In the U.K., 5% of all prisoners are female. That’s over 4,000 women. Of these, 46% of them have experienced some form of domestic and/or sexual violence, and around 53% suffered from sexual, emotional or physical abuse in their childhood*. So why do we know so little about them? In a climate hot on feminism, women’s rights and empowering women, why are our most vulnerable seemingly left to fend for themselves, with decreasing funding and support, in a prison system that does nothing to stop the cycle of reoffending? They’re the forgotten women of our society.

Mim Skinner has done wonders here in exposing what life is really like for these women behind bars. Far from tarring everyone with the same brush, she seeks to show these women for what they are - resilient, forgiving and often the victim of a childhood that no one would wish for. The book is scattered with various accounts from different women about their time inside and what happens after, as well as stories from Mim’s own time working with them as a prison art teacher. There’s some wonderful stories of solidarity here, from the play that almost wasn’t, and the time she smuggled some giant veg out of the prison, as well as the many imaginative uses for tampons.

Mim does an excellent job of really bringing to life these many colourful, brave and brilliant women. I admit that, probably like most of society, I held an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach towards them, but I honestly can not recommend this book enough in bringing the needs of these women to my attention, and making the campaign for women’s services more visible. Mim has a passionate voice, and a strong conviction that feels very honest and open within the pages of her book. I also have a sneaky suspicion, that although not openly mentioned within her book, that the prison she worked within is my local one. It just made the women more ‘real’ to me, to realise that they’re within my own community.

Highly recommend to everyone. Don’t let these women stay hidden.



*figures taken from womeninprison.org.uk

I learned more about women's prison in this book than in... well, ever! Funny, insightful, heartbreaking. I read this book in a day and I've been talking about it for week.s