Women's Prison
In Israel, there are around 25,000 men in prison. Some 14,000 of these are convicted on criminal charges. The rest are incarcerated on security-related charges – and are mostly Palestinian. In comparison, there are just 200 women in prison in the Holy Land. And they're all in one place – Neve Tirza.
Situated in Ramla, not far from Tel Aviv, and first opened in 1968, Neve Tirza is a small, dilapidated and dangerously overcrowded place. The size of most of the cells is 13 square metres, including a toilet and shower. Each cell is home to around six women, who often share their sleeping space, either out of choice or necessity. The United Nations declares that a basic human right, regardless of the person’s status, is a minimum of eight square metres of living space. In Neve Tirza, each prisoner has around two square metres to call their own.
Israeli photographer Tomer Ifrah was sent to Neve Tirza, back in 2013, to take a portrait of a prisoner for an Israeli magazine. Seeing the potential for a larger project, he found the prison warden’s office, knocked on her door, and negotiated further access.
The women in Neve Tirza are not separated by beliefs or ethnicity. Jewish and Muslim women share cells, showers, food and beds, alongside women of all kinds of ethnic and national identities. "Women from all kinds of social, cultural or religious backgrounds live together in Neve Tirza," Ifrah tells Refinery29. "Most of them are ethnic minorities and were not born on Israeli soil. Some come from Russia, Ethiopia, or South America."
Text: Tom Seymour - Refinery29