Experts Warn Of ‘global Crisis’ As Number Of Women In Prison Nears One Million

Up to a cardinal women worldwide are facing intersexual unit and forced labour successful prisons, wherever they are overlooked and forgotten, successful what is being called a increasing world crisis.

The number of incarcerated women is rising overmuch faster than men and is expected to surpass 1 million connected existent trends. While connected mean women relationship for betwixt 2% and 9% of nationalist situation populations, since 2000 nan number imprisoned has grown by 57%, compared pinch a 22% summation successful nan men’s situation population.

“We are facing a world crisis,” said Olivia Rope, executive head astatine Penal Reform International. “If you look astatine nan rate of maturation compared to men successful prison, it is really alarming. Women are often an afterthought, and they look very harsh, difficult conditions wherever their needs are unmet successful astir cases.”

In interviews pinch prisoners, lawyers and campaigners crossed nan globe, including El Salvador, Kenya, nan US, Argentina and Iran, nan Guardian recovered instances of women being beaten, sexually abused and utilized arsenic enslaved labour, often while serving sentences for petty crimes.

Fifteen years ago, UN personnel states adopted nan Bangkok Rules for nan Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders. They were nan first group of world guidelines to reside nan business of incarcerated women.

While location has been immoderate constricted advancement since, galore aspects are still ignored aliases overlooked, according to Rope. “It is not acceptable [that these rules are being flouted], and we’re astir apt successful nan hardest spot we person been for nan past 15 years successful position of ensuring accountability,” she said.

Poverty, maltreatment and discriminatory laws are driving nan immense rise successful nan number of women successful situation globally. Women are disproportionately jailed for petty theft, specified arsenic stealing nutrient for babies and children, for begging, successful nan “war connected drugs”, and for moving successful nan informal economy.

Incarcerated women astatine nan Chorrillos situation successful Lima, Peru hold for a ambush and hunt cognition to beryllium completed, November 2025. Photograph: Sebastian Castañeda/Reuters

More than 733,000 women and girls are presently incarcerated worldwide, according to nan latest version of nan World Female Imprisonment List. The existent number is thought to beryllium higher because of a deficiency of reliable data.

The US has nan largest number of incarcerated women successful nan world, pinch 174,607. China has 145,000, positive an chartless number of women and girls successful pre-trial detention and “administrative detention” (when a personification is held without trial). There are 3,566 women successful situation crossed England and Wales – conscionable 4% of nan full situation population. Seventy-two per cent were serving sentences for non-violent offences successful 2020, according to nan Prison Reform Trust. In Europe, 94,472 women are detained, while successful Australia location are 3,743 women successful prison, amounting to 8% of nan full situation population.

Women look unsocial challenges successful a strategy built by men for men. A precocious proportionality of women successful situation person mental wellness problems and a history of abuse, and successful Europe, termination rates for women successful situation are nine times higher than for nan wide population, according to nan World Health Organization. Awareness of, and curen for, intelligence wellness conditions remains constricted successful galore countries.

For women pinch a inheritance of abuse, strip-searches upon entering situation tin beryllium traumatising, arsenic tin overcrowding, nan deficiency of daylight, agelong corridors and mini showers that tin make them consciousness trapped.

Most women should not beryllium successful situation astatine all, according to Sabrina Mahtani, a Zambian-British lawyer and personnel of Women Beyond Walls, a world collaborative organisation dedicated to combating nan incarceration of women and girls. “After 20 years of moving pinch women successful prison, and seeing really this plays retired crossed nan world, I don’t deliberation that situation works. It’s really harmful and I deliberation we request to radically rethink nan measurement we do justice.”

She added: “Most of these women don’t correspond a threat to nine and truthful we should beryllium looking astatine different options. We still someway judge that situation is simply a spot of rehabilitation wherever bad group spell successful and travel retired good. We’re seeing that susceptible and marginalised group spell successful and travel retired much traumatised.”

Many women successful situation are solo caregivers for children and it is estimated that 1.45 cardinal children worldwide person a mother successful prison. “When a mother goes to prison, nan family usually falls isolated and nan children person to spell to societal services aliases different family,” said Rope. “It’s a overmuch bigger effect [than a man going to prison].”

A female pinch her girl successful a Spanish prison. Photograph: Europa Press/Getty Images

Pregnant women do not get capable attraction and women person been forced to springiness commencement unsocial successful cells, aliases are tied to infirmary beds and watched by antheral situation guards while successful labour.

Sexual unit wrong prisons is common. There person been reports, peculiarly successful conflict-affected areas, of women being sexually abused and taken retired of situation astatine nighttime and prostituted. In India, female prisoners are “supplied” to antheral prisoners, intersexual maltreatment is commonplace and hundreds of children are calved successful situation arsenic a result.

Incarcerated women successful galore countries have to activity wrong prisons, carrying retired attraction tasks and cleaning for minimal aliases nary pay. There are concerns that situation activity is unregulated, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to links pinch nan backstage sector. In Cambodia, women astatine 1 situation were moving illegally to nutrient garments for export.

Getting entree to prisons, arsenic good arsenic meticulous information, is challenging, owed to their secretive and closed nature. Helen Fair, a investigation chap astatine nan Institute for Criminal Policy Research, compiles nan World Female Imprisonment List and struggles to find meticulous data. “The readiness of situation organization information mostly is beautiful thin, truthful location are large gaps,” she said.