Worldwide Female Imprisonment Statistics and Death Row Figures
Current Worldwide Women Prison Population
Over 733,000 women and girls are currently held in correctional facilities globally, based on recent investigations. This figure covers both remand prisoners and individuals already found guilty and punished. Experts believe the true count is much greater due to missing information from numerous countries.
Women consistently represent 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 figures are rising at a faster rate than incarcerated men.
Since the year 2000, the incarcerated females in prison has grown by nearly 60% – roughly triple the growth observed in the male prison population. The global female prison population grew by exceeding 100,000 individuals during the ten-year period ending in 2020.
Primary Drivers Behind the Growth
Women's lawbreaking are often associated with economic hardship and often constitute a means of survival to support their children and relatives.
Detailed analysis has established that regulations typically outlaw acts of survival and that women are disproportionately affected because they are disproportionately represented among the lowest economic brackets 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 typically associated with poverty and the failure to afford fines for minor crimes or to obtain release.
Countries with the Highest Female Prison Populations
The America has the greatest quantity of female prisoners with 174,607. China ranks second with 145,000, plus an uncertain quantity of women and girls in remand imprisonment 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 complete incarceration statistics. Projections indicate 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, amounting to approximately 8% of its total prison population.
States with Significant Increases in Incarcerated Women Statistics
Although including standard demographic increases over the past 25 years, 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 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 nations that put to death the most women are also the countries that carry out the most capital punishments in general, including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Based on latest reports, an uncertain quantity of women were executed 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 available for 15 other countries with the largest quantities of women on death row.
The principal violations for which women are given capital punishment are murder and drug trafficking. Countries with compulsory capital punishment for murder, or that fail to acknowledge gender-based violence as mitigating circumstances, are more likely to have greater amounts of women on death row and frequent death sentences.
Furthermore, countries that harshly penalize drug trafficking, such as those in the Arabian Peninsula and southeast Asia, have a high proportion of women on death row.
Fitness of Prison for Women
Many experts and campaigners contend that prison is unsuitable sanction for a significant portion of women who violate regulations. The majority are imprisoned for non-violent crimes; in England and Wales, for example, 72% of female prison admissions in 2020 fit this category. Women often encounter a "repetitive cycle of brief incarceration periods – insufficiently long to participate in meaningful education, training or work opportunities.
As many as 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 overall public, as reported by the WHO.
In response to increasing figures of jailed 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 oblige states to develop non-custodial sanctions and to ensure gender-sensitive treatment in prisons.
Children of Female Prisoners
An calculated 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.
Apart from the evident parting and connected hardship that a prison sentence can cause, it is quite common for a woman to forfeit parental rights of her children after just a short time in prison.
Numerous nations allow for babies and young children to live in incarceration centers with their mothers up to a particular maturity level. Nonetheless, a early life in correctional facilities can harm a young person both physically and emotionally.
