We are completing our series on Brazilian prisons by airing an interview between Beny and Rosângela, who wanted to discuss her experiences with health care there. Her account of deprivation of care, along with the over application of psychiatric drugs, will be familiar to anyone who has spent time inside an American prison. She likewise discusses the cuts made to programs and education on the inside, and some of the differences between women’s prisons compared to men’s facilities.
In the news this week, we share a statement from a hunger strike in an immigrant detention center in Washington state. The hunger strikers are making demands pointing to similar conditions of neglect and deprivation there, indicating the possibility of a shared struggle by prisoners across borders.