Ideas worth spreading

What I learned serving time for a crime I didn't commit

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Teresa Njoroge |

TEDWomen 2017

• November 2017

In 2011, Teresa Njoroge was convicted of a financial crime she didn't commit -- the result of a long string of false accusations, increasing bribe attempts and the corrupt justice system in her home in Kenya. Once incarcerated, she discovered that most of the women and girls locked up with her were also victims of the same broken system, caught in a revolving door of life in and out of prison due to poor education and lack of economic opportunity. Now free and cleared by the courts of appeal, Njoroge shares how she's giving women in prison the skills, tools and support they need to break the cycle of poverty and crime and build a better life.

In 2011, Teresa Njoroge was convicted of a financial crime she didn't commit -- the result of a long string of false accusations, increasing bribe attempts and the corrupt justice system in her home in Kenya. Once incarcerated, she discovered that most of the women and girls locked up with her were also victims of the same broken system, caught in a revolving door of life in and out of prison due to poor education and lack of economic opportunity. Now free and cleared by the courts of appeal, Njoroge shares how she's giving women in prison the skills, tools and support they need to break the cycle of poverty and crime and build a better life.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Clean Start Kenya, a non-profit helping to restore hope, dignity, self-confidence and self-respect to girls and women as they leave prison.

About the speaker

Teresa Njoroge

Criminal and social justice reform advocate

See speaker profile

At Clean Start Kenya, Teresa Njoroge builds bridges connecting the formerly imprisoned to the outside world and vice versa.

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You can listen to the women featured in this article here.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Clean Start Kenya, a non-profit helping to restore hope, dignity, self-confidence and self-respect to girls and women as they leave prison.