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Current Worldwide Women Prison Inmates

In excess of 733,000 women and girls are detained in correctional facilities internationally, according to recent investigations. This figure includes both pre-trial detainees and individuals already found guilty and punished. Analysts suggest the real number is significantly higher due to missing information from several nations.

Female inmates generally account for a small minority of correctional system demographics – typically between 2-9% on average. Currently, women and girls account for approximately 6.8% of the international inmate count. Nonetheless, their population is growing at a faster rate than male prisoners.

From the millennium onward, the incarcerated females in prison has grown by nearly 60% – roughly triple the increase observed in the male inmate numbers. The international incarcerated women statistics rose by over 100,000 individuals during the decade-long span ending in 2020.

Primary Drivers Behind the Increase

Offenses committed by women are commonly associated with economic hardship and usually serve as a method of sustenance to support their children and relatives.

Detailed analysis has established that laws often criminalize essential livelihood measures and that women are unfairly targeted because they are more commonly found among the lowest economic brackets of society. In various countries, laws penalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution primarily impact women. The chance of being given a prison sentence is often also related to poverty and the lack of resources for fines for small infractions or to secure bail.

Nations with the Highest Female Prison Populations

The United States has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China comes next with 145,000, plus an unknown number of women and girls in awaiting trial custody and "procedural custody. Further substantial contributors include Brazil (50,441), Russia (39,153), Thailand (33,057), India (23,772), the Philippines (17,121), Turkey (16,581), Vietnam (15,152), Mexico (13,841) and Indonesia (13,044).

In the UK, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the total prison population. Estimates suggest these numbers are expected to rise to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are currently imprisoned, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, representing approximately 8% of its complete incarceration numbers.

Nations with Substantial Rises in Women Inmate Numbers

Despite considering normal population growth over the last quarter-century, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people still shows a significant growth. El Salvador and Cambodia have experienced increases exceeding 600%, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen more than fivefold rises.

Women on Death Row

Recent estimates indicate there are between 500 and 1,000 women on death row in at least 42 countries worldwide.

The nations that put to death the most women are similarly the nations that carry out the most capital punishments in general, namely China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As reported by recent documentation, an uncertain quantity of women were executed in China, while two were executed in Egypt, 30 in Iran, one in Iraq, nine in Saudi Arabia and two in Yemen.

Unreliable information is available for nations with highest execution rates or for nations like North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. However, analysis is available for 15 other countries with the largest quantities of women on death row.

The main offenses for which women are given capital punishment are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with compulsory capital punishment for murder, or that refuse to consider gender-based violence as reducing factors, are prone to exhibit increased quantities of women on death row and more executions.

Moreover, countries that severely criminalize drug trafficking, such as those in the Gulf region and southeast Asia, have a high proportion of women on death row.

Suitability of Imprisonment for Women

Many experts and activists maintain that prison is inappropriate penalty for a large number of women who violate regulations. Most are incarcerated for non-violent crimes; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 fell into this classification. Women commonly face a "revolving door" of brief incarceration periods – insufficiently long to take part in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

Approximately 80% of women in prison worldwide have an identifiable mental illness. In Europe, self-harm statistics for women in prison are nine times higher than for the wider community, based on the World Health Organization.

In response to growing statistics of jailed women and a absence of guidelines reflecting their needs, the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners (known as the Bangkok Rules) were approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules mandate countries to develop non-custodial sanctions and to guarantee female-appropriate care in prisons.

Offspring of Incarcerated Women

An calculated 19,000 children live in prison with a parent, usually their mother, while many times that number are divided from their parents. Approximately 1.45 million children worldwide have a imprisoned parent.

Besides the clear division and associated suffering that a prison sentence can cause, it is quite common for a woman to lose custody of her children after just a brief period in prison.

Many countries permit babies and young children to remain in correctional facilities with their mothers up to a specific age. Nonetheless, a early life in correctional facilities can harm a young person both bodily and psychologically.