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Current Worldwide Female Prison Inmates

In excess of 733,000 women and girls are detained in penal institutions worldwide, as reported by latest analyses. This number encompasses both remand prisoners and individuals already found guilty and punished. Experts believe the real number is substantially larger due to missing information from several countries.

Female inmates generally account for a minor proportion of national prison populations – usually between 2-9% on average. Currently, women and girls comprise approximately 6.8% of the world's incarcerated individuals. Nevertheless, their numbers are increasing at a more rapid tempo than male inmates.

Over the past two decades, the number of women and girls in prison has grown by nearly 60% – nearly thrice the rise observed in the incarcerated male demographic. The worldwide women inmate count rose by over 100,000 individuals during the decade-long span ending in 2020.

Main Causes Behind the Growth

Women's lawbreaking are commonly associated with economic hardship and typically represent a way to support themselves to provide for their families.

Comprehensive research has determined 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 criminalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution disproportionately target women. The probability of getting a prison sentence is frequently connected with poverty and the inability to pay fines for petty offenses or to arrange temporary freedom.

Countries with the Highest Incarcerated Women Statistics

The US has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China follows with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in awaiting trial custody 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 Britain, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the total prison population. Forecasts show 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 Significant Increases in Women Inmate Numbers

Although including standard demographic increases over the past 25 years, the surge in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people still shows a substantial rise. Cambodia and El Salvador have experienced increases exceeding 600%, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen increases over five times.

Women on Death Row

Current calculations 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 likewise the states that perform the highest number of executions in general, specifically China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Based on current records, an undetermined count of women were executed 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 states with most frequent capital punishment or for additional countries including North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. However, analysis is accessible regarding 15 other countries with the largest quantities of women on death row.

The main offenses 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 mitigating circumstances, 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 Arabian Peninsula and Oriental southeast, have a high proportion of women on death row.

Appropriateness of Prison for Women

Many experts and advocates argue that prison is not a suitable punishment for a significant portion of women who commit crimes. The majority are imprisoned for peaceful violations; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 belonged to this group. Women often encounter a "revolving door" of limited imprisonment terms – insufficiently long to engage in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

As many as 80% of women in prison worldwide have an diagnosable psychological condition. In Europe, suicide rates for women in prison are nine times higher than for the general population, based on the global health authority.

In answer to increasing figures of jailed women and a lack of standards addressing their requirements, the International Women Prisoner Standards (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 ensure gender-sensitive treatment in prisons.

Kids with Imprisoned Mothers

An calculated 19,000 children dwell in incarceration centers with a parent, usually their mother, while many times that number are divided from their parents. 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 frequent for a woman to forfeit parental rights of her children after just a brief period in prison.

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