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#sayhername The Health Consequences of Mass Imprisonment for (Black) Women

Prof. Hedy Lee discusses how mass incarceration affects the health and wellbeing of the predominantly poor and minority women who routinely deal with the absence of their husbands, fathers, and brothers.

Poor and minority women, particularly African American women, face markedly higher rates of chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, and poor mental health compared to other demographic groups. Mass imprisonment could be an important pathway for explaining the causes and persistence of health inequalities among American women.

Prof. Lee visited the Vera Institute as part of the Neil A. Weiner Research Speaker Series, learn more here: https://www.vera.org/events/ne...

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Shackled hand and foot on a deportation flight to Mexico, Naomi* sat weeping and praying. Her parents brought her to the United States when she was nine years old. Though she had struggled to navigate the complex path to legal residency, she had built a life in the Chicago area, with children and grandchildren she would be leaving behind. When she ...

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May 27, 2026
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