The Conference on Crimes Against Women Honors Tulane University's Women's Prison Project With the 2023 IGNITE Award

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May 11, 2023, 07:50 ET

The Project Secured the Freedom of 10 Women in the Past Three Years

DALLAS, May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference on Crimes Against Women is proud to present the 2023 IGNITE Award to The Women's Prison Project, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Tulane's Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice Clinics. The organization is being honored for its work to support survivors charged or imprisoned after killing an abuser in self-defense or for having committed crimes under an abuser's coercion or duress. The United States Department of Justice estimates that 60 percent of incarcerated women are abuse survivors, and over a third were abused by an intimate partner.

"A majority of women in U.S. prisons attribute their incarceration to a history or context of abuse," said Jan Langbein, Chief Executive Officer of Conference on Crimes Against Women and Genesis Women's Shelter & Support. "The Women's Prison Project is not only providing legal representation to these women who are survivors, but they are bringing to light the connections between incarceration and domestic violence as they advocate for change in the legal system. We are thrilled to honor their contributions."

The Women's Prison Project provides legal representation to criminalized survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and trafficking, with a particular focus on survivors charged or imprisoned after killing an abuser in self-defense or for having committed crimes under an abuser's coercion or duress. Founded in 2020, the project has trained 84 third-year law students and 57 of those have worked on cases, gaining valuable hands-on legal training. The project provides representation and legal services and has secured the freedom for 10 women, one pre-trial. The nine women who had been serving sentences had served a combined total of 199 years in prison.

The IGNITE Award was created in 2019 to honor courageous efforts that are sparking awareness and action across the country, bringing injustice out of the darkness and lighting the fire of change not only in the recipients' local communities, but across the nation. The award will be presented at the opening plenary of the 2023 Conference on Crimes Against Women on Monday, May 22 at 8:00 a.m.

For additional information about the Conference or to register, please visit www.conferencecaw.org.

About the Conference on Crimes Against Women:
The goal of the Conference on Crimes Against Women is to create an overall reduction in the rate of crimes against women and, ultimately, eliminate violence against women. It is also, however, a primary part of our mission to improve the way crimes against women are investigated and prosecuted, as well as to improve the way victims are treated throughout the criminal justice system. The problem of domestic violence is so pervasive and at such epidemic proportions, that tangible decreases in the rate of violence against women will not be seen until huge volumes of women are safer in their homes. This volume happens through culture shifts, and conferences like CCAW create the momentum and the network for that very culture shift. For additional information about the Conference, please visit www.conferencecaw.org.

About Genesis Women's Shelter & Support:
Since opening its doors in 1985, Genesis Women's Shelter & Support has provided safety, shelter and expert counseling services to women and children who have experienced domestic violence. Genesis is committed to removing every roadblock a woman might face on her journey to the abuse-free life she deserves. These life-changing services include an emergency shelter, long-term housing, an award-winning onsite, K-12 school, daycare, access to legal representation and cutting-edge therapeutics. Genesis serves more than 3,700 women and children each year, and relies on the generous support of the Dallas community to continue providing these services at no cost to clients. For more information, visit www.genesisshelter.org.

SOURCE Conference on Crimes Against Women