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Current Worldwide Women Prison Inmates

More than 733,000 women and girls are currently held in correctional facilities globally, based on recent investigations. This number covers both remand prisoners and individuals already found guilty and punished. Researchers estimate the true count is significantly higher due to missing information from multiple countries.

Females typically constitute a minor proportion of overall inmate numbers – typically between 2-9% on average. Presently, women and girls account for approximately 6.8% of the global prison population. However, their population is growing at a faster rate than male inmates.

Since the year 2000, the incarcerated females in prison has grown by nearly 60% – almost three times the growth observed in the male inmate numbers. The global female prison population grew by exceeding 100,000 individuals during the decade-long span ending in 2020.

Key Factors Behind the Rise

Female criminal activities are frequently connected to financial deprivation and usually serve as a way to support themselves to care for their dependents.

Extensive studies has found that laws often criminalize basic sustenance activities and that women are unequally impacted because they are disproportionately represented among the poorest sectors of society. In various countries, laws penalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution primarily impact women. The likelihood of receiving a prison sentence is frequently connected with poverty and the inability to pay fines for minor crimes or to obtain release.

Nations with the Largest Women Inmate Numbers

The US has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China ranks second with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in pre-trial detention and "procedural custody. Other significant 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 predicted to increase to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are currently detained, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, constituting approximately 8% of its total prison population.

Countries with Substantial Rises in Incarcerated Women Statistics

Despite considering normal population growth over the last quarter-century, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people remains indicative of a substantial rise. Cambodia and El Salvador have experienced over six times growth, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen increases over five times.

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 perform the highest number of executions in general, namely China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As reported by recent documentation, 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 states with most frequent capital punishment or for additional countries including North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. However, analysis is obtainable concerning 15 other countries with the highest numbers of females on death row.

The two primary crimes for which women are receiving execution orders are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with mandatory death penalties for murder, or that do not recognize gender-based violence as mitigating circumstances, are more likely to have greater amounts of women on death row and more executions.

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

Fitness of Prison for Women

Various professionals and campaigners argue that prison is not a suitable punishment for a significant portion of women who commit crimes. Most are incarcerated for non-aggressive offenses; in the UK, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 belonged to this group. Women frequently experience a "repetitive cycle of brief incarceration periods – insufficiently long to engage in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

Up to 80% of women in prison worldwide have an recognizable psychiatric disorder. In Europe, suicide rates for women in prison are nine times higher than for the wider community, as reported by the World Health Organization.

In reaction to growing statistics of jailed women and a lack of standards 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 create alternative punishments 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 significantly more children are apart from their mothers. Approximately 1.45 million children worldwide have a incarcerated mother.

In addition to the clear division and connected hardship that a prison sentence can cause, it is not uncommon for a woman to forfeit parental rights of her children after just a limited duration in prison.

Many countries permit babies and young children to stay in prison with their mothers up to a certain age. Nevertheless, a childhood spent in prison can damage a child both bodily and psychologically.