BY: SYDNEY KEEFE Manchester based organization, Rethink Rebuild Society recently held an important event to highlight the horrific aspects of Syrian imprisonment under Assad’s regime. Assad’s regime has been accused of barrel bombing and the use of torture detention centers.…
Prisoners write letters of advice to their younger selves and the result is striking
The factors that make up the horror that is the American prison system includes the ineptitude of the poorly underfunded public defenders. It is estimated that public defenders take on 1000 clients per year (more than 3 per day, every…
Puppies Behind Bars lets prison inmates raise service dogs
BY: SYDNEY KEEFE Puppies Behind Bars began in New York in 1997 and its mission is to have prisoners raise and train service dogs for wounded war veterans. After 9/11 Puppies Behind Bars branched out into training explosive detection canines for…
Inspired by Norway’s liberal prison island, Canadian prisons are using books to change inmates’ lives
BY: ELIJAH BASSETT When you think of prison, the first image that comes to mind probably isn’t a book club. But some Canadian prisons are doing just that, with the help of an organization called Book Clubs for Inmates. So…
This is what “20 minutes of action” looks like for the victim. (NSFW Short Film)
BY: JESSICA BEUKER There was a communal moment of shock on June 2 when Brock Allen Turner, a former Stanford University athlete, was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman and sentenced to six months in jail and probation –…
This secret prison in America proves that we haven’t learned from our past.
BY: M. TOMOSKI Illustration by: Ryan Garcia / The Plaid Zebra It’s a fine line to walk between tin-foil hats and hard facts whenever you hear the words “the government is hiding something.” In most cases, these are the people who…
How this phone line is helping victims of revenge porn
BY: JESSICA BEUKER It’s been just over a year since the first revenge porn helpline was launched in the UK. The helpline comes as a result of a strong push towards fighting revenge porn—the act of sharing explicit photos online…
Photographer gives us a deep look into Israel’s only woman-exclusive prison
BY: DANIKA MOIR Photos by Tomer Ifrah What began as an assignment to capture a portrait of a Neve Tirza prisoner for an Israeli woman’s magazine turned into an intimate photo series created by Tomer Ifrah. Neve Tirza woman’s prison…
Watch this man experience the world for the first time after 44 years in prison
BY: JESSICA BEUKER When you’re a baby you experience everything for the very first time. You’re curious and perplexed; each day is a new adventure. Now, imagine having to go through that all over again at the age of 69.…
Photos show that zoos are more like animal prisons than a conservation effort
BY: CONNOR BRIAN Photos: Gaston Lacombe The last time I visited a zoo, I got this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Between visions of children gawking, and snotty teens smacking the helpless animals’ glass enclosures it felt…
There are no guards in this prison—instead it’s run by the world’s most violent gang (Photos)
BY: M. TOMOSKI When the family members of inmates come to the Penal de Ciudad Barrios in El Salvador for their routine conjugal visits the police stand guard outside the prison walls and only outside. In 2013 British photographer Adam…
Sustainability programs in prisons are helping the environment while preparing inmates for life outside of bars
BY: MATTHEW CHIN When given a prison sentence lasting for more than a decade, finding ways to spend the time effectively can be difficult. Not to mention the time spent thinking of ways to be properly integrated back into society…
In Thailand, violent prisoners can prize fight to reduce their life sentences
BY: DANIEL KORN PHOTOS BY: Aaron Joel Santos The prisoners of Thailand’s Klong Prem jail are murderers, gangsters, and drug traffickers. They’re also, occasionally, Muay Thai fighters. In prisons all around Thailand, the more physically-able convicts are given the opportunity…
Norway’s prison island treats inmates like they’re at a resort
BY: MATTHEW CHIN When I think of prison, I think of orange jumpers, hands and ankles shackled together with the chains scraping against the concrete floor and the terrible sound of rattling jail cells as batons graze against the metal…
K6G is the LGBTQ-friendly ward inside one of America’s most notorious jails
BY: SINEAD MULHERN Inside LA County Sheriff’s Men’s Central Jail, the K6G ward provides a safe haven for gay and transgendered inmates. The gay ward was created after a 1985 lawsuit where the jail came under scrutiny for the high…
Turned on by serial killers, rapists and burglars? Meet-an-inmate.com will help you find love behind bars
BY: PILGRIM From the “sexual menu” of Tinder to the moral disposal of Ashley Madison, the online dating world has brought our generation some unique opportunities. Now is your chance to find that “bad boy/girl” type you’ve always been looking…
The Poppy You Wear Over Your Heart On Remembrance Day Was Probably Made By An Inmate In Prison
BY: SINEAD MULHERN Today millions of Canadians will be donning the red and black poppy on the lapels of jackets across the country. The story of their making is a little different this year. Traditionally, the millions of plastic red…
From behind bars to behind the needle: Portraits of Mexican criminals turned tattoo artists.
BY: JONATHAN MAY Riddled with bullet holes, cocaine hangovers, and wrinkle inducing prison sentences, a past life is not always a destiny foretold. Out of the furnace and onto the black tarmac ascended eight Mexican tattoo artists who united together…