ComplexitySalon 04: How lived experience reveals what we owe one another Laura Abbott & Tahlia Isaac

ComplexitySalon is delighted to host Professor Laura Abbott from the UK and Tahlia Isaac from Australia, who will share their research and experiences relating to women and children navigating the justice systems. Together, they will explore how power operates at the margins of society, and what these experiences reveal about our humanity, our institutions, and the values we choose to uphold. ⚖️ When the harms of imprisonment exceed its intended benefits, what purpose does punishment truly serve? 🔗 How might we rethink the process of incarceration which acknowledges vulnerability? This means prioritizing care and dignity rather than just punishment. 📚 How can we encourage the provision of education as a basic citizens right? 🤝 How do we better support everyone caught up in the traumatizing system which seems to serve nobody? Please enjoy our conversation with Professor Laura Abbott and Tahlia Isaac. Laura is a leading expert in maternal health and criminal justice, a qualitative researcher dedicated to improving the lives of incarcerated pregnant women and mothers. She founded the Specialist Prison Midwives Action Group, strengthening practice, peer support and national advocacy for women in custody and co-founded Pregnancy in Prison Partnership International (PiPPI). She is the Principal investigator of ESRC-funded ofThe Lost Mothers Project (lostmothers.org). She has shaped policy and brought national attention in the UK to the experiences of pregnant women and new mothers in prison through creative collaborations using arts and theatre to communicate research.Scenes from Lost Mothers has been adapted into a production by Clean Break Theatre Company in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire. Tahlia is the founder of Project:herSELF (projectherself.org.au) and brings both professional expertise and lived experience to the Australian conversation on women and the criminal justice system. Formerly incarcerated herself, she went onto complete degrees in business and criminology following her release. Today she is a wife, mother of two, and a powerful advocate for women's basic rights in prison. Project:herSELF delivers a structured release program and one-on-one peer mentoring, and is the only service-delivery social enterprise in Australia that employs exclusively women with conviction histories. This is her recent address to the National Press Club of Australia.