My name is Raphael Rowe. When I was 20 years old, I was wrongfully arrested, charged, and convicted of a murder and series of robberies I did not commit. I was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent the next 12 years inside British maximum-security prisons fighting to prove my innocence. Finally, my case was referred to the British Court of Appeal where my convictions were ruled unsafe, and I was set free.

Since my release, I have worked as a journalist and broadcast reporter for the BBC, hosted the ‘Second Chance’ podcast series, and, more recently, fronted the Netflix series ‘Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons’. Through my work I have found that in many prisons across the world basic human rights are not being met, and systems are collapsing. I have seen first-hand that stripping people in prison of their humanity damages their mental health, increases violence, and does nothing to reintegrate them into society. I have also seen that positively changing prison conditions creates a safer, less fractured society, both inside and outside the prison walls.

All this has inspired me to try to make positive changes in prison systems throughout the world. I believe passionately that we can make such changes, and this is why I have set up the Raphael Rowe Foundation.