‘Residue and Ruin’ Virtual Photo Exhibition

All over the world, criminal justice systems misuse overly broad and discriminatory laws that are rooted in the age of empire and criminalize those who are poor and/or viewed as different or other. For example, colonial-era offences such as vagrancy, loitering, begging, or being idle and disorderly are routinely deployed against poor or homeless people, people with disabilities, people who use drugs, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, sex workers, migrants, and informal traders, among others, for who they are rather than for what they have done. In parallel, we are increasingly seeing a similar, pernicious use of criminal law to suppress activism and quell dissent. This virtual photo exhibition, curated on behalf of the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status, seeks to shed light on the impact these laws have on the everyday people who fall victim to their abuse.