Book to ignite conversation on female recidivist offenders

MEDIA RELEASE 4 June 2016 For immediate release

What does it take to turn a life a crime into a life of promise?

Annah Stretton reveals all in her latest book!

Fashion designer and social entrepreneur Annah Stretton is excited to announce the launch of her latest book.

Five years in the making, THE RAW TRUTH, An Angel on Your Shoulder charts the story of the Stretton-founded charity called RAW (Reclaim Another Women) and the tragedies and triumphs that come with working alongside a group of recidivist female offenders.

Annah first turned her entrepreneurial passion towards the social impact space back in 2014 when her work with the Waikato Women’s Refuge exposed her to a group of women that were stuck in a vicious cycle of intergenerational disadvantage. RAW was born soon after and, together with her mental health-trained sister Rebecca, set out to prove that female offenders were capable of turning a life of crime into a life of promise with the right combination of education, employment and intensive peer support. And prove it they have!

As RAW enters its fifth year of operation, they have successfully reintegrated what amounts to 9% of the female prison population and touched over 180 women still serving sentences with their RAW On-the-Inside Programme.

Annah’s decision to document her journey into a slice of New Zealand that she never knew existed was multi-faceted.

“It was an opportunity to challenge conventional wisdom about what sort of women become recidivist offenders, but even more importantly, to provide a new lens on what it takes to achieve a different and more productive set of outcomes for these women, their children and ultimately for our community,” Stretton said.

Annah commissioned author Natalie Pearce to write the book. Over the course of six months, Natalie captured the memories of Annah and Rebecca as they cast their minds back to what it felt like at the beginning.

“There was a torrent of learning, challenges and successes, but together they had the perfect combination of optimism, resilience, patience and grit to keep going no matter what.

“And then there have been the stories of the women. Oh, my goodness. The hours and hours I have spent listening to and capturing the stories of 24 remarkable women…slowly making their way along a challenging recovery pathway.”

The stories the women shared with Natalie were intimate and often painful.

“It was a past that many of them hadn’t delved back into for a considerable length of time. At times, they could only bare to skim along the surface. They trusted me, a perfect stranger, with a version of their life story because of the trust and respect that they held for Annah and Rebecca.”

For some, there was also a secondary factor at play. It was borne out of a sense of duty for all the women out there who were still silent, or worse still, hadn’t made it through.

“They wanted to become a voice that broke the silence for these women and, in doing so, could hopefully alter the pathways of the generations of women coming after them.

“Having finished writing this book, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed at the social challenges which still face New Zealand and yet, in the same breath hopeful that change is entirely possible if we can create the right recovery pathways.

“I hope that in writing this book and sharing these women’s stories we can ignite a national conversation around restoration, recovery and hope – the first step to building a better tomorrow for New Zealand.”

Giving voice to a group of women who have remained largely invisible to the wider community was a goal well and truly achieved according to some early reviewers.

“RAW is a book that brings forward, and pays attention to, the voice of women who are often without voice. The stories they tell are both profound and hard, and perhaps this is its greatest gift. These women’s lives are not edited for acceptability or politeness; they are as they are, and prison is as it is.” Vivien Maidabourn – CEO, UNICEF NZ and Chair of the RAW Governance Board

"This is a book like few others I have read in the past decade or more. It will raise hackles of outrage, it may make you weep, and it will certainly introduce a hard focus on a section of life most of us never dreamt existed… it is one hell of a read." Kingsley Field, Director AccuWrite Wordsmiths & Media Ltd

The RAW Truth is a story about what can happen when hope walks into the room. By publishing it, the charity hopes that it can become a source of energy and courage for any woman struggling to create a better life for herself and her children.

The RAW Truth is available to pre-order now on the RAW website – www.raw.org.nz. All net proceeds will go to the RAW charity.

ENDS

About RAW

The RAW Charity is a social impact superstar set up by Annah Stretton in 2014 to help female offenders successfully transition from a life of crime to a life of promise through education, employment and intensive support and mentoring.

Working alongside her sister Rebecca, who has had 25 years working in mental health, The RAW Programme has been hailed by the NZ Department of Corrections as a breakthrough rehabilitation model with an unparalleled record of success.

To find out more about how RAW is changing women’s lives visit www.raw.org.nz.

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