Women in prison in the USA

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The female prison population in the United States (US) continues to increase at a worrisome rate. In the past 30 years, the number of women in lockup - around 205,000 right now - has increased by 832%. There are now over 1 million women under various types of confinement or supervision by the correctional system. True, the number of men in prison is still much larger than that of incarcerated women, but the growth of the female prison population has a very damaging effect on families and communities that are torn apart as a result. Also, differently from men, sexual and physical violence, drug dependence, mental illness and poverty are all strongly correlated with women's incarceration. This means that the US still prefers to punish instead of heal. It imprisons women instead of instituting the policies and programs and providing the services that could help them live healthy, secure and productive lives. Additionally, women of color and Latino women bear the brunt of all of these factors at disproportionate rates, which means that they also have a greater likelihood of becoming entangled in the criminal justice system. While the number of African American women in jails and prisons has diminished sharply in the last 10 years, that of Latino women has increased. Also more White women are becoming caught up in the justice system for the same root reasons as the other groups, especially as consequence of the economic crisis and loss of employment opportunities.

This chapter provides an overview of how the jail and prison systems treat women inmates, especially in light of human rights and constitutional principles, United Nations (UN) and other treaties and conventions, and the realities of female deviance and criminality within the context of women's roles in society and their place in their communities. The result is not always as positive, enlightened and advanced as one might expect of the US. Regardless of how civilized, advanced and law-abiding we might think we are, being in the custody of the State is a dangerous, humiliating, demeaning situation that elicits all sorts of negative and dark dynamics, especially when sexuality and power, as in the interaction of male guards and female inmates, come into play. The harsh reality of sexual abuse and overall mistreatment and violence on the part of correctional personnel towards women inmates cannot be ignored any more.