July 10, 2025
Good Morning,
Jane Doe Inc., The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, released the following statement in response to the Healey Administration’s plan to undertake a major redevelopment of MCI-Framingham, Massachusetts only women’s prison:
“In a recent announcement, the Healey Administration unveiled that it is allocating $20.5 million in the FY 2026-2027 Capital Budget for the Department of Corrections to “re-imagine” MCI-Framingham, Massachusetts’ only women’s prison. The $20.5 million in FY 26-27 represents only a fraction of the expected $360 million total investment in the redevelopment project, a more than 700 percent increase from cost estimates for previous versions of the plan.
The scale of this new investment in prison infrastructure represents a deep misunderstanding of how the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can support survivors and prevent violence. The vast majority of women in prison are survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence themselves: 86 percent report experiencing sexual violence, and 77 percent report experiencing intimate partner violence. Additionally, survivors are often criminalized and incarcerated for actions taken in the context of surviving violence, such as substance use, experiencing homelessness, or acts of self-defense, or for offenses they were coerced into through abuse. Directing more money to incarceration is not the answer, and will only reinforce cycles of trauma.
We share the Administration’s stated goal of improving the lives of incarcerated women, but that goal must be achieved by investing limited state resources in infrastructure and strategies that address the root causes of violence, including sexual and domestic violence, in non-carceral settings. At a time when funding for domestic violence and sexual assault services is under threat, we need the Commonwealth to invest in community-based strategies for support and healing.
We remain committed to elevating the voices of survivors and community leaders who have been criminalized in the aftermath of experiencing abuse and violence. We will continue our work with advocates, partners, and the Administration to better support survivors and reduce violence by investing in affordable housing, healing, healthcare, recovery, education, and financial opportunity – not prisons.”