About Voices From Inside: Project scholars Nicole Hendricks, Professor of Criminal Justice, and Mary Orisich, Professor of Economics, have written about the power of Voices From Inside (VFI) for both women and their audiences. They state:

VFI continues and evolves the long-standing tradition of oral history and testimonial writing found in African American & LatinX communities. These traditions acknowledge the voice of the voiceless, and place the lived experiences of marginalized individuals front and center such that others (those who read, listen, watch) can gain a more complex, compassionate understanding of the author not as “the other” but as a dignified fellow human being. Moreover, VFI demonstrates the feminist tradition of community-building through sharing lived experiences which facilitates trust, understanding, and empowerment....The film seeks to have viewers engage with their own preconceptions about incarcerated women; to examine and discern how and why the media portrayal of incarcerated women is often sensationalized (eg. shows like “Orange Is the New Black”); to reflect on ways our social institutions have failed and how these women and VFI have succeeded in spite of this. We hope the film stimulates questions about systemic inequality, about patriarchy, and how these might be related.