'I went to prison, but being inside wasn't the worst part.'

Devyn never imagined she'd end up in prison. Convicted of conspiracy to defraud, the arrest and sentencing process was terrifying — a whirlwind of legal fees, uncertainty, and the constant fear of the unknown.

"Looking back, that period before prison was one of the scariest parts," Devyn recalled. "Not knowing what was going to happen, how it would affect my life, my family—it was unbearable."

When she did enter the prison system, she found herself stripped of control over her life.

"People talk about institutionalisation, but until you experience it, you don't understand. You can't make your own choices, and things like strip searches and supervised urine tests become routine."

Watch: Are you ever scared inside a women's maximum security prison? Article continues after the video.

Devyn kept herself occupied — reading, exercising, working — but the biggest struggle was missing out on life outside. "Weddings, new babies, birthdays — I lost all of that," she said.

So when she walked out of prison after two and a half years, she thought she'd be getting her life back. But the reality was anything but.

"Suddenly, I had to make decisions again. What to eat, how to structure my days. I thought I'd be relieved, but honestly, it was overwhelming," she said.

There were little things too, like technology moving on in ways Devyn hadn't kept up with.

But it was the way the world now viewed her that impacted her the most, both practically and emotionally. She'd expected job hunting to be tough, but she wasn't prepared for just how many doors would be slammed in her face.

"I had the right experience. I applied for jobs. Most of them didn't even respond," Devyn added.

She had some help from a post-release employment service, but the options were limited — mostly warehouse and construction jobs, industries she had no experience in.

When she did start earning money, she was prevented from accessing it.

"I opened a bank account with a bank I'd used before. They let me deposit money, but when I went to use it, they had frozen the account," Devyn recalled.

When she wasn't being actively rejected, Devyn says the fear of judgment followed her everywhere, and she felt completely isolated.

"Once you leave those gates, that's it. It's up to you to rebuild. If you don't have resources, tools, or the right mindset—which many people don't—it's very difficult."

"I wasn't allowed to move on."

Emily spent most of her twenties in and out of prison, caught in a cycle that felt impossible to break.

"I saw prison as an escape from the nightmare of addiction," she admitted. "It became my reality, and I didn't know how to get out."

Her experience with the justice system was brutal. "The process was dehumanising—handcuffed, strip-searched, thrown into cells," Emily said.

When she finally left prison for the last time, Emily thought the worst was over. She was wrong.

"I had hoped to rebuild my life, but nothing prepared me for how hard that would be," she said.

Like Devyn, Emily also struggled to adapt to the modern world, but — also like Devyn — it was society that made her feel ill-equipped to reintegrate into the world.

Despite being motivated and educated, her criminal record overshadowed every job application.

"I made it to the final round for a national domestic violence advisory role. Then they asked for a criminal history check — and suddenly, I was out," she said.

Finding housing was also a nightmare. "Most women leaving prison don't have family to fall back on. If you don't have someone to co-sign a lease, you're stuck," Emily said.

Public housing waitlists stretched for years, and private rentals were nearly impossible to secure with a criminal record.

"I couldn't get certain licenses or insurance. It was like I wasn't allowed to move on," she said.

"There's no transition plan, no real guidance. You walk out those gates, and it's up to you to figure it out.

"Most women coming out of prison don't have resources. They don't have a safety net. And that's why so many end up back inside.

"There's this idea that prison keeps 'bad people' off the streets, but in reality, it traps vulnerable people in cycles of poverty, trauma, and exclusion."

She now works in advocacy and support, determined to change the system. "If we actually supported women instead of punishing them, we'd see real change. But until then, the barriers remain," she said.

"They don't see the trauma."

After a tumultuous time in her life, Eleni says her sense of self-worth was destroyed. She was left struggling with severe depression and she turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Her mental health deteriorated further, leading to a series of events that saw her arrested and taken into custody.

With the support of a forensic psychologist, she was able to come to terms with her actions and plead guilty. Despite recommendations for a non-custodial sentence from independent psychologists and probation officers, Eleni was sentenced to prison in 2013.

Eleni says the experience only served to compound her past trauma rather than help her heal. "It was dehumanising," she explained. Eleni says she was strip-searched upon arrival, given a number that replaced her identity, and locked away for 23 hours a day for the first four months.

Strip searches were a regular occurrence, even after visits, and the lack of mental health support made rehabilitation nearly impossible. For many incarcerated women, prison only added further layers of trauma.

Even after a decade, she still faces discrimination, something Eleni says isn't the same for male former inmates.

"If a man has a record, it's often dismissed. But if a woman has one, she's seen as irredeemable," Eleni said.

Eleni says she lost community work opportunities due to anonymous calls disclosing her past, and even the church she attended for 21 years banned her from services.

Despite the challenges, Eleni now works with organisations that help women with criminal records find employment and support, recently landing a role with a government agency helping people post-release. Eleni is also an executive member of the Keeping Women out of Prison Coalition.

Eleni says a systemic overhaul is needed.

"Simple fixes for people immediately upon release—like access to ID and transport concessions—would make a huge difference," she said.

"People fear what they don't understand. They don't see the trauma and circumstances that lead someone to prison."

"It's safer back in jail."

According to criminal defence lawyer, Lauren Cassimatis, we live in a society that expects women to be nurturers and caregivers, so when a woman commits a crime, she breaks these deeply ingrained expectations. And often, society's treatment of a female former inmate will extend beyond denunciation of the crime, to personal attacks on her integrity, work ethic, love for her children, and commitment to her partner and family.

"When women commit crimes, they're seen as untrustworthy, deviant, and breaking the gender code," Lauren said.

"Men, on the other hand, are often excused with 'boys will be boys'."

"Meanwhile, these women are often ostracised, judged for their ability to parent, and labelled 'dangerous' or 'unhinged'."

Once released, women face an uphill battle, Lauren explained.

"Many women face struggles with housing, employment, and basic survival. Some even reoffend because it's safer back in jail with a meal and a roof over their head," she said.

According to Lauren, many women who do end up in prison do so for reasons that are often rooted in trauma, abuse, and mental health challenges.

"Women mostly commit crime because of trauma—whether it's historical or cyclical," she explained.

"The system doesn't invest enough in understanding what truly triggers a woman to commit a crime."

Once out of prison, there's limited support, with women fundamentally set up for women to fail.

"There are some incredible individuals working to help women reintegrate, but these resources are overstretched and have an expiration date," Lauren added.

"When parole is over, it's each to their own."

Feature image: Getty.