Our Story
From Our Founder
I launched Philadelphia Justice Project for Women & Girls (affectionately shortened to “Philly Justice Project”) in 2020 after spending more than three decades of my academic career studying gender, crime, and punishment. My research has taken me into men’s and women’s prisons and jails throughout the United States (as well as to Ireland and the U.K.). I’ve witnessed a lot of changes during that time: the implementation and then scaling back of mandatory minimum sentences, the erasure and reemergence of prison-based educational programs, shifting public attitudes on prisons, punishment, and the legal system (to name a few).
Tragically, what has not changed is how the legal system responds to the most vulnerable survivors of gender violence. Many find themselves penalized for defending their lives and the lives of their children. Too often police and prosecutors treat them not as victims but as criminal offenders. In fact, gender-based violence is the primary driver of women’s incarceration. The majority of incarcerated women and girls—over 80%–are survivors of a lifetime of violence and abuse. The very systems, institutions, and people that should have protected them did not.
Philly Justice Project is committed to providing survivors with the resources they need to successfully challenge unjust charges and convictions. No survivor should ever walk alone. By working together we can end gender violence and bring incarcerated survivors home to their loved ones.