Key findings

The key findings from the report are:

• The United States has the highest number of female prisoners, with approximately 174,607. Other countries with significant female prison populations are China (145,000), Brazil (50,441), Russia (39,153), and Thailand (33,057).
• The number of women and girls in prison has risen particularly sharply in some countries since 2000; notably in:
• Cambodia – more than nine times as many female prisoners
• Indonesia – more than seven times
• El Salvador – more than seven times
• Guatemala – almost six times
• Brazil – five times

Women and girls make up 6.8% of the global prison population. The countries with the highest female prison population rate (per 100,000 of the national population) – are the USA (52), Thailand (47), El Salvador (42), Rwanda (41) and Turkmenistan (38).

In both Asia and Oceania, the total number of female prisoners has more than doubled since 2000. Europe, in contrast, has seen a fall (of 5%) in the female prison population, but if the figures for Russia are excluded the European female prison population has risen by nearly 25%.

Focus on the UK

The list is divided into continents and for each country it provides the total number of women in prison, what proportion women are of the total prison population and trend information.

In England and Wales, women comprise 4.1% of the prison population, down from 5.2% in 2000 and 5.0% in 2010. 

The figures for Scotland are: women also comprise 4.1% of the prison population, up from 3.3% in 2000 but down from 5.6% in 2010. 

The rate for female imprisonment in Northern Ireland is higher at 4.8% where it has been steadily increasing from 2.0% in 2000 and 2.9% in 2010.

Figures vary considerably across Europe; in each case the figure below shows the percentage of women in the overall prison population:

• Albania         1.3%
• France           3.5%
• Italy               4.4%
• Turkey           4.4%
• Norway         4.6%
• Netherlands 4.7%
• Denmark       5.2%
• Ireland           5.3%
• Poland           5.3%
• Switzerland   5.7%
• Germany       5.9%
• Sweden         6.3%
• Austria          6.8%
• Spain            7.1%
• Russia           8.9%

Conclusion

Catherine Heard, Director of ICPR’s World Prison Research Programme, said in her press release:

“The rapid rise in female imprisonment across so much of the world is a troubling sign of our times. Many women are serving short prison sentences, or are remanded in custody pre-trial, despite clear evidence that even brief spells in prison cause lasting and severe harm to women and their children. Prison is too commonly used to punish conduct associated with poverty, such as shop-lifting, small-scale drug offences, and sex work. Incarcerating women for such offences steals resources away from the investment needed to build stronger, safer communities.”

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here