Myla Martinez, 6-year-old, enthusiastically greets her mother Crystal Martinez as she and her four younger siblings spend time her with her during a special visit at Logan Correctional Center, Saturday, May 20, 2023, in Lincoln, Illinois.
Black and Hispanic women are more likely to be imprisoned than white women and are affected disproportionately by family separation due to incarceration. Three hours later, the charter bus pulls up at the facility's barbed wire gates in Lincoln, Illinois, with children peering from the windows. As families progress slowly through security, shouts of “Mommy!” and squeals of glee fill the prison gym made cheerful with handmade decorations.
Although women are far less likely to be imprisoned than men, their incarceration can have outsized effects on families, Mansfield said. She has witnessed children reuniting with their incarcerated mothers after months or years apart who “immediately disclose that they’re being abused or that they’re facing a challenge at school.”