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Current Global Female Prison Inmates

More than 733,000 women and girls are confined in correctional facilities internationally, based on current analyses. This figure encompasses both remand prisoners and those who have been found guilty and punished. Researchers estimate the actual total is substantially larger due to missing information from several countries.

Females typically constitute a minor proportion of correctional system demographics – typically between 2-9% on average. As of now, women and girls comprise approximately 6.8% of the world's incarcerated individuals. Nevertheless, their figures are rising at a more rapid tempo than incarcerated men.

From the millennium onward, the incarcerated females in prison has grown by nearly 60% – roughly triple the growth observed in the male inmate numbers. The global female prison population increased by more than 100,000 individuals during the ten-year interval ending in 2020.

Main Causes Behind the Rise

Women's lawbreaking are frequently linked to poverty and usually serve as a method of sustenance to care for their dependents.

Detailed analysis has established that laws often criminalize basic sustenance activities and that women are unfairly targeted because they are more commonly found among the lowest economic brackets of society. In numerous countries, laws criminalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution disproportionately target women. The chance of being given a prison sentence is typically associated with poverty and the failure to afford fines for minor crimes or to arrange temporary freedom.

Countries with the Highest Incarcerated Women Statistics

The United States has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China comes next with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in remand imprisonment and "procedural custody. 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 England and Wales, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the complete incarceration statistics. Estimates suggest these numbers are predicted to increase to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are currently imprisoned, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, constituting approximately 8% of its total prison population.

Countries with Substantial Rises in Female Prison Populations

Although including normal population growth over the previous two-and-a-half decades, the rise 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 these countries 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 nations that put to death the most women are similarly the nations that execute the most people in general, including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As reported by recent documentation, an undetermined count of women were put to death in China, while two faced execution 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 additional countries including North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. Nonetheless, analysis is available for 15 other countries with the highest numbers of females on death row.

The two primary crimes for which women are given capital punishment are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with required execution sentences for murder, or that fail to acknowledge gender-based violence as reducing factors, are inclined to display increased quantities of women on death row and frequent death sentences.

Additionally, countries that harshly penalize drug trafficking, such as those in the Arabian Peninsula and Asian southeast, have a significant percentage of women on death row.

Suitability of Imprisonment for Women

Various professionals and campaigners contend that prison is inappropriate penalty for a large number of women who commit crimes. Many are jailed for non-violent crimes; in Britain, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 fit this category. Women frequently experience a "cyclical pattern of brief incarceration periods – inadequate duration to engage in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

Approximately 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 general population, based on the World Health Organization.

In reaction to increasing figures of jailed women and a deficiency of regulations addressing their requirements, the United Nations Female Inmate Guidelines (known as the Bangkok Rules) were approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules require nations to establish non-imprisonment penalties and to ensure gender-sensitive treatment in prisons.

Offspring of Incarcerated Women

An calculated 19,000 children dwell in incarceration centers with a parent, usually their mother, while many times that number are separated from them. Approximately 1.45 million children worldwide have a mother in prison.

Apart from the obvious separation and connected hardship that a prison sentence can cause, it is not uncommon for a woman to be deprived of guardianship of her children after just a brief period in prison.

Many countries allow for babies and young children to stay in prison with their mothers up to a specific age. However, a early life in correctional facilities can damage a child both physically and emotionally.