Families Behind Bars aims to create awareness in our community that tragedy can strike a family at any time. When it does, we need to be assured that we can endure. Whether our ordeal is temporary or permanent, we need to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. This book explores the journeys of families from all over the world who have experienced the trauma of having a loved one detained in a foreign prison and how they've coped. These are real life accounts that are uniquely inspirational, sho ckingly heartbreaking and will make you appreciate how fragile our lives really are. We may, without any warning, be plunged into a roller-coaster of despair.

A father spent 26 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. A sister lost a brother to an overdose of prescription drugs. A family learned that their son was to be executed by firing squad and they were expected to buy his body bag beforehand. A 40-year search continues for a brother missing in action. A woman grieves for her husband who disappeared without a trace. A sister fights for justice for her brother jailed for life without parole.

Families Behind Bars is fascinating, terrifying and heart wrenching to read and a poignant wake up call for everyone. It is about the resilience of families who endure despite the odds. I have aimed to maintain an appropriateness of content in consideration to my amicable relationships with members of my own government and other foreign offices who I associate with and in respect to the defence force my husband belongs to. Therefore, it is intended that my views expressed herein are moderately conservative but hopefully somewhat thought provoking.

I have also sought to highlight the work of consular officers throughout the world who have a most difficult task providing care and support to citizens travelling overseas. Seldom do these fi ne officers receive any recognition for their efforts. I have met numerous consular officers and have found them to be most caring individuals, some equally frustrated by the restrictions placed on them as a result of their particular environment. The same can be said for many law enforcement officers, who are at time s condemned for fighting the war on drugs and terrorism.

This book covers a broad range of topics that impact on whole communities including:

a. practical information for families who have a loved one detained
b. engaging legal support, understanding basic judicial processes
c. basic application of international mandates
d. understanding the diplomatic arm of governments
e. examples of foreign prisons and regulations
f. the death penalty
g. strong anti-drug trafficking message
h. warning on prescription medicine abuse
i. POW plight and effect on one American family
j. when a loved one is taken hostage
k. diplomatic negotiations and how they work, pardons, the Hague etc.
l. consequence of crime and effect on the family
m. control orders
n. wrongful convictions
o. torture and human rights.