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Current Global Women Prison Population

More than 733,000 women and girls are currently held in correctional facilities worldwide, based on current investigations. This number encompasses both remand prisoners and individuals already found guilty and punished. Experts believe the actual total is significantly higher due to missing information from multiple nations.

Female inmates generally account for a limited percentage of national prison populations – usually between 2-9% on average. Currently, women and girls account for approximately 6.8% of the world's incarcerated individuals. Nevertheless, their figures are rising at a quicker pace than male prisoners.

Over the past two decades, the incarcerated females in prison has grown by nearly 60% – almost three times the increase 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.

Key Factors Behind the Growth

Female criminal activities are often linked to poverty and often constitute a means of survival to support their children and relatives.

Extensive studies has determined that laws often criminalize basic sustenance activities and that women are unfairly targeted because they are more commonly found among the most impoverished segments of society. In various countries, laws criminalizing abortion, adultery, sexual misconduct and prostitution disproportionately target women. The chance of being given a prison sentence is frequently connected with poverty and the lack of resources for fines for minor crimes or to obtain release.

Countries with the Highest Incarcerated Women Statistics

The United States has the greatest quantity of female prisoners with 174,607. China follows with 145,000, plus an undetermined count of women and girls in pre-trial detention and "procedural custody. Other significant 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 total prison population. Forecasts show these numbers are anticipated to grow to 4,200 by 2027. Across Europe, 94,472 women are currently detained, while Australia reports 3,473 women in prison, representing approximately 8% of its overall inmate demographic.

Countries with Major Growth in Women Inmate Numbers

Although including typical population expansion over the past 25 years, the surge in the number of female prisoners per 100,000 people still shows a remarkable increase. Cambodia and El Salvador have experienced increases exceeding 600%, while these countries have seen growth exceeding 500%.

Women on Death Row

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 execute the most people in general, namely China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As reported by current records, an unknown number 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.

Incomplete statistics is available for countries that execute the most or for others such as North Korea, Vietnam and Qatar. Nevertheless, analysis is accessible regarding 15 other countries with the most women on death row.

The two primary crimes 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 inclined to display increased quantities of women on death row and frequent death sentences.

Moreover, countries that severely criminalize drug trafficking, such as those in the Gulf region and Oriental southeast, have a substantial ratio of women on death row.

Fitness of Prison for Women

Numerous specialists and campaigners argue that prison is unsuitable sanction for a substantial percentage of women who commit crimes. Many are jailed for non-violent crimes; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 belonged to this group. Women commonly face a "repetitive cycle of limited imprisonment terms – insufficiently long to engage in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.

Up to 80% of women in prison worldwide have an identifiable mental illness. In Europe, self-harm statistics for women in prison are nine times higher than for the wider community, as reported by the global health authority.

In reaction to growing statistics of imprisoned females and a deficiency of regulations reflecting their needs, the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners (known as the Bangkok Rules) were approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2010. These rules oblige states to develop non-custodial sanctions and to provide women-specific consideration in prisons.

Offspring of Incarcerated Women

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

In addition to the obvious separation and associated suffering that a prison sentence can cause, it is not uncommon for a woman to forfeit parental rights of her children after just a brief period in prison.

Various states allow for babies and young children to remain in correctional facilities with their mothers up to a specific age. Nonetheless, a youth experienced in incarceration can harm a young person both physically and emotionally.