The Voice of Women in Prison and Women Everywhere whose liberty and fundamental rights are being violated by the State. The View Magazine CIC, a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee, was founded by a small group of women while in prison to share their experiences with the criminal justice system. It is supported by leading Barristers Jurists and Human Rights Advocates. The View is a vital resource for anyone concerned about the situation of women in prison, their families and networks and the people who represent and advocate for them.
The View looks at systemic and entrenched social justice issues, with fresh eyes further supporting peace and justice in institutions. We produce a counter-narrative, by championing creativity and lived experience. With the right resources, we aim to tear down and rebuild the way our government and society approach criminal justice for women. We need a deeper understanding of the compounding factors that are largely responsible for women entering and then getting trapped in the revolving door of the criminal justice system.
The View is a grass-roots, social enterprise and campaigning platform that amplifies women's voices within the justice system, gives them an outlet for their creativity, and helps them achieve financial independence. The View is distributed to women's prison estates, secure units, and detention centres free of charge thanks to LUSH, our natural make-up company.
We have over 15,000 paid subscribers to our digital magazine, published quarterly. The View produces the Rebel Justice Podcast which asks the big questions about justice, what is justice and who does it serve?
The View Magazine is a Community Interest Company (CiC) that is a feminist human rights multi-media platform. We advocate for all women who have been in contact with the justice system, whether as women in conflict with the law or women who have been victims of crime and are traumatized by the failures of agencies meant to keep us safe.
We believe that women in prison and serving their license in the community must be heard and that the issues that affect them need to be highlighted. We know that change can only come from within, by women who have been affected by that system.
Founded by 3 incarcerated women the quarterly magazine embodies their challenges within the system that institutionally retraumatizes its inmates rather than rehabilitates. The View pays for contributions from women in the criminal justice system, which showcases their art, prose, and poetry to encourage them to own their narratives and tell their stories in their own words. You can subscribe here.
We pay our women artists half the proceeds from sales of merchandise from the art they have created that you can see in our online shop here that we sell across England and Ireland at art fairs and pop ups and on line and in our soon-to-open shop on Caledonian Road.
The work The View recognises that women in prison often have complex mental health needs. Almost £500m a year is spent on prison health care contracts and about £150m on mental health care, so why are women not receiving the treatment they deserve? Self-inflicted deaths are 8.6 times more likely in prison than in the general population and 70% of people who died from self-inflicted means whilst in prison had already been identified as having mental health needs.
The View generates profits from commercial sales of the magazine , and art that may be reinvested into much-needed advocacy and employment and skills programs for women and children who have suffered violence and trauma, as well as research into the systemic issues behind the inequality faced by women in the criminal justice system that will lead to real, meaningful criminal justice reform.
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We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
