“We Live in the Shadows”: The Epistemic Injustice of Imprisonment and the Denial of Financial Costs Imposed on Women

Drawing on the accounts of 49 women, we argue that supporting a family member in custody drives women deeper into poverty, whilst shame, stigma and caring burdens diminish their social networks. This resonates with a growing evidence base that imprisonment imposes considerable financial burdens upon families, the weight of which are disproportionately shouldered by women, yet little action has been taken to address this issue. Consequently, we suggest that these women are at risk of both epistemic and hermeneutical injustice, but that this is fundamentally driven by a failure of more powerful audiences to engage with their voices.