Women incarceration has only gained attention recently as the alarming trends continue. In significant contrast to the entire population that is being incarcerated, where the system of state prisons holds twice as many people as being held in jails, more women find themselves in jails than in state prisons. Although not immediately evident, the extensive role of jails has severe implications for incarcerated women and their relatives, children specifically. T there are high numbers of women in jails and not convicted, with a quarter of women behind bars not yet having a trial (Kajstura, 2019). However, avoiding pre-trial incarceration is a unique challenge for women, and not because they are flight risks. Instead, such women have shown to have lower incomes compared to incarcerated man and have a more challenging time affording to pay bail. When the typical amount to pay for bail is equal to the full-year income of women, it is not surprising why they are held in jail awaiting trial.
Another critical issue to be discussed is the fast growth of the rate of the incarcerated female population. As reported by Sawyer (2018) for the Prison Policy Initiative, beginning from 2009, the female population of incarcerated individuals has done worse than the population of men in 35 US states. In some of the states, women’s incarceration is the driver of state prison growth. Consistent with the national trend, the female population in prisons has declined, although less dramatically compared the population of men, in eight states since 2009. For instance, in New York and Massachusetts, the men’s population decreased by over 10% while women’s population fell by only 5% (Sawyer, 2018). Overall, the progress is overall progress slower for women within the correctional system, which points to the need for targeted attention and a consistent intervention to address women’s incarceration trends.
Concerning the growing trend of women being held in jails and not prisons, some issues should be noted. The first issue is that jails make it challenging for women to be in contract with their families compared to prisons. For instance, phone calls from jails are three times more expensive compared to prison calls, with alternative forms of communication being also restricted, which decreases women’s communication with their families and children in particular. The second issue is that women in jails have higher likelihood of experiencing the adverse effects of psychological problems and experience extreme mental distress compared to women in prisons and men in any other correctional system setting (Kajstura, 2019). Adding to the challenge is that jails are ill-equipped for providing proper mental health to the incarcerated women, even though prisons are not always better at accomplishing that goal.
Regarding the second trend of the fast growth of the rate of the incarcerated female population, the problem stems from a range of issues that women experience. In particular, women more often appear in the prison system with a “history of abuse, trauma, and mental health challenges” (Sawyer, 2018, para. 7). Besides, women have varied physical health needs, such as the issues of reproductive care, menopause management, nutrition, and alcohol or drug abuse disorders treatment. The health system in prisons has been designed to serve men, which makes it unable to address the diverse needs of women at correctional facilities. Overall, there is a need for urgent actions on the part of the government to consider the specific needs of the female population in the prison system and work on preventing incarcerations rather than managing them when women are convicted.
References
Kajstura, A. Women’s mass incarceration: The whole pie 2019. Web.
Sawyer, W. (2018). The gender divide: Tracking women’s state prison growth. Web.