The Rise of Incarcerated Women in the U.S.

The number of women incarcerated in the U.S. shot up by 700 percent over the past four decades, according to research and advocacy center The Sentencing Project, showing an increase from 26,378 in 1980 to 222,455 in 2019. That’s nearly twice the rate of growth for men. But since the absolute number of incarcerated women is much lower by comparison, their narrative is often hidden behind wider trends.

One of the reasons cited for such a major increase can be traced back to the draconian policies brought in under The War on Drugs campaign in the 1970s. This is reflected in the numbers, with more than 61 percent of women incarcerated in federal prison for nonviolent drug crimes, according to the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). Under the new rules, women could be jailed for ‘conspiracy’ with drug networks for simply living with a partner or family member involved in drug sales, while mothers who tested positive for any drug could face imprisonment for child abuse. This revealed a racial element too, as while drug use is fairly consistent across racial and ethnic groups, Black women were almost twice as likely to be incarcerated than white women for drug law violations; with Hispanic women 20 percent more likely, and Native American women six times more likely, the DPA reports.

And so it appears the rise is likely more to do with a failure of policies than an increase in crime. Other policies that directly impact women include, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, the criminalization of sex work, and the criminalization of women’s responses to gender-based abuse, such as “dual” arrests for fighting back against domestic violence.

While it’s true that prison populations saw a drop throughout the pandemic, with women’s jail populations and jail incarceration rates dropping by 37 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, it is expected to be short lived. This is because the decline was due to fewer admissions, as the courts and prisons slowed at the start of the pandemic, rather than more releases. The PPI writes, “Above all, we should not expect these trends to hold without sustained reforms, as opposed to temporary “emergency response” changes.” Adding that nationwide, jail populations have already rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels.