Prison Abolition

Stitched by: Mia S

Pattern designed by: I designed and made it

I made this piece to express my commitment to prison abolition and decarceration.

Almost half of those currently in prisons in Australia have been charged with non-violent offences. Many of these people are poor, have drug and alcohol problems, suffer from mental illness, and are victims of violence and abuse. Youth and women’s prisons are chronically overcrowded, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls are massively over-represented. Some of the almost $2 billion that is spent annually in Australia on the prison-industrial-complex could be better spent tackling these issues rather than punishing people for resulting offences.

Incarceration is traumatic. Trauma is heaped on the traumas already experienced by most imprisoned people. There is no shortage of evidence to show that people in prison are subject to a whole range of forms of abuse. How, then, can prison possibly rehabilitate. The short answer is, it doesn’t. Studies show that; those of us who have experienced incarceration know that. Prison abolition is essential if we are to really tackle the social issues that lead to and are exacerbated by incarceration.