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Incarcerated women face a persistent problem: limited access to medical information. Basic anatomical drawings are often labeled as obscene or pornographic. In honor of Prison Banned Books Week, the Prison Library Project teamed up with women’s health advocates to provide a comprehensive medical resource that challenges the status quo. “Contrabanned” is designed to be sent to incarcerated women nationwide. It’s an easy-to-read guide covering the basics of women’s health, with the hope that prisons will embrace the book and share it with inmates who request medical information.

But how do you get a banned book into a prison?

Through a creative partnership with an incarcerated nurse, volunteers achieved something extraordinary. Over the course of three months, they discreetly mailed the book, page by page, into the prison. Once all the pages had arrived, our contact on the inside carefully stitched them together using dental floss, creating a complete guide to women’s health. This resource, now passed among inmates, challenges the restrictions that have long kept vital medical information out of reach.

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