The Shocking Numbers Behind the US’s Exploding Women Prisoner Population

August 22, 2015 / Boston University Master of Criminal Justice Program

This infographic was originally published by the Boston University Master of Criminal Justice Program and has been cross-posted here with their permission.

More and more, people are waking up to the awful truth about how the United States prison system perpetuates oppression.

But do you know that this is becoming more and more of a concern for women every day?

Consider this: 75% of incarcerated women are intimate partner violence survivors, and 1-in-10 will be sexually assaulted in prison.

Now check out this infographic with the whole horrifying truth about the rising population of women prisoners, and you’ll know that we’ve got to do something to stop this.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

ORANGE OVERFLOW

A LOOK AT THE EXPLODING U.S. FEMALE PRISON POPULATION

Panel 1

Text: International Prison Population Trends.

As of November 2013, more than 10.2 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world.

The U.S. 2.2 million 0.69% of population

Russia 681,600 0.47% of population

Brazil 548,000 0.27% of population

China 1.7 million 0.13% of population

India 385,000 0.03% of population

As of June 2014, the United States has the second highest incarceration rate, with 707 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population.

Panel 2

Text: As of 2014, the U.S. has 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 2,259 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails.

U.S. is currently at 99% occupancy.

Panel 3

Text: Per capita cost of incarceration for all U.S. inmates $21,603 (2000) $29,291 (2013).

Appropriations for the bureau of prisons $3.7 billion (2000) $6.5 billion (2013).

Panel 4

Text: International Female Prison Population Trends

As of August 2012, more than 625,000 women and girls are held in penal institutions throughout the world

201,200 U.S.

84,600 China

59,200 Russia

35,596 Brazil

29,175 Thailand

Panel 5

Text: Since 2006 it has increased by more than 16%, with the largest increase in the Americas 23%, and the smallest increase in European countries 6%.

10%-15% – The proportion of females prosecuted is typically between 10% and 15% of total arrests.

10% – The percentage of females convicted is generally about 10% of total prosecutions.

The median proportion of females convicted is considerably lower than females prosecuted.

This could be explained by the fact that crimes committed by females tend to be less serious and thus have a greater chance to get a settle outside the court.

Panel 6

Text: Countries where most female prisoners are incarcerated for drug crimes

Estonia (46%), Sweden (41 %), Latvia (68%), Russia (33.7%), Italy (42.9%), Portugal (47.6%), Georgia (34%), Spain (45.5%), Greece (43.7%), Tajikistan (70%), Thailand (82%).

In some countries of Southeast Asia, drug trafficking results in long imprisonment or even death.

Panel 7

Text: U.S. Female Prison Population

2009 Females accounted for 12.1% (8,593) of federal offenders

2013 Females accounted for 13.3% (9,400) of federal offenders

Panel 8

Text:

2002: 66.2% Drug offenses, 16.1% property, 12.2% public order, 4.7% violence

2011: 57.0% Drug offenses, 17.3% property, 16.4% public order, 4.9% violence

2012: 57.9% Drug offenses, 18.8% property, 18.7% public order, 3.8% violence

2013: 33.7% Drug offenses, 23.9% fraud, 14.3% immigration, other

Panel 9

Text: The U.S. female prison population rate per 100,000 total residents

55.6 – 2001

66 – 2005

63.5 – 2010

64 – 2012

Panel 10

Text: The number of women in prison increased by 646%, 15118 (1980) – between – 112, 797 (2010).

As of 2012, female inmates make up 9% of the U.S. prison population.

Panel 11

Text: New Female Court Commitments to U.S. State Prison

1991 – 28,829

2001 – 39,428

2006 – 54,030

2011 – 47,383

Violent Crimes: 1991 – 16.5%, 2001 – 17.2%, 2006 – 15.8%, 2011 – 18.4%.

Between 1991 and 2011, fewer women were committed for violent crimes than men. Except for the decrease in 2006, the number of female violent offenders has been steadily increasing. The number of women admitted on new court commitments for violent offenses increased by 83%, from 4,756 in 1991 to 8,718 in 2011.

Property Crimes: 1991 – 35.7%, 2001 – 36.8%, 2006 – 36.2%, 2011 – 36.0%.

Between 1991 and 2011, more women were committed for property crimes than men. Except for the increase in 2001, the number of female property offenders has been slowly decreasing. The number of women that entered prison for property crimes decreased from 19,558 in 2006 to 17,057 in 2011.

Drug Crimes: 1991 – 40.9%, 2001 – 37.3%, 2006 – 34.2%, 2011 – 32.5%.

Between 1991 and 2011, more women were committed for drug crimes than men. Since 1991, the number of female drug offenders has been steadily decreasing. Between 1991 and 2001, drug crimes made up the majority of new women court commitments to state prison.

Public Order Crimes: 1991 – 5.6%, 2001 – 8.00%, 2006 – 13.1%, 2011 – 12.0%.

Between 1991 and 2011, fewer women were committed for public order crimes than men. The number of female public order offenders peaked in 2006 but decreased by 2011.

Panel 12

Text: Race in the U.S. female prison system

2012 U.S. Of 101,289 women sentenced to prison, 18.1% were aged 30 to 34 and nearly half (49,352) were white.

In 2012, black women aged 18 to 19 were three times more likely to be imprisoned than white women.

Hispanic women in this age group had imprisonment rates nearly twice those of white women.

Hispanic females aged 65 or older were more than twice as likely as white females of this age to be serving time in prison.

Panel 13

Text: Racial Groups

In 2013, more than one-third of female federal offenders were Hispanic (37.5%) followed by White (34.5%), Black (21.8%) and other races (6.2%)

Drug Trafficking Offenders

43.6% Hispanic, 35.6% White, 16.3% Black, 4.5% Other Races

Fraud Offenders

42.5% Hispanic, 35.8% White, 15.5% Black, 6.2% Other Races

Immigration Offenders

86.4% Hispanic, 5.4% White, 4.9% Black, 3.3% Other Race

Panel 14

Text: The average age of these offenders at sentencing was 38 YEARS. The majority of female offenders were U.S. citizens – 79.5%. 70.8% of female offenders had little or no prior criminal history.

49 female inmates under 18 years old. 3,862 female reported state and federal noncitizen inmates.