By: Joni Boyd
Have you ever had a loved one go to prison?
Life behind prison walls is not only tough for the person incarcerated – but it’s also really tough for loved ones on the outside.
Jo Giles’ partner was imprisoned, and she generously shared some of her experiences in our interview.
“Everything is dehumanising for him especially – but for anyone involved, you’re immediately considered either a victim or less than,” she said.
As the family of someone in jail, Jo’s experience was that you are treated differently.
She also observed that the corrections system isn’t set up to care for people, but rather as a form of punishment – not only for those inside, but in effect, for those outside prison walls, too.
“All of those things punish the people on the outside as well. It’s just not an easy thing to go through, and it should be a lot easier for the family.”
Often, the struggle doesn’t end after a person is released back into society.
“One thing people don’t know outside of the system [is that] 98% of people inside get out, and they are neighbours and they are in our communities,” Jo said. “We really should be trying to look after them better than we are, because they need to get back into society and a lot of them… don’t have anything.”
While her partner was in prison, Jo says she wrote to him daily.
“I posted a letter to him every day, which helped me get through it as well,” she said. “It was like talking to him every night.
“There’s not many people who get visits every week.”
Jo’s advice to anyone in this situation is: “They need to know they’re not alone – I think [feeling like you’re alone] is the worst bit,” she said.
“No one talks about this… I’m probably quite rare in the fact that I am happy to talk about it.”
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
Feature image: Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash