The Rise of Women’s Imprisonment

In America, the number of women prisoners is expanding. According to The Correctional Association of New York, an organization working to improve the criminal justice system, the number of women prisoners jumped over three times the total existing 15 years ago. In January 2001, more than 3,200 women were behind bars in just the state of New York.¹ The Sentencing Project too noted that … recently women have been imprisoned at a pace exceeding their male counterparts . . . . Additionally, African American women have an eight to one ratio of incarceration in comparison to white women . . . .²

Many prisoners are subject to human rights abuses, but women often face the most severe abuses. In many states, imprisoned women and men are denied the right to vote, sometimes even after being released. According to the Open Society Institute …"forty-eight states and the District do not allow inmates to vote, and at least 32 states bar former inmates from voting."³ Even though the majority of women prisoners do not commit violent crimes, their right to vote is taken away. More than 75 percent of the imprisoned women in New York have children and many are not granted the right to see their children.⁴ They are also mistreated by being shackled, sometimes just after having given labor, and are physically, as well as, sexually abused by security guards.

PrisonerLife.com noted that almost 6 in 10 women prisoners confessed to being sexually abused while serving time.⁵ In fact, due to the great incidence of sexual abuse and high incidences of rape in prisons, the rate of AIDS is higher in prisons than in the general population. Furthermore, the women are also at risk of attracting other sexually transmitted diseases such as the Human Papillus Virus (HPV) and Hepatitis C. The article, Prison Rapes Spreading Deadly Diseases, noted that health officials fear the diseases could put the population at large at risk once the prisoners are released. To fight this problem, Congress recently introduced the Prison Rape Reduction Act in June of 2002. This act will investigate and try to combat the great incidences of prison rapes.⁶

Fortunately many organizations are working to help the women prisoners. The Women in Prison Project of the Correctional Association of New York work to combat the mistreatment of imprisoned women. In order to achieve this goal, the project monitors and evaluates the conditions of prisons through discussions with the women.⁷ The California Coalition for Battered Women in Prison seeks to support victims of domestic violence and to educate people about the association between domestic violence and criminal offenses.⁸ Another program, the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, which began in 1992 in Maryland, provides social events and activities for prison women and their children to spend time together. The women and children participate in educational and beauty activities. Statistics show that children with imprisoned mothers are more likely to commit delinquent behavior.⁹ These programs provide the women with hope for a brighter future while reintegrating them into society.

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