In this edition of The View…
What happens when women confront the oppressive forces of state power? The View Issue 12 boldly explores the intersection of justice, trauma, and resilience in a world where systemic failures continue to marginalize women.
This edition illuminates the lives of women who endure unimaginable hardships and still find strength to resist. From prisons to conflict zones, their stories are not only a testament to their courage but also a call for action.
The View Magazine is a Community Interest Company (CiC) that is a feminist human rights multi-media platform. We advocate for all women who have been in contact with the justice system, whether as women in conflict with the law or women who have been victims of crime and are traumatized by the failures of agencies meant to keep us safe.
We believe that women in prison and serving their license in the community must be heard and that the issues that affect them need to be highlighted. We know that change can only come from within, by women who have been affected by that system.
Founded by 3 incarcerated women the quarterly magazine embodies their challenges within the system that institutionally retraumatizes its inmates rather than rehabilitates. The View pays for contributions from women in the criminal justice system, which showcases their art, prose, and poetry to encourage them to own their narratives and tell their stories in their own words.
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We pay our women artists half the proceeds from sales of merchandise from the art they have created that you can see in our online shop here that we sell across England and Ireland at art fairs and pop-ups and online and in our soon-to-open shop on Caledonian Road.
The work The View recognises that women in prison often have complex mental health needs. Almost £500m a year is spent on prison health care contracts and about £150m on mental health care, so why are women not receiving the treatment they deserve? Self-inflicted deaths are 8.6 times more likely in prison than in the general population and 70% of people who died from self-inflicted means whilst in prison had already been identified as having mental health needs.
The View generates profits from commercial sales of the magazine, and art that may be reinvested into much-needed advocacy and employment and skills programs for women and children who have suffered violence and trauma, as well as research into the systemic issues behind the inequality faced by women in the criminal justice system that will lead to real, meaningful criminal justice reform.