Northern Territory incarceration rates are among the highest in the world, and more women are being jailed than ever before. Nationally, the number of Aboriginal women behind bars has more than doubled in the last three decades. Advocates say the figures show there needs to be an overhaul to the way women are being dealt with by the law.
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00:00Debbie Kilroy was only 13 years old when she was jailed for the first time.
00:09In and out of children's prisons until I was 17 and then in the adult system.
00:14And you finish your parole too.
00:16Debbie now heads Sisters Inside, an organisation fighting to free women and girls from incarceration.
00:23I want you to live and be happy.
00:25When you remove so many women from our families and our community, the whole family system structure collapses.
00:33Women make up the fastest growing population in Australian prisons.
00:38In the Northern Territory, the majority are Aboriginal.
00:41I may be a good role model for my niece.
00:44The Cunga Stopping Violence Program in Alice Springs is one of the few supports for women inside.
00:50We run a 20-day grief, loss and trauma program for 10 women twice a year in Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
00:59Last month, female inmates were moved from Alice Springs to Darwin without notice.
01:06There's no certainty around when or if they'll go back.
01:10When we isolate someone away from kin, country and community, there is no mechanism for healing.
01:17Lawyers say domestic violence, addiction and disadvantage are driving more women into jail.
01:24It may be that she's acting in self-defence and has been misidentified as the primary perpetrator.
01:30Some experts argue well-intentioned reforms, including a push toward proactive policing of family and domestic violence,
01:38could be working against marginalised women.
01:41Advocates calling on policy makers to invest in alternatives to custody.
01:45If we're able to help these women at that crisis point, then the community benefits.
01:52A vision for the future with women at the centre.