RISE, A Modern Guide for the Purpose Driven Woman Winter 2014 | Page 43

The Top 5 Facts About Women
in Our Criminal Justice System
1. The number of women incarcerated has grown by more than 800 percent
over the last three decades and women of color are locked up far more often.
There are now more than 200,000 women behind bars and more than 1 million on probation. Two-thirds are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses, many
of these drug-related crimes. Women of color are disproportionately affected:
African American women are three times more likely than white women to
be incarcerated, while Hispanic women are 69 percent more likely than white
women to be incarcerated.
2. Many women enter the criminal justice system with a disturbing history of
emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. A reported 85 to 90 percent of women
who are either currently incarcerated or under the control of the justice
system in the United States have a history of domestic and sexual abuse. Risk
factors contributing to women’s criminal behavior include substance abuse,
mental illness, and spousal abuse. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of
women prisoners suffer from substance addiction. While it would be much
more cost effective to treat these women than imprison them or pay for foster
placement for their children, they are refused such rehabilitative measures—
measures that could facilitate their integration back into society as productive
members.
3. Many girls also enter the juvenile justice system with a disturbing history
of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Girls are disproportionately arrested for running away, accounting for 59 percent of runaways, though they
are often fleeing violent home situations. Instead of receiving counseling and
mental health services, however, they are subject to humiliation and dehumanizing treatment in prisons. Girls are also more likely than boys to be sexually victimized while serving time in a facility.
4. Pregnant prisoners are often shackled during labor and delivery, risking the
health of the mother and child. While court cases have ruled that shackling
women prisoners to their beds during labor and delivery is inhumane and
unconstitutional, the practice continues in many state facilities. Women in
prison are also routinely denied basic reproductive health services, such as
pregnancy testing, prenatal care, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and access to abortion services.
5. Women face further discrimination after release from prison. After being
released from prison, many women face barriers in effectively re-entering
society and providing for themselves and their children. Women of color, who
are disproportionately poor, find themselves restricted from governmental assistance programs, such as housing, employment, education, and subsistence
benefits. Many states even impose statutory bans on people with certain convictions working in certain industries such as nursing, child care, and home
health care—three fields in which many poor women and women of color
happen to be disproportionately concentrated.
Excert from

The Center for American Progress March 7, 2012

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