FIGJAM
Formerly Incarcerated Girls Justice Advocates Melbourne (FIGJAM) Collective
FIGJAM is a collective of formerly incarcerated women, trans and gender diverse folks who live work and play across so called Victoria.
FIGJAM members are incredible strong and passionate change makers.
All members are survivors of violence in the community but also at the hands of the state (namely prisons and police).
FIGJAM was founded – in the hope and dream of building a community of staunch advocates providing connection, support and stability to its members.
FIGJAM are paid for the expertise and use their voices and experiences to change community attitudes and push through barriers of stigma and discrimination. They are invited regularly to consult, sit on focus groups, present at conferences, engage with and attend community events, influence policy reform, write submissions and participate in research creative arts activities, and a variety of different media engagements.
Contact FIGJAM: FIGJAMunited@gmail.com
Membership
All women, trans and gender diverse folks are welcome the only requirement for membership is to have had an experience of incarceration.
We make it known that incarceration pertains to all forms of institutions, places and spaces where people are policed and held against their will.
Membership provides a sense of belonging, connection, healing, and collective accountability.
Our primary purpose is to build community strength and leadership.
Contact FIGJAM: FIGJAMunited@gmail.com
Collective Values
Solidarity, Kindness, Respect, Faith, Peace, Hope, Joy, Love, Generosity, Care, Optimism, Humour, Making a Difference, Inclusion, Connection, Belonging, Power, Responsibility, Reliability, Accountability, Justice Holding, Honesty, Truth, Authenticity, Self-expression, Safety, Freedom, Vulnerability, Compassion, Courage, Integrity.
Art by Judy Kuo.
When we come together, we acknowledge and are considerate of individuals experiences, our approach to each other is collaborative, strength based, and trauma informed.
We are anti-oppressive in centring every individual’s story and respect diversity, positionality ability and experience.
We practice listening with empathy and are sensitive while navigating difference responding with curiosity and opportunities to learn. We are mindful to use respectful language and approach all matters with care and a willingness to understand.
We hold space for one another with kindness, we do not practice on having opinions on peoples’ experiences being respectful of their privacy and autonomy.
Ways of Working
Who we are
We are a group of women, trans and gender diverse folk who have been incarcerated working to dismantle the prison industrial complex and reinvest in community responses of care, connection, accountability and transformative justice.
What we do
We are an advocacy collective, completely peer led providing social connection and support to one another.
We engage in policy reform, consultancy, research, public speaking and present across different issues pertaining to criminalised women, trans and gender diverse folks across the sector. across different issues pertaining to criminalised across the sector.
What we want
Our intention is to prevent further systemic injustice, harm, abuse and violence toward all people, and it be replaced by a commitment of care. By applying our lived expertise, we amplify the experiences of criminalised, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated folks to establish a safe and accountable community.
We advocate by sharing our expertise to create change, providing education and awareness, informing community and the sector on the experiences, impacts and barriers criminalised women, trans and gender diverse folks face in the hope to create change.
What we stand for
No more money to be poured in to policing and prisons and to allocate funds back to community.