Made in prison

From the north to the south of the country, "good practices" are born in Italian prisons, they are many small seeds that help to change for the better a system that is still far, too far, from what ours is today. Constitution indicates. Punishment must re-educate, prison must help people who have committed crimes to reintegrate into society. The municipal guarantors of the prisoners are like sentinels, they play an important role of guarantee for the prisoners and for the whole system. This is why the recent protocol signed by the National Guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty with ANCI is good news. The document indicates that from now on there will be greater homogeneity on the nomination criteria and on the working method of the guarantors of prisoners appointed by the Municipalities.

In the same days, again in Rome, another memorandum of understanding was signed. It was signed by the Minister of Justice, Marta Cartabia, and the CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato, Luigi Ferraris, to encourage the social reintegration of prisoners through training courses and their possible employment in public utility programs and intramural work.
"Collaborations with prestigious companies operating at a national level are an indispensable tool for the prison administration to best fulfill its institutional mandate, offering important training and work opportunities to give meaning to the sentence", commented Minister Cartabia, who then wanted to highlight: "symbolic aspects in this agreement: Ferrovie dello Stato evokes the idea of ​​networks and connections, which are the opposite - added the Minister of Justice - of the isolation that generally accompanies the world of prison".

In Lecce there is the Made in Carcere brand, a typical example of social economy and sustainability. The brand was born in 2007 from the creative talent of Luciana Delle Donne. The laboratory produces bags, accessories, original and all coloured, made by about twenty women on the margins of society, women prisoners who have decided to get back into the game. Since it was born, this reality has involved more than 200 people. The goal is to combine common sense and creativity, to demonstrate through the collection of waste fabrics, and the creation of laboratories in prison by women prisoners, that "beauty exists and must be sought everywhere". The sustainable development model is not that of the classic charity, i.e. a charitable organization, but that of a social enterprise, capable of promoting well-being to disadvantaged people.


Chiara Genisio
NP August / September 2022