Whats Prison Got to Do with It

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Whats Prison Got to Do with It?

• Working at the Intersection of
• HIV and Mass Imprisonment
• Laura McTighe
• Director of Project UNSHACKLE
• Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP)
• lmctighe_at_champnetwork.org
• (212) 9377955, Ext. 20
• www.champnetwork.org/unshackle

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In this presentation

• Well talk about
• Who is most impacted by HIV and imprisonment
• Why the same communities are disproportionately
  affected by HIV and imprisonment
• What Project UNSHACKLE is doing to address the
  impact of HIV and imprisonment and
• How you can bring Project UNSHACKLE to
  organizations in your area.

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An Introduction toProject UNSHACKLE

• We are a national network dedicated to reducing
  new HIV infections tied to imprisonment by

• Working Inside Prisons to ensure peoples access
  to standard of care prevention, treatment and
  education
• Supporting People through Reentry and eliminating
  the barriers people face when coming home from
  prison and
• Rebuilding Our Communities through projects and
  campaigns that win the policy changes needed to
  end the crises of our most vulnerable populations.

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Words to Live By

• No One Told Me
• By Waheedah Shabazz-El
• Then, when I volunteered to take a free HIV
  test administered by the prison health system, no
  one told me that Id test positive for the virus.
• No one told me what or what not to do about it.
  No one told me how or how not to live. In fact,
  no one told me that I could continue to live.
• In actuality, I had willed myself to die. But,
  day after day I kept waking up, ALIVE!...

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Looking at the Big Picture

• More than 1 in 100 people in the U.S.
• are currently in prison.
• 1 in 31 people are currently
• in prison, on probation or on parole.
• 1 in 7 people with HIV
• will pass through prison each year.

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Thinking about the Statistics

• Why do so many people with HIV pass through
  prison each year?
• Who is going to prison?
• Who is living with HIV?

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HIV and Imprisonment Affect the Same Communities

• Take a look at disproportionate impact of HIV and
  imprisonment on people of color and women

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Identifying Imprisonment as a Social Determinant
of HIV

• A 2005 study by Rucker Johnson and Steven
  Raphael1 found
• The link among race, prison and HIV is so strong
  that it almost completely explains the
  disproportionate impact of HIV in the Black
  community.
• 1Rucker C. Johnson Steven Raphael, The Effects
  of Male Incarceration Dynamics on AIDS Infection
  Rates Among Africa-American Women and Men
  (Berkley July 2005).
• See Also Robert Fullilove, African Americans,
  Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS Recommendations
  for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America
  (National Minority AIDS Council November 2006).

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Breaking Down the Intersection of HIV and
Imprisonment

• Our Goal
• To identify both
• societal factors and individual behaviors
• that heighten the risk for HIV transmission or
  acquisition.
• Individual risk behaviors of people passing
  through prison can put them at risk, but
  imprisonment itself can also make it more
  difficult for people to protect themselves
  against HIV.

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Imprisonment Impacts the Health of Entire
Communities

• What are some individual behaviors and societal
  factors driving HIV risk in our communities, in
  prison and at reentry?

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Working at the Intersection of HIV and
Imprisonment

• Our Goal
• To incorporate both
• individual and structural approaches
• for more effective HIV prevention strategies.
• Interventions to reach people passing through
  prison are needed, as well as interventions that
  address the barriers people face when coming home
  and that support healing and restoration in our
  communities.

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Addressing Imprisonment Can Reduce HIV Risk and
Vulnerability

• What are some individual and structural
  interventions that could reduce HIV risk in our
  communities, in prison and at reentry?

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Getting There Is Project UNSHACKLEs Work

• We aim to reduce new HIV infections tied to
  imprisonment by uniting individuals and
  organizations at the frontlines to

Rebuild Our Communities through projects and
campaigns that win the policy changes needed to
end the crises of our most vulnerable populations
Support People through Reentry and eliminate the
barriers people face when coming home from prison
Work Inside Prisons to ensure peoples access to
standard of care prevention, treatment and
education
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Step 1Sharing Best Practices

• Our Goal
• To bring together individuals and organizations
  working at the intersection of HIV and
  imprisonment to share best practices.
• How do we do it?
• Our HIV and Imprisonment Strategy Listserv
  highlights emerging issues and research areas.
• Our State-by-State Resource Directory covers
  organizations working on HIV and imprisonment.
  Let us know which projects in your area should be
  listed!

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Step 2Providing Skills-Building Resources

• Our Goal
• To provide individuals and organizations with the
  resources they need to engage with the policy
  issues that impact their work at the front lines
  of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

• How do we do it?
• Our Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit is a
  comprehensive resource for communications
  strategies and program development.
• Check out the pilot toolkit online at
• www.champnetwork.org/unshackle

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Step 3Workshopping Key Local Issues

• Our Goal
• To offer individuals and organizations a
  personalized space to workshop the issues they
  are facing in their work.
• How do we do it?
• Our Reaching In/Reaching Out Trainings are
  structured around key themes in HIV and prison
  work, including the prison/reentry cycle, the
  daily impacts of the war on drugs and the
  resources of faith traditions.

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Step 4Building Community Partnerships

• Our Goal
• To work with individuals and organizations to
  launch grassroots campaigns on locally
  critical policy issues.
• How do we do it?
• Build Strategic Alliances with organizations
  across the country and lend the technical support
  needed for them to win policy changes that
  provide models to organizers in other cities.
• We have community partners in New Orleans,
  Chicago and Philadelphia, with emerging
  partnerships in New York, Texas, Colorado,
  Florida, California and beyond.

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Bring Project UNSHACKLEto Organizations in Your
Area!

• For more information, contact
• Laura McTighe
• Director of Project UNSHACKLE
• lmctighe_at_champnetwork.org
• (212) 9377955, Ext. 20