By Claire Elizabeth Rihely
8th grade | Beaver Area Middle School | Pennsylvania
Finalist in the K–11 contest, Human Rights category
With lines from “Idaho Lawmakers Order Investigation Into Sex Assaults at Women’s Prisons After Grantee’s Reporting” by Whitney Bryen, a Pulitzer Center-supported story
They wore the badges
like halos hammered from stolen metal,
called themselves protectors
while women learned
even locked doors cannot keep monsters out.
They filed screams into cabinets,
buried bruises beneath paperwork,
called violence “unfounded”
because truth is easier to erase
when the victim is already behind bars.
How convenient,
to cage a woman
then act as though her pain
is less human
because she is already condemned.
They knew.
They knew.
They knew.
And still they polished their uniforms
while survivors choked on silence.
Only when headlines bled through concrete
did they pretend surprise,
pretend outrage,
pretend justice had simply gotten lost.
But justice was never lost
it was buried.
By careful hands,
by signed reports,
by people who looked at suffering
and chose reputation instead.
Tell me
what is more criminal:
the woman in the cell,
or the man with the key
who learned power tastes sweeter
when no one stops him?
Claire Elizabeth Rihely is a rising freshman in the Beaver Area School District in Beaver, Pennsylvania. She enjoys writing, running, art, and traveling. She hopes that people aren’t afraid to use their words to make a difference. Her poems are written to influence others and share in her passions. Rihely hopes to attend New York University and become a fashion journalist, although she still wants to continue to write poetry.
Read more winning entries from the 2026 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.