By Sherry Reames and Margaret Irwin
On May 22, EXPO (Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing) sponsored the showing of an award-winning 2012 documentary, The Grey Area: Feminism Behind Bars, at the Urban League of Greater Madison. The film was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by MOSES Organizer James Morgan and featuring three previously incarcerated local women.
The film had its beginnings in 2009, in a small class on feminism. Student volunteers from Grinnell College taught the class; their students were a small group of women incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women. One of those volunteer instructors, Noga Ashkenazi, who went on to become a professional writer-director in Israel, started filming during the class and put the rest of this documentary together after she graduated.
The finished documentary includes eye-opening statistics on the number of incarcerated women in the U.S., the large proportion of these women who are mothers, and the even larger proportion who had previously been victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. But the most powerful parts of the film are the personal testimonies of the small group of incarcerated women who share their life experiences in the course of the class discussions. For example, we won’t soon forget the young woman who confessed that she felt safer in prison than she had ever felt on the outside. And we have been haunted ever since by the apparently hopeless case of a very appealing juvenile lifer, now middle-aged and obviously rehabilitated, who may never get a second chance because Iowa governors don’t give commutations.
The three women on the panel that followed the film, all previously incarcerated, declared that the current system is not a system of justice, but one of retribution. They suggested ways to improve the situation, including the following:
- The Department of Corrections needs to prioritize maintaining family connections while women are incarcerated.
- The community needs to support the children of incarcerated parents.
- It’s essential to have housing available for those being released, as well as help with transportation and jobs.
A large contingent of MOSES members was on hand for this event. But if you missed it – or if you saw the film and would like to share it with your congregation or neighborhood – the website “Women Make Movies” has information about buying or streaming it for nonprofit use. There’s also a trailer on YouTube. Just don’t confuse this Grey Area with the very different podcast and 2022 movie that use the same title.