THE WOMEN AND INCARCERATION PROJECT (WIP) is a group  of Boston-based academics, attorneys, and social workers researching and writing about the costs and harms of incarcerating women.

Women in Massachusetts County Jails

Decarcerating Women Today: Charting A Path

In December of 2022 the WIP hosted “Decarcerating Women Today: Charting a Path Forward”, a conference in which attorneys, advocates and formerly incarcerated women spoke about the legal pathways such as clemency, parole and medical parole that can be used to release women from prison without any changes to Massachusetts law.

Click below to watch the conference video.

Letter Responses to Boston Globe Editorial Article

Shanita Jefferson talked about her mother at a Families for Justice as Healing rally in October 2021 outside the Suffolk County district attorney's office in Boston. A rally led by formerly...

“CREATING A HUB FOR DECARCERATION ADVOCATES” – Suffolk Journal Article Highlighting December Conference

Click Here for the Full Article Our December 2nd conference: Decarcerating Women Today: Charting a Path was featured in our university's magazine - The Suffolk Journal. For an overview and quotes...

The Women’s Justice Institute Conducts Study on Decarceration Efforts in Illinois

Click Here for the Full Report Taken from their website, the Women's Justice Institute's work, "is anchored by the voices of impacted women and girls and advanced through broad and deep partnerships...

Little has been done to correct problems at Bridgewater State Hospital, report finds

WBUR's Deborah Becker writes on a new report published by the Disability Law Center that found "little has been done to correct problems at Bridgewater State Hospital, including the use of...

Globe Editorial is Wrong on Prison Moratorium

WIP responded to a recent Boston Globe Opinion Article regarding the suggested prison moratorium.

New report highlights sexual misconduct by staff in Massachusetts prisons

WGBH's recent article reports on  “A Different Way Forward: Stories from Incarcerated Women in Massachusetts and Recommendations,” by Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts. 

A new women’s prison is not the answer

Professor and Women & Incarceration Project researcher, Dr. Susan Sered's Op-ed article in Commonwealth Magazine: State must embrace non-carceral approaches to rehabilitation  

Let there be no new women’s prison in Massachusetts

Professor and Women & Incarceration Project researcher, Dr. Susan Sered responds to the Boston Globe after she was quoted in a Globe article regarding the recent Ripples Group report on MCI...

WIP member Rebecca Stone was invited to speak at the Rhode Island State House on September 26, 2023, to present information for a bicameral study commission on women and incarceration.

Click here to see her presentation slides featuring information from WIP’s research reports.