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Present Worldwide Women Prison Inmates

Over 733,000 women and girls are currently held in correctional facilities worldwide, based on current analyses. This statistic includes both pre-trial detainees and those who have been convicted and sentenced. Researchers estimate the true count is much greater due to unavailable statistics from numerous states.

Women consistently represent a minor proportion of overall inmate numbers – typically between 2-9% on average. As of now, women and girls comprise approximately 6.8% of the international inmate count. Nevertheless, their numbers are increasing at a faster rate than male inmates.

Over the past two decades, the incarcerated females in prison has expanded by approximately 60 percent – roughly triple the growth observed in the male inmate numbers. The global female prison population rose by over 100,000 individuals during the ten-year period ending in 2020.

Main Causes Behind the Increase

Female criminal activities are frequently linked to poverty and typically represent a way to support themselves to care for their dependents.

Extensive studies has determined that legislation frequently penalizes acts of survival and that women are disproportionately affected because they are over-represented among the lowest economic brackets of society. In various countries, laws penalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution disproportionately target women. The chance of being given a prison sentence is typically associated with poverty and the inability to pay fines for petty offenses or to arrange temporary freedom.

Countries with the Greatest Women Inmate Numbers

The America has the largest number of female prisoners with 174,607. China comes next with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in remand imprisonment and "administrative detention". Additional major sources 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 Britain, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the total prison population. Estimates suggest these numbers are anticipated to grow to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are currently imprisoned, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, amounting to approximately 8% of its total prison population.

Nations with Substantial Rises in Female Prison Populations

Although including normal population growth over the past 25 years, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people continues to demonstrate a substantial rise. El Salvador and Cambodia have experienced increases exceeding 600%, while Indonesia and Turkey have seen growth exceeding 500%.

Female Capital Punishment Cases

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

The states that carry out executions on the most women are similarly the nations that carry out the most capital punishments in general, including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Based on latest reports, an undetermined count of women were put to death in China, while two received death sentences 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 others such as North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. Nonetheless, analysis is available for 15 other countries with the largest quantities of women on death row.

The principal violations for which women are receiving execution orders are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with mandatory death penalties for murder, or that refuse to consider gender-based violence as reducing factors, are inclined to display higher numbers of women on death row and frequent death sentences.

Furthermore, countries that strictly prohibit drug trafficking, such as those in the Gulf region and Asian southeast, have a substantial ratio of women on death row.

Fitness of Imprisonment for Women

Numerous specialists and activists maintain that prison is inappropriate penalty for a substantial percentage of women who break the law. The majority are imprisoned for non-violent crimes; in the UK, 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 engage in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

Approximately 80% of women in prison worldwide have an recognizable psychiatric disorder. In Europe, self-harm statistics for women in prison are nine times higher than for the overall public, as reported by the World Health Organization.

In answer to rising numbers of incarcerated women and a deficiency of regulations considering their circumstances, the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners (known as the Bangkok Rules) were adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules oblige states to develop non-custodial sanctions and to guarantee female-appropriate care in prisons.

Offspring of Incarcerated Women

An estimated 19,000 children live in prison with a parent, typically their mother, while many times that number are separated from them. Approximately 1.45 million children worldwide have a imprisoned parent.

Besides the clear division and connected hardship that a prison sentence can cause, it is frequent for a woman to forfeit parental rights of her children after just a short time in prison.

Numerous nations make provision for babies and young children to remain in correctional facilities with their mothers up to a certain age. Nonetheless, a childhood spent in prison can harm a young person both physically and emotionally.