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Current Worldwide Women Prison Inmates

More than 733,000 women and girls are detained in prison systems internationally, based on current analyses. This figure covers both pre-trial detainees and individuals already found guilty and punished. Experts believe the real number is significantly higher due to incomplete data from numerous nations.

Female inmates generally account for a minor proportion of correctional system demographics – typically between 2-9% on average. Presently, women and girls account for approximately 6.8% of the international inmate count. However, their population is growing at a faster rate than incarcerated men.

Over the past two decades, the incarcerated females in prison has grown by nearly 60% – roughly triple the rise observed in the incarcerated male demographic. The worldwide women inmate count grew by exceeding 100,000 individuals during the ten-year period ending in 2020.

Main Causes Behind the Rise

Offenses committed by women are often connected to financial deprivation and often constitute 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 unfairly targeted because they are disproportionately represented among the lowest economic brackets of society. In many countries, laws penalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution primarily impact women. The chance of being given a prison sentence is typically associated with poverty and the lack of resources for fines for petty offenses or to obtain release.

Nations with the Highest Women Inmate Numbers

The America has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China ranks second with 145,000, plus an unknown number of women and girls in remand imprisonment and "bureaucratic confinement. 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 the UK, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the overall inmate count. Estimates suggest these numbers are expected to rise 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.

States with Substantial Rises in Female Prison Populations

Despite considering typical population expansion over the previous two-and-a-half decades, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people continues to demonstrate a significant growth. These two nations have experienced over six times growth, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen increases over five times.

Female Capital Punishment Cases

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

The countries that execute the most women are likewise the states that perform the highest number of executions in general, including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Based on current records, an undetermined count of women were given capital punishment 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 accessible regarding 15 other countries with the most women on death row.

The main offenses for which women are given capital punishment are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with compulsory capital punishment for murder, or that do not recognize gender-based violence as reducing factors, are more likely to have increased quantities of women on death row and more executions.

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

Fitness of Incarceration for Females

Many experts and campaigners maintain that prison is not a suitable punishment for a significant portion of women who break the law. Most are incarcerated for non-violent crimes; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 fell into this classification. Women frequently experience a "revolving door" of short prison sentences – inadequate duration to participate 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 general population, according to the World Health Organization.

In response to increasing figures of incarcerated women and a deficiency of regulations considering their circumstances, the United Nations Female Inmate Guidelines (known as the Bangkok Rules) were approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules oblige states to establish non-imprisonment penalties and to guarantee female-appropriate care in prisons.

Children of Female Prisoners

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

Besides the evident parting 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.

Various states make provision for babies and young children to stay in prison with their mothers up to a specific age. Nevertheless, a early life in correctional facilities can damage a child both physically and emotionally.