Like their international sisters, these women are committed political activists who continue to work from within the prison walls. Their spirits remain strong and unbroken despite continued sexual harassment, abuse and medical neglect. A massive campaign finally forced the unit to close. The United States has the fastest growing prison population in the Western World. One million U.S. citizens are in prison with an additional 700,000 people under the control of the criminal justice system.
Women comprise the fastest growing population of people going to prison.
The number of women prisoners has doubled during the last ten years. Eighty percent of incarcerated women are mothers - devastating to the social fabric of the United States. Alejandrina Torres, in prison since 1983, is one of the 15 Puerto Rican POWs. She was an activist and a community leader in Chicago. Alejandrina was a founding member and teacher at the Puerto Rican High School, one of the founders of the Betances Clinic and secretary of the First Congregational Church of Chicago.