Incarcerated Women and Girls
[Pages:6]Incarcerated Women and Girls
Over the past quarter century, there has been a profound change in the involvement of women within the criminal justice system. This is the result of more expansive law enforcement efforts, stiffer drug sentencing laws, and post-conviction barriers to reentry that uniquely affect women. The female incarcerated population stands nearly five times higher than in 1980. Over half (58%) of imprisoned women in state prisons have a child under the age of 18.1
Between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 475%, rising from a total of 26,326 in 1980 to 152,854 in 2020. The total count in 2020 represents a 30% reduction from the prior year--a substantial but insufficient downsizing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which some states began to reverse in 2021.
Rise in Women's Incarceration, 1980-2020
202,089 205,190 210,291
164,221 119,786
152,854
Jail
81,023
42,176 26,326
State Prison
Federal Prison 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Historical Corrections Statistics in the United States 1850-1984 (1986); Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series (1997-2020), Prisoners Series (1980-2020). Washington, DC.
Though many more men are in prison than women, the rate of growth for female imprisonment has been twice as high as that of men since 1980. There are one million women under the supervision of the criminal justice system.
Women Under Control of the U.S. Corrections System, 2020
Prison Jail
Probation Parole
83,054 69,800
103,452
763,425
Sources: Carson, E.A. (2021). Prisoners in 2020 ? Statistical Tables. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics; Minton, T.D., & Zeng, Z. (2021). Jail Inmates in 2020 ? Statistical Tables. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics; Kaeble, D. (2021). Probation and Parole in the United States, 2020. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The Sentencing Project ? 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor ? Washington, D.C. 20036 ?
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RACE AND ETHNICITY IN PRISONS
? In 2020, the imprisonment rate for Black women (65 per 100,000) was 1.7 times the rate of imprisonment for white women (38 per 100,000).
? Latinx women were imprisoned at 1.3 times the rate of white women (48 vs. 38 per 100,000).
? The rate of imprisonment for Black and Latinx women has declined since 2000, while the rate of imprisonment for white women has increased.
? Between 2000 and 2020, the rate of imprisonment in state and federal prisons declined by 68% for Black women, while the rate of imprisonment for white women rose by 12%.
Female Imprisonment Rate per 100,000, by Race and Ethnicity, 2000-2020
225 200
175 150
125
100
Black
75 50
25 0 2000
Latinx White
2004
2008
2012
2016
Source: Prisoners Series. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics
2020
Imprisonment Rates by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity per 100,000: 2000 vs. 2020
White Black Latinx
Women Men Women Men Women Men
2000 34
449 205 3,457
60 1,220
2020 38
332 65
1,890 48
837
% Change 12% increase 26% decrease 68% decrease 45% decrease 20% decrease 31% decrease
Source: Prisoners Series. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics
The Sentencing Project ? 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor ? Washington, D.C. 20036 ?
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Highest and Lowest Female State Imprisonment Rates (per 100,000 U.S. Female Residents), 2020
Idaho Oklahoma South Dakota
Arizona Wyoming Kentucky Montana Arkansas Mississippi West Virginia
Texas Indiana Tennessee Nevada
Ohio Missouri Georgia Virginia
Kansas Louisiana New Mexico Alabama Colorado
Florida Iowa
North Dakota Oregon
All States Wisconsin Nebraska
Hawaii* North Carolina South Carolina
Michigan Pennsylvania
Alaska* New Hampshire
Washington Utah
Illinois California Delaware*
Maine Minnesota Connecticut*
Maryland Vermont* New York New Jersey Rhode Island* Massachusetts
74 72 67 64 64
62 61 60 55 54 50 50 50 48 45 45 43 43 43 42 40 37
36 36 36 34 34 28 27 27 23 22 18 18
17 17
16 16
15 13
10 7 6
96 94 91 89 87 84
110 106
*In these states with integrated jail and prison systems, data include both jail and prison populations. Source: Carson, E.A. (2021). Prisoners in 2020 ? Statistical Tables. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics
The Sentencing Project ? 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor ? Washington, D.C. 20036 ?
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STATE VARIATION
The rate at which women are incarcerated varies greatly from state to state. At the national level, 47 out of every 100,000 women were in prison in 2020. The state with the highest rate of female imprisonment is Idaho (110) and the state with the lowest incarceration rate of women is Massachusetts (6).
OFFENSE TYPES FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN STATE PRISONS
? Women in state prisons are more likely than men to be incarcerated for a drug or property offense. Twenty-six percent of women in prison have been convicted of a drug offense, compared to 13% of men in prison; 23% of incarcerated women have been convicted of a property crime, compared to 15% among incarcerated men.
? The proportion of imprisoned women convicted of a drug offense has increased from 12% in 1986 to 26% in 2019.
Offense Type by Gender in State Prisons, 2019
60%
40%
Men Women
23% 15%
26% 13%
12% 11%
Violent
Property
Drug
Public Order
Source: Carson, E.A. (2021). Prisoners in 2020 ? Statistical Tables. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics
The Sentencing Project ? 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor ? Washington, D.C. 20036 ?
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INCARCERATED GIRLS
? Of the 36,479 youth in residential placement on a typical day, 15% (6,598) are girls.2
? As with boys, girls are confined considerably less frequently than at the start of the century. In 2001,15,104 girls were confined in residential placement settings on a typical day. By 2019, this figure had been cut by two-thirds.3
? African American and Tribal girls are much more likely to be incarcerated than Asian, white, and Latinx girls. The placement rate for all girls is 35 per 100,000 girls (those between ages 10 and 17),4 but the placement rate for Asian girls is 4 per 100,000; for white girls is 24 per 100,000; and Latinx girls is 27 per 100,000. African American girls are more than three times as likely as their white peers to be incarcerated (77 per 100,000), and Tribal girls are more than four times as likely (112 per 100,000).5
? Though just 15% of youth incarcerated on a typical day are girls, they make up a much higher proportion of those incarcerated for the lowest level offenses. Thirty-four percent of youth in placement for status offenses (such as truancy and curfew violations) are girls. More than half of youth incarcerated for running away are girls. Overall, one-third of incarcerated girls are held for status offenses or for violating the terms of their probation.6
? In 2019, girls in the youth justice system were detained after their arrest 41,016 times and committed to out-of-home placement after their adjudication 9,061 times.7
Highest and Lowest State Rates of Confinement for Girls (per 100,000), 2019
Highest Incarceration Rates
State
Rate
Alaska
136
Wyoming
111
West Virginia
104
Idaho
71
Michigan
71
South Dakota
71
Lowest Incarceration Rates
State
Rate
Vermont
0
New Hampshire
5
Rhode Island
6
New Jersey
8
Utah
9
Kansas
10
Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Puzzanchera, C., & Kang, W. (2021). "Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement." Available:
The Sentencing Project ? 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor ? Washington, D.C. 20036 ?
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Girls Comprise a Growing Proportion of All Teen Arrests, 1980-2019
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019
Source: Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Kang, W., & Puzzanchera, C. (2019). "Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement." Available:
In 1990, girls comprised 18% of all youth arrests, a proportion that grew to 31% in 2019.8
Endnotes
1 Maruschak, L. M., Bronson, J., & Alper, M. (2021). Parents in prison and their minor children: Survey of prison inmates, 2016. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
2 Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Puzzanchera, C., & Kang, W. (2021). Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement.
3 Sickmund, M., et al. (2021). 4 Sickmund, M., et al. (2021). 5 Author's calculations of girls' placement rate by race and ethnicity based on total US population for all girls aged 10 to 17,
found at Puzzanchera, C., Sladky, A. & Kang, W. (2021). Easy Access to Juvenile Populations: 1990-2020. . gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/. Other rate calculations among youth in this report are based on youth aged 10 through the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction. This age is typically 17 years old, but not in every state. 6 Sickmund, M., et al. (2021). 7 Sickmund, M., Sladky, A., & Kang, W. (2021). Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics: 1985-2019. https:// ojstatbb/ezajcs/ 8 OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Trends in the number of arrests by age group for All offenses. . gov/ojstatbb/ crime/ucr_trend.asp?table_in=1
This fact sheet was updated May 2022.
1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20036
The Sentencing Project advocates for effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice.
The Sentencing Project ? 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor ? Washington, D.C. 20036 ?
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