Women inside a Darwin prison have released a podcast called Birds Eye View, which details the stories of 18 women incarcerated in Australia’s Top End.
More than 70 women at the Darwin Correctional Centre worked on the project with the first five episodes of the 10-episodes released on Sunday for International Women’s Day.
According to SBS, the aim of the interview-based podcast is to “give a voice to those who felt their voices were not being heard”.
It also includes audio “from the holding cells where women are strip-searched to the industries section where Qantas headsets are cleaned”.
In an interview with SBS, executive producer of the podcast, Johanna Bell said that it took two years to make this podcast.
“It’s about building the capacity and confidence of women to share their stories,” she said.
“A lot of people don’t even realise that there are women in the Darwin Correctional Centre, I think it’s about 1,100 [people] and up to 80 women, that means that they’re always a minority.”
The first five episodes of the 10-episode series were released on Sunday for International Women’s Day and aim to give a voice to those who felt their voices were not being heard.
It has also been made to challenge stereotypes — particularly “the idea that everybody who ends up in prison is broken, or a victim, or worthless, or a waste of space.”
According to Bell, it is the “first podcast in Australia and possibly the first podcast in the world that’s been made by women in prison”.
“They’ve heard those stereotypes, they know they’re not true they wanted to show the complexity of their stories, the difference between them and other women and the number of different voices that end up in prison.”
Several indigenous women have also taken part, which is a very important aspect of the podcast.
“Women, particularly Indigenous women, are one of the fastest-growing population of prisoners in the world and to date, there has been very little opportunity for them to be heard,” Bell told SBS.
“Birds Eye View is giving them a voice, elevating their story, and challenging preconceptions about why women end up in prison.
To listen to the podcast visit birdseyeviewpodcast.net