Women's Rights in Prison

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In many countries, in all regions, the female prison population has increased dramatically over the last ten years. Furthermore, the rate of increase in the number of women prisoners is much greater than that for men.2 Already, in eight countries women comprise more than one in ten prisoners.

The increase in the number of women in prison is, in some countries, primarily due to the increased use of imprisonment to punish offences that were previously punished by non-custodial sentences. This is particularly the case in relation to drug offences and non-violent theft.

Women's offending and imprisonment is closely related to women's poverty. Women are particularly vulnerable to being detained because of their inability to pay fines for petty offences and/or to pay bail. Women on remand constitute a large percentage of the women's prison population in many countries. Women offenders typically come from economically and socially disadvantaged segments of society. Typically, they are young, unemployed, have low levels of education and have dependent children.4 Many have histories of alcohol and substance abuse. A high proportion of women offenders have experienced violence or sexual abuse. At the same time, there tends