Martina Piazza

Martina Piazza is a criminologist and an activist for the human rights of people in prison, committed to telling the story of the Italian prison system and to changing it through research, public outreach and work on the ground.

Today Martina works with the Italian Movement for Prisoners' Rights (Movimento Italiano Diritti Detenuti) as Head of the Work Area and reintegration projects, where she builds partnerships with companies to support the return to work of people deprived of liberty and serving sentences in the community, following the whole process — from the contact with companies and the prisons' treatment units to communication and the production of practical materials.

Her commitment comes from the same conviction that has guided her outreach work for years: social and work reintegration is the most concrete way to make a sentence an opportunity for change, not only a punishment.

A qualified criminologist certified by AICIS, she combines training in law and criminology with experience gained both on the ground and in public outreach. She was the coordinator for Piedmont and the Aosta Valley of Associazione Seconda Chance, supporting people in prison under art. 21, semi-liberty or alternative measures towards employment, with direct access to prisons and probation offices (UEPE).

She has written on court reporting and criminology for Open Libri and Fronte del Blog, and is the author of the YouTube channel Martina Piazza Crime Blog and of the Substack newsletter Crimini e Giustizia, where she gathers interviews with people in prison, victims of miscarriages of justice, lawyers and prisoners' rights ombudsmen.

She is the author of the essay “L'erba dei vicini, evoluzione di un'indagine” and speaks at conferences and on news and radio channels on prison, miscarriages of justice and the justice system.