Worldwide Women Incarceration Data and Death Row Numbers
Current Global Women Prison Population
Over 733,000 women and girls are detained in correctional facilities globally, based on current research studies. This number encompasses both remand prisoners and individuals already convicted and sentenced. Experts believe the true count is much greater due to missing information from several nations.
Women consistently represent a small minority of correctional system demographics – typically between 2-9% on average. Presently, women and girls account for approximately 6.8% of the international inmate count. Nonetheless, their figures are rising at a quicker pace than incarcerated men.
Over the past two decades, the number of women and girls in prison has grown by nearly 60% – roughly triple the increase observed in the male inmate numbers. The international incarcerated women statistics rose by over 100,000 individuals during the ten-year period ending in 2020.
Key Factors Behind the Growth
Female criminal activities are commonly linked to poverty and usually serve as a means of survival to support their children and relatives.
Detailed analysis has found that legislation frequently penalizes basic sustenance activities and that women are unfairly targeted because they are over-represented among the lowest economic brackets of society. In many countries, laws penalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution disproportionately target women. The probability of getting a prison sentence is often also related to poverty and the failure to afford fines for small infractions or to secure bail.
States with the Highest Women Inmate Numbers
The United States has the highest count of female prisoners with 174,607. China follows with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in pre-trial detention 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 England and Wales, there are 3,566 women in prison – representing 4% of the complete incarceration statistics. Projections indicate these numbers are anticipated to grow 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 complete incarceration numbers.
Nations with Major Growth in Female Prison Populations
Despite considering normal population growth over the previous two-and-a-half decades, the increase in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people still shows a substantial rise. These two nations have experienced over six times growth, while these countries have seen more than fivefold rises.
Incarcerated Women Facing Execution
Present approximations indicate there are between 500 and 1,000 women on death row in at least 42 countries worldwide.
The states that carry out executions on the most women are likewise the states that carry out the most capital punishments in general, including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Based on current records, an uncertain quantity of women were executed in China, while two were executed in Egypt, 30 in Iran, one in Iraq, nine in Saudi Arabia and two in Yemen.
No accurate data is available for nations with highest execution rates or for others such as North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. Nonetheless, analysis is available for 15 other countries with the most women on death row.
The two primary crimes for which women are sentenced to death are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with mandatory death penalties for murder, or that refuse to consider gender-based violence as mitigating circumstances, 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 Middle East and Asian southeast, have a substantial ratio of women on death row.
Suitability of Prison for Women
Numerous specialists and campaigners contend that prison is not a suitable punishment for a significant portion of women who violate regulations. Most are incarcerated for peaceful violations; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 fit this category. Women often encounter a "repetitive cycle of short prison sentences – too brief to take part in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.
Approximately 80% of women in prison worldwide have an diagnosable psychological condition. In Europe, self-harm statistics for women in prison are nine times higher than for the general population, based on the global health authority.
In answer to rising numbers of imprisoned females and a deficiency of regulations considering their circumstances, the International Women Prisoner Standards (known as the Bangkok Rules) were accepted by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules oblige states to establish non-imprisonment penalties and to provide women-specific consideration in prisons.
Children of Female Prisoners
An calculated 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.
In addition to the clear division and associated suffering that a prison sentence can cause, it is frequent for a woman to lose custody of her children after just a limited duration in prison.
Many countries make provision for babies and young children to live in incarceration centers with their mothers up to a certain age. However, a childhood spent in prison can negatively affect a minor both bodily and psychologically.