Elizabeth Fry, sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the treatment of prisoners, especially female inmates, and as such has been called the "Angel of Prisons". She was instrumental in the 1823 Gaols Act which mandated sex-segregation of prisons and female warders for female inmates to protect them from sexual exploitation. Fry kept extensive diaries, in which she wrote explicitly of the need to protect female prisoners from rape and sexual exploitation.
Elizabeth Fry
Fry reading to inmates in Newgate prison
Elizabeth Fry's name on the Reformers’ Monument, Kensal Green Cemetery
Fry's statue in the Old Bailey
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes.
Johnny Cash advocated prison reform at his July 1972 meeting with United States President Richard Nixon.
Kim Kardashian and President Donald Trump discuss prison reform in May 2018.