Humans of our prisons

Humans of our Prisons is a project designed to share stories from people connected to New Zealand's justice system. Based on the bestselling ‘Humans of New York’ book and viral social media platform, it’s about giving you a glimpse into people's lives, so you can see the stories behind the statistics.

Apr 29, 2022
4 min

Chrissy's story

"The way they advertise it is ‘come and make a difference, come and be a Corrections Officer’. It’s crap. You can’t." I wanted a...

Apr 29, 2022
7 min

Henare's story

"People look at courtrooms with all the brown faces and think it's just the norm for them but the reality is for many it never is and it...

Apr 29, 2022
2 min

Richard's story

"I’ve served my time, why should I be still paying 38 years later?" I enjoyed school, but I wanted to get out and work. That was at the...

Apr 29, 2022
5 min

David & Lorraine - mentors

"They're not animals. There are some people who act like animals, because they’ve been treated like animals." Lorraine: We’ve been going...

Apr 29, 2022
5 min

Dr Paul Wood's story

"I was the first person in NZ to finish a Masters degree inside, and I finished up my PhD on release." I grew up getting some pretty...

Apr 29, 2022
4 min

Gary's story

"If you really knew me, would you even look at me?" My daughter wasn’t even born at the time I was arrested and my son was very young. He...

Apr 29, 2022
4 min

Irene's story

"I have over 100 criminal convictions, and I have a Level 7 degree. So you choose how you want to judge me." Prison for me was like a...

Apr 29, 2022
9 min

John's Story

"Your senses are working way overtime when you come out, you feel just about bullet proof. Feeling that sharp, you can easily go wrong."...

Apr 29, 2022
3 min

Kate's Story

"If not for him, there’s a very real chance I could have been in prison as opposed to helping prisoners." My husband and I are completely...