purely retaliation for my testimony," Rhonda Fleming wrote KTVU in an email. "The prison officials did not ...

https://www.ktvu.com/news/woman-who-testified-about-conditions-at-fci-dublin-thrown-in-solitary-transferred
#humanrights #California #womenprisoners

29 women in prison allege sexual abuse by guard who was fired but never charged with crimes
"Twenty-nine women in state prison say they were sexually abused, some for many years, by a guard who was eventually fired but was never criminally prosecuted.

The women have filed a lawsuit against the state and 100 unnamed co-workers of Israel Trevino at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla who allegedly..."

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/chowchilla-prison-lawsuits-18402440.php

#prisoners #womenprisoners #California #sexualabuse