Biased laws and poverty driving huge rise in female prisoners - report
Biased laws and poverty driving huge rise in female prisoners – report
First such study finds laws on abortion, debt and dress help increase rate of women being jailed twice as fast as for men
Poverty, abuse and discriminatory laws are driving a huge rise in the number of women in prison globally, according to a new report. With the rise of the far right and an international backlash against women’s rights, the research said there was a risk that laws would increasingly be used to target women, forcing more behind bars. More than 733,000 women are in prisons around the world and the number is growing much faster than rates of incarcerated men. Since 2000, the number of women and girls in prison has grown by 57%, compared with a 22% increase in the male prison population. The first global report of its kind, to which the Guardian was given exclusive access before its launch on 17 March, examined how laws criminalised acts of survival. Women were disproportionately jailed for petty theft, such as stealing food for babies and children, for begging and for working in the informal economy.
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Women around the world continue to be arrested under colonial-era laws, including those criminalising abortion, suicide attempts and same-sex relations. Although many of these laws appear gender-neutral, they disproportionately impact women due to patriarchal norms and systemic gender discrimination. In several countries, laws criminalising witchcraft mostly affected women who do not conform to gender stereotypes, said the report, with unmarried women, widows, divorcees or those without children – particularly older and poorer individuals – particularly targeted.
Women’s choices about their dress and appearance were also frequently restricted by laws.
In May 2022, a Zambian businesswoman and social media influencer, Iris Kaingu, was arrested and charged with “indecent dressing”, after attending a fashion event wearing a see-through black dress. In Iran, not wearing a hijab was already a criminal offence under the Islamic penal code, but new morality laws introduced last year allowed significant fines and longer prison sentences of up to 15 years or even the death penalty for “promoting nudity, indecency, unveiling or improper dressing”. The report warned that the female prison population could soon exceed one million, and called for wider collection of data on the topic, more alternatives to prison and decriminalising laws that violate human rights standards and international law.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/mar/12/biased-laws-poverty-debt-abortion-female-prisoners-penal-reform-report