🔗 Share this article

Present Global Female Prison Population

Over 733,000 women and girls are currently held in prison systems globally, as reported by latest investigations. This figure includes both pre-trial detainees and those who have been found guilty and punished. Experts believe the real number is significantly higher due to unavailable statistics from multiple nations.

Women consistently represent a limited percentage of overall inmate numbers – typically between 2-9% on average. Presently, women and girls account for approximately 6.8% of the global prison population. Nonetheless, their figures are rising at a more rapid tempo than male inmates.

Over the past two decades, the female prison population in prison has grown by nearly 60% – almost three times the growth observed in the male inmate numbers. The worldwide women inmate count grew by exceeding 100,000 individuals during the ten-year period ending in 2020.

Primary Drivers Behind the Increase

Women's lawbreaking are often linked to poverty and usually serve as a way to support themselves to care for their dependents.

Extensive studies has found that laws often criminalize acts of survival and that women are unfairly targeted because they are more commonly found among the poorest sectors of society. In many countries, laws criminalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution disproportionately target women. The probability of getting a prison sentence is typically associated with poverty and the inability to pay fines for small infractions or to arrange temporary freedom.

States with the Highest Women Inmate Numbers

The United States has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China ranks second with 145,000, plus an uncertain quantity of women and girls in remand imprisonment 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 Britain, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the total prison population. Projections indicate these numbers are anticipated to grow to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are presently incarcerated, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, constituting approximately 8% of its complete incarceration numbers.

Countries with Substantial Rises in Women Inmate Numbers

Even accounting for typical population expansion over the past 25 years, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people remains indicative of a substantial rise. El Salvador and Cambodia have experienced more than sixfold increases, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen growth exceeding 500%.

Incarcerated Women Facing Execution

Present approximations 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 also the countries that carry out the most capital punishments in general, specifically China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As reported by current records, an undetermined count of women were executed in China, while two received death sentences in Egypt, 30 in Iran, one in Iraq, nine in Saudi Arabia and two in Yemen.

Incomplete statistics is available for states with most frequent capital punishment or for others such as North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. Nonetheless, analysis is accessible regarding 15 other countries with the largest quantities of women on death row.

The principal violations for which women are given capital punishment are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with required execution sentences for murder, or that do not recognize gender-based violence as lessening conditions, are prone to exhibit higher numbers of women on death row and frequent death sentences.

Furthermore, countries that strictly prohibit drug trafficking, such as those in the Arabian Peninsula and Oriental southeast, have a significant percentage of women on death row.

Fitness of Imprisonment for Women

Many experts and advocates contend that prison is inappropriate penalty for a significant portion of women who break the law. The majority are imprisoned for non-violent crimes; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 belonged to this group. Women often encounter a "cyclical pattern of brief incarceration periods – insufficiently long to take part in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

Up to 80% of women in prison worldwide have an identifiable mental illness. In Europe, suicide rates for women in prison are nine times higher than for the wider community, as reported by the global health authority.

In reaction to growing statistics of incarcerated women and a deficiency of regulations reflecting their needs, the International Women Prisoner Standards (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 provide women-specific consideration in prisons.

Children of Female Prisoners

An estimated 19,000 children reside in correctional facilities with a parent, typically their mother, while many times that number are divided from their parents. Approximately 1.45 million children worldwide have a incarcerated mother.

Besides the obvious separation 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 limited duration in prison.

Numerous nations allow for babies and young children to remain in correctional facilities with their mothers up to a specific age. Nevertheless, a childhood spent in prison can harm a young person both bodily and psychologically.