HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — City leaders across Hampton Roads are coming together Monday for a Women’s History Month town hall.

The event is being hosted by the Hampton NAACP at 7 p.m. Monday. Titled “The Invisible Women Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women,” the town hall will focus on the struggles of women behind bars.

It will be held at Bethel AME Church at 2521 North Armistead Avenue in Hampton.

“Women inmates are being outsourced to other localities because of lack of space in the Hampton Jail,” officials say in a press release. “Women are being outsourced to Hampton Roads Regional Jail, Suffolk, Lynchburg and other localities. This is especially a major issue for mothers. When a mother is incarcerated, their kids, mother, grandma, aunts are incarcerated too. Separation can cause trauma. Inmates are innocent until proven guilty.”

Panelists for the town hall include:

• Stacy Bailey, Women in NAACP (WIN) Chair
• Hampton Sheriff Karen Bowden
• Portsmouth Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas Burke
• Zina McGhee, Ph.D. Endowed University Professor of Sociology- Hampton University
• Sanu Deing , Executive Director Transitions Family Violence Services
• Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan
• Portsmouth Sheriff Michael Moore
• Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot