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Current Worldwide Women Prison Population

In excess of 733,000 women and girls are confined in prison systems internationally, as reported by recent analyses. This number covers both pre-trial detainees and individuals already convicted and sentenced. Researchers estimate the true count is substantially larger due to incomplete data from several nations.

Women consistently represent a minor proportion of national prison populations – usually between 2-9% on average. As of now, women and girls comprise approximately 6.8% of the global prison population. Nonetheless, their figures are rising at a quicker pace than incarcerated men.

Since the year 2000, the number of women and girls in prison has expanded by approximately 60 percent – roughly triple the rise observed in the incarcerated male demographic. The international incarcerated women statistics rose by over 100,000 individuals during the ten-year period ending in 2020.

Main Causes Behind the Growth

Women's lawbreaking are frequently linked to poverty and typically represent a way to support themselves to care for their dependents.

Comprehensive research has determined that laws often criminalize essential livelihood measures and that women are unequally impacted because they are over-represented among the lowest economic brackets of society. In numerous countries, laws prohibiting abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution primarily impact women. The likelihood of receiving a prison sentence is often also related to poverty and the inability to pay fines for minor crimes or to obtain release.

Nations with the Highest Women Inmate Numbers

The United States has the largest number of female prisoners with 174,607. China ranks second 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 the UK, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the overall inmate count. Forecasts show these numbers are predicted to increase to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are presently incarcerated, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, representing approximately 8% of its total prison population.

Nations with Major Growth in Incarcerated Women Statistics

Even accounting for typical population expansion over the previous two-and-a-half decades, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people still shows a significant growth. Cambodia and El Salvador have experienced over six times growth, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen growth exceeding 500%.

Incarcerated Women Facing Execution

Recent estimates 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 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 executed 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. Nonetheless, analysis is available for 15 other countries with the most women on death row.

The main offenses for which women are receiving execution orders are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with compulsory capital punishment for murder, or that refuse to consider gender-based violence as lessening conditions, are more likely to have increased quantities of women on death row and more executions.

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

Suitability of Imprisonment for Women

Many experts and advocates maintain that prison is unsuitable sanction for a large number of women who commit crimes. Most are incarcerated for peaceful violations; in the UK, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 fell into this classification. Women commonly face a "repetitive cycle of limited imprisonment terms – inadequate duration to engage 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, according to the global health authority.

In reaction to growing statistics of jailed women and a deficiency of regulations reflecting their needs, the International Women Prisoner Standards (known as the Bangkok Rules) were adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules require nations to develop non-custodial sanctions and to provide women-specific consideration in prisons.

Kids with Imprisoned Mothers

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

Besides the evident parting and related distress that a prison sentence can cause, it is frequent for a woman to forfeit parental rights of her children after just a short time in prison.

Various states allow for babies and young children to stay in prison with their mothers up to a certain age. Nonetheless, a childhood spent in prison can damage a child both physically and emotionally.