National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

12/25/2025

This time of year cuts especially deep.

In just one day, this is the mail we received from incarcerated women. The National Council receives letters six days a week, each envelope carrying grief, longing, hope and resilience. This is yesterday’s mail from our West Coast P.O. box, from women all over the country.

These are letters from women and mothers describing abuse and neglect at the hands of the Bureau of Prisons, by staff, administrators, and a system that too often turns away.

Letters from mothers asking us to send messages of love to their children they cannot hug, see, or hold because distance has stolen even that. Letters filled with heartbreak, and also with gratitude for a sisterhood that refuses to abandon them.

Today, as you gather with the people you love, please hold space for the women who cannot. For the mothers spending another holiday separated from their children. For the families fractured by incarceration.

We stand with them. We fight for them. And we will never give up.

12/10/2025

NEW BLOG ALERT: Read at nationalcouncil.us/blog

| Not a single federal prison in the United States is fully staffed. The result is a human-rights emergency disguised as administrative inconvenience |

12/02/2025

This Giving Tuesday, stand with incarcerated women.

Every day, TNC stays connected to thousands of women behind the walls, offering support, information, and a lifeline they can depend on. One member recently shared:

“This day I want to thank God for putting TNC in my life, and I want to thank you for everything you have done for me in this dark moment, which means the world to me. I am going to get my sociology degree and work hard to help all the people in prison. I want to make a difference the way you are making a difference in our lives.”

This is why our work must continue.
Your Giving Tuesday support strengthens the largest active membership of incarcerated women in the world and fuels the movement to end the incarceration of women and girls.

Give today and help us keep showing up.

11/14/2025

TNC ASK:

Women inside are asking for our new Work to Be Done report​, but BOP rules require us to print and mail hard copies. $10 prints one. $25 prints + ships it straight to a woman inside. Please help us get the truth into their hands: ​https://secure.actblue.com/donate/freehermail

11/09/2025

We’re so proud to share something truly special: The FreeHer Institute and The National Council’s inaugural report on women’s incarceration.

The FreeHer Institute, a research and policy division of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, has announced the release of Work to Be Done: Women’s Incarceration in the 21st Century, a landmark report detailing the state of women’s incarceration in the United States.

Drawing on two decades of data, Work to Be Done examines how incarceration devastates women, families, and communities. The report explores the intersection of race, gender, and poverty; the effects of conspiracy laws; and the growing role of prison privatization. It also centers the testimonies of women living through incarceration, ensuring that their voices are not excluded from the policies that affect them most.

“Research and statistics are vital, but they can’t tell the full story without the lived experiences of women behind the data,” said Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director of The National Council. “This report brings those voices forward to demand a reimagined system grounded in care, not cages.”

The report offers key policy recommendations, including:

· Acknowledging the racist foundations of mass incarceration and challenging the system that funds wealthy communities while targeting Black, Brown, and poor neighborhoods for punishment.

· Expanding the legal definition of ‘primary caregiver’ so that women can return home to care for dependent family members, including elderly parents and adult children, with special needs.

· Reforming conspiracy laws and sentencing guidelines to prevent women from being punished under “guilt by association” standards in drug-related cases.

As states like Massachusetts, Kentucky, and New Jersey advance multimillion-dollar plans to build new women’s prisons, Work to Be Done underscores the urgency of change. The evidence is clear: incarceration is expensive, ineffective, and harmful. Prisons do not make communities safer; they perpetuate cycles of trauma, poverty, and disconnection.

Read the report online at: www.nationalcouncil.us/publications

11/04/2025

10/29/2025

When we fight, we win!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Ben & Jerry's for your unwavering support

10/20/2025

It was a beautiful day in LA. Peace, Love, Community, Sisterhood, FreeHer 🖤✊🏼

10/18/2025

FreeeeeeHeeeeer, come out and playaaaaa in LA 😉.. We're outside today! Come see us at booth 19

10/12/2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 2025

FreeHer Vermont and The National Council Celebrate Major Victory: No New Women’s Prison in Essex

Essex, VT — The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and its Vermont chapter, FreeHer Vermont, are proud to celebrate a major victory for justice and community.

After years of grassroots organizing and public pressure, the Vermont Department of Corrections’ plan to rezone land in Essex to build a new $90 million women’s prison has been officially rejected. The Essex Planning Committee voted to deny the zoning amendment, effectively halting the proposed construction.

“This victory belongs to the people,” said Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director of The National Council. “It belongs to the organizers, the neighbors, the women, and the families who refused to let a new prison rise in their community. When people come together to demand transparency, accountability, and justice, we win. And this week, Vermont won.”

For years, FreeHer Vermont has been on the ground, canvassing, attending hearings, and keeping residents informed while the Department of Corrections attempted to push forward plans behind closed doors. Their work ensured that local voices, not bureaucratic interests, would shape their town's future.

“This decision gives Vermont a chance to choose a different path,” said Jayna Ahsaf, Director of FreeHer Vermont. “Instead of wasting $90 million on cages, Vermont can invest in what truly keeps people safe, housing, flood recovery, mental health care, and education. The future of Vermont depends on care, not confinement.”

The National Council and FreeHer Vermont are calling on state leaders to pass a moratorium on all new prison construction and redirect resources toward initiatives that strengthen communities and expand opportunity.

“Vermont can lead the nation by example,” James added. “We don’t need new prisons. We need new priorities, rooted in care, compassion, and community.”

Learn more about The National Council: www.nationalcouncil.us

10/11/2025

Massachusetts 🔊 we have work to do.

MA is tied for the oldest incarcerated population in the United States.

Our elders and chronically ill neighbors are suffering behind bars, people who should be home, healing, and part of our communities.

Compassion is public safety.
Justice is cost-effective.
It’s time to expand and maximize pathways home for aging and sick people.

Join us Wednesday, October 15th, at the Massachusetts State House for a critical hearing on Elder and Medical Parole.

We’re calling on EVERYONE to raise your voice and submit written testimony in support today:
>>> tinyurl.com/ElderToolkit

Let’s show up like lives depend on it because they do.

10/10/2025

Keeping it simple, let’s break this down….

Read here: nationalcouncil.us/blog