🔗 Share this article

Current Worldwide Women Prison Inmates

In excess of 733,000 women and girls are currently held in prison systems worldwide, according to latest analyses. This number covers both awaiting trial prisoners and individuals already found guilty and punished. Analysts suggest the real number is significantly higher due to incomplete data from several nations.

Females typically constitute a limited percentage of national prison populations – usually between 2-9% on average. Currently, women and girls represent approximately 6.8% of the global prison population. Nonetheless, their numbers are increasing at a quicker pace than male inmates.

Since the year 2000, the female prison population in prison has expanded by approximately 60 percent – almost three times the growth observed in the male inmate numbers. The worldwide women inmate count rose by over 100,000 individuals during the ten-year interval ending in 2020.

Primary Drivers Behind the Rise

Offenses committed by women are often associated with economic hardship and typically represent a method of sustenance to care for their dependents.

Comprehensive research has found that legislation frequently penalizes basic sustenance activities and that women are unequally impacted because they are disproportionately represented among the lowest economic brackets of society. In numerous countries, laws prohibiting abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution primarily impact women. The probability of getting a prison sentence is often also related to poverty and the lack of resources for fines for small infractions or to obtain release.

Countries with the Highest Incarcerated Women Statistics

The US has the largest number of female prisoners with 174,607. China follows with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in awaiting trial custody and "administrative detention". 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 complete incarceration statistics. Forecasts show 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 complete incarceration numbers.

Nations with Major Growth in Incarcerated Women Statistics

Despite considering typical population expansion over the previous two-and-a-half decades, the surge in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people continues to demonstrate a significant growth. These two nations have experienced increases exceeding 600%, while Turkey and Indonesia have seen more than fivefold rises.

Female Capital Punishment Cases

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 similarly the nations that perform the highest number of executions in general, including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As reported by current records, an unknown number of women were put to death in China, while two were executed in Egypt, 30 in Iran, one in Iraq, nine in Saudi Arabia and two in Yemen.

Incomplete statistics is available for nations with highest execution rates or for others such as North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. Nonetheless, analysis is accessible regarding 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 refuse to consider gender-based violence as reducing factors, are more likely to have increased quantities of women on death row and frequent death sentences.

Moreover, 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.

Suitability of Prison for Women

Various professionals and activists maintain that prison is not a suitable punishment for a large number of women who commit crimes. The majority are imprisoned 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 "repetitive cycle of brief incarceration periods – too brief to take part in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

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

In answer to rising numbers of incarcerated women and a deficiency of regulations reflecting their needs, the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners (known as the Bangkok Rules) were accepted by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules require nations to develop non-custodial sanctions and to guarantee female-appropriate care in prisons.

Offspring of Incarcerated Women

An estimated 19,000 children reside in correctional facilities with a parent, typically their mother, while significantly more children are separated from them. Approximately 1.45 million children worldwide have a imprisoned parent.

Apart from the evident parting and associated suffering that a prison sentence can cause, it is not uncommon for a woman to lose custody of her children after just a short time in prison.

Many countries allow for babies and young children to stay in prison with their mothers up to a specific age. However, a youth experienced in incarceration can damage a child both bodily and psychologically.