Bangkok +15 to a New Horizon: Vance Center’s Women in Prison Network Organizes Global Convening in Bogotá

Attendees gather on the opening night of the Women in Prison Network’s Global Convening, in Bogotá, Colombia, Nov. 3, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center

From November 3-5, the Vance Center’s Human Rights and Access to Justice Program held the second global convening of the Women in Prison Network. The event, “From Bangkok +15 to a New Horizon,” marked the 15th anniversary of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, more commonly known as the Bangkok Rules.

The three-day event brought together more than 80 participants from across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia for a series of panels, interactive presentations, and hands-on exercises. The agenda focused on realities for incarcerated women around the world and the need to strengthen protection of their rights before, during, and after incarceration.

Ángelica Beltrán of Corporación Humanas Colombia presents a multimedia exposition on social stigma faced by women in prison on the opening night of the convening. Photo credit: Vance Center

On November 3, participants attended an opening reception to kick off the week of events. The reception featured an exposition on the social stigma faced by women deprived of liberty, produced by the Colombian organization and Network member Corporación Humanas Colombia.

The Vance Center’s Human Rights and Access to Justice Program Senior Staff Attorney Romina Canessa welcomed attendees and offered brief opening remarks. She was followed by Claudia Cardona, co-founder and director of Mujeres Libres Colombia, and Carol Bispo, co-founder and director of the Brazilian organization Elas Existem. The two Network speakers shared personal anecdotes about the harm that lingers for many women long after they leave prison, and outlined how prison sentences affect entire families, not just the incarcerated individual. Both underscored the essential role of the Women in Prison Network in addressing these challenges.

Bispo observed that many individuals that grow up with family members in prison rarely feel comfortable sharing publicly about the difficulties of this experience. She highlighted the importance of spaces like the convening as safe opportunities for these conversations. Throughout the evening, participants reconnected with familiar faces from years collaborating through the Network and formed relationships with newer Network members.

Day 1

The first full day of events began on November 4 at the Bogotá office of law firm Baker McKenzie, where Baker partner Jaime Trujillo offered attendees a warm welcome. He was followed by opening remarks from Arlene Tickner, Ambassador at-Large for Gender Issues and Feminist Global Policy at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Baker McKenzie partner Jaime Trujillo welcomes attendees to the firm’s offices on Nov. 4, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center

Arlene Tickner, Ambassador at-Large for Gender Issues and Feminist Global Policy with Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provides opening remarks on Nov. 4, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center

Canessa moderated the first session, “The Bangkok Rules at 15 years – Progress and Challenges.” The session featured speakers:

• Chontit Chuenurah, Thailand Institute for Justice;
• Claudia Cardona, Mujeres Libres Colombia/International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women (INFIW)
• Douglas Durán, United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD, for its name in Spanish), and
• Kaumba Akosua Akuffo, Tithandizane Comfort Home/INFIW.

The speakers shared insights from their varied perspectives on the regional and international impact of the Bangkok Rules, the transformative potential of the Rules, and practical challenges to full implementation.

L-R: Douglas Durán of ILANUD, Romina Canessa of the Vance Center, Kaumba Akosua Akuffo of Tithandizane Comfort Home/INFIW, Chontit Chuenurah of the Thailand Institute for Justice, and Claudia Cardona of Mujeres Libres Colombia/INFIW. Photo credit: Vance Center

The second session, “Beyond the Rules: Who Is Missing from the Bangkok Rules?” brought together speakers: Andrea Barrios, coordinator of Guatemalan organization Colectivo Artesana; Chuenurah of the Thailand Institute for Justice; Dawn Harrington, Executive Director of Free Hearts and a member of INFIW; and Selene Pineda, researcher and coordinator at ILANUD.

The session focused on groups of women that are not explicitly recognized in the Bangkok Rules, as well as intersectional identities and needs that are largely missing from the Rules’ application. These include older women; women with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and mental health conditions; Afro-descendant women; migrant women; Indigenous, rural, and campesina women; and trans women. Speakers and participants alike underscored the urgency of international efforts to make historically marginalized groups more visible.

Andrea Barrios of Colectivo Artesana (right) speaks on a panel with Chontit Chuenurah from the Thailand Institute for Justice (left). Photo credit: Vance Center

Adaobi Egboka, the Human Rights and Access to Justice Program’s Director of Africa Initiatives, moderated the third session, “Pathways to Incarceration: Poverty, Violence, and the Criminalization of Women.” The discussion featured Jerome Mangelinckx, Global Policy Manager at Penal Reform International; Ángelica Beltrán of Corporación Humanas Colombia; Fátima Schiaffini, EQUIS Justicia para las Mujeres; and Alejandra Corredor; Mujeres Libres Colombia.

The session examined structural causes of women’s incarceration, including gender-based violence, poverty, racism, and discriminatory laws. Panelists noted how criminal justice policies can be transformed to prevent criminalization and promote alternatives by focusing on economic inequality and gender-based violence. However, they emphasized that effective reforms must center women with lived experiences.

The Vance Center’s Adaobi Egboka introduces the third session on November 4, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center

The day closed with “Breaking the Cycle: Reintegration, Alternatives, and Restorative Justice,” moderated by Cardona of Mujeres Libres Colombia/INFIW and featuring Isabel Pereira, senior coordinator for the drug policy area at Colombian organization Dejusticia; Patricia Cortes Ladino, of Mujeres Libres Colombia; and Evelin Sánchez Sánchez, CEA Justicia Social. The session outlined alternative policies to imprisoning women, such as Mexico’s Ley de Amnistía (Amnesty Law) and Colombia’s Public Utility Law, noting progress and the practical challenges for women released from prison under alternative policies. During the discussion, participants with lived experience underscored how access to transportation, links to work, and sustained psycho-social accompaniment should accompany alternative policies to prison. This approach, they suggested, would help reduce justice-impacted women’s vulnerabilities rather than perpetuating them.

Evelin Sánchez Sánchez of CEA Justicia Social, right with microphone, speaks alongside fellow panelists (L-R) Claudia Cardona of Mujeres Libres Colombia/INFIW, Patricia Cortes Ladino of Mujeres Libres Colombia, and Isabel Pereira of Dejusticia. Photo credit: Vance Center

Day 2

The second day’s agenda focused on solutions to some of the most pressing challenges for justice-impacted women.

The morning kicked off with the panel “Family and Care: The Impact of Women’s Incarceration on Children and Communities,” moderated by Sabrina Mahtani, co-founder of global platform Women Beyond Walls. The panel featured Kim, of Brazil’s Instituto Terra, Trabalho e Cidadania (ITTC); Laura Vargas, from Mujeres Libres Colombia; and María Railda Silva, International Network of Women Relatives of People Deprived of their Liberty (RIMUF, for its name in Spanish). The speakers described the impacts of prison on entire families and communities, noting how their personal experiences have informed a care-centered and restorative approach to advocacy.

Kim of ITTC presents on the impact of women’s incarceration on children during the opening session on Nov. 5, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center

Laura Vargas of Mujeres Libres Colombia shares how her mother’s incarceration shaped her adolescence. Photo credit: Vance Center

To accompany the panel discussion, participants broke out into small groups to develop concrete proposals on a selected topic. They explored how to use a recent Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Resolution on the Rights of Children of Incarcerated Parents as inspiration to advocate for similar initiatives, promote awareness, and strengthen implementation efforts in national and regional contexts.

Breakout group members discuss the IACHR Resolution on the Rights of Children of Incarcerated Parents. Seated (L-R): Dawn Harrington of Free Hearts/INFIW, Sabrina Mahtani from Women Beyond Walls, Kaumba Akosua Akuffo of Tithandizane Comfort Home/INFIW, Toni Tulloch of INFIW, and Jane Ouma of Clean Start Africa/Faraja Foundation. Photo credit: Vance Center

Vance Center Human Rights and Access to Justice Program Advisor Milena Klimberg van Marrewijk moderated the next panel, on “Litigation and Advocacy for Systemic Reform.” The discussion featured insights from Mangelinckx; Mahtani; Maïssa Hubert Chakour, EQUIS Justicia para las Mujeres; and Teodora del Carmen Vásquez, of Mujeres Libres El Salvador. Speakers explored how strategic litigation, international advocacy, and regional campaigns can lead to structural reform in criminal justice systems and strengthen protection of rights for women deprived of liberty.

The Vance Center’s Milena Klimberg van Marrewijk speaks about the use of strategic litigation to advance protections for justice-impacted women. Photo credit: Vance Center

The conversation about legal tools continued into the next session, “Legal Empowerment to Democratize the Law,” moderated by the Legal Empowerment Fund‘s Aimee Seligstein and featuring Eduarda Garcia, Instituto Caminho; Jhody Polk, Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative; and María Ana del Valle Ojeda, CEA Justicia Social. Panelists pointed to the racialized and gendered harms resulting from punitive legal processes, a significant factor that has led many women to experience incarceration. The speakers emphasized how increased legal knowledge, within prison populations and throughout broader communities, can be a powerful tool for justice-impacted women and their advocates to more effectively use and shape the law.

L-R: Moderator Aimee Seligstein of the Legal Empowerment Fund, María Ana del Valle Ojeda of CEA Justicia Social, Eduarda Garcia of Instituto Caminho (with microphone), and Jhody Polk of the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative. Photo credit: Vance Center

The busy day closed with a session on “Global Movement Building,” looking ahead to ideas to sustain collective action with and for women in prison. The panel included insights from Toni Tulloch and Coletta Youngers from INFIW; Caterina Ballardini and Dandara Zainabo from the Global Freedom Scholars Network (Incarceration Nations Network); and Cardona, Kim, and Vásquez from their work through the Latin American Network of Freed Women Breaking Down Bars.

Panelists contributed perspectives on a diverse array of networks, including grassroots, transregional, academic, and advocacy-based structures, and examined how each type can contribute to movement building.

From left, Teodora del Carmen Vásquez Sánchez of Mujeres Libres El Salvador, Claudia Cardona of Mujeres Libres Colombia/INFIW, Dandara Zainabo of the Global Freedom Scholars Network, Coletta Youngers and Toni Tulloch of INFIW and Caterina Ballardini of the Global Freedom Scholars Network offer insights around sustained movement building during the final session. Photo credit: Vance Center

This global event built on the Women in Prison Project’s first international convening in Bogotá in 2018, which also served to formally launch the Network itself. The growth over those seven years was clear at the 2025 convening, as many Network members shared how their organizations and connections to a larger global movement were born out of their participation in 2018.

Read more about the Women in Prison Network

The Vance Center is grateful to Baker McKenzie for generously providing a space to hold both days of sessions, and to White & Case for its financial support that enabled three participants to attend the convening.