Deon Haywood on MHP: Race, Gender and the Harm of the Criminal Justice System

On Sunday, September 29, 2013, WWAV’s Executive Director, Deon Haywood, joined Ari Melber, co-host of MSNBC’s “The Cycle;” Seema Iyer, Legal Contributor at Arise News; and Faith Gay, Attorney for Marissa Alexander, on the Melissa Harris-Perry show. This panel was brought together around two important issues affecting women’s incarceration: first, the announcement of a New York initiative to establish special courts to handle prostitution cases and second, Marissa Alexander being granted a new trial.
As Deon reminded viewers, all of us at WWAV share our experiences by telling our stories. And guided by the truths of women who have been criminalized and the complex intersections of how they live their lives, Deon shined an important light on how race determines who will be considered a victim in society’s eyes, and who will experience the criminal justice system as a site of violence and harm. For Marissa Alexander, being a black woman made it impossible for her to be seen as a victim of intimate partner violence. And for so many of the women that WWAV stands with, the economic need that undergirds survival sex work remains wholly unrecognized by a court system that either wants to brand them criminal prostitutes or sex-trafficked victims.
Please scroll down to listen to each of the three MHP segments. All of us at WWAV are so grateful for your support as we fight to create a world that recognizes and values the power of the women and LGBTQ people that we stand alongside. In love and struggle.
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