Female Incarceration

The United States leads the world in the number of people it incarcerates. Although more men are incarcerated than women, the growth rate for women since 1980 has been twice as high. Oklahoma has consistently been one of the top US states with the highest female incarceration rates. 

Women are particularly vulnerable to criminal justice involvement because they are more likely to experience trauma. 90% of women with criminal justice system involvement have experienced childhood trauma (see ACEs Reported), and more than 70% have experienced intimate partner violence (See Sexual Violence, Intimate Partner Violence). 

Incarcerated women are also more likely to struggle with mental illness – at least 66% of women involved in the criminal justice system have a mental health disorder (see Depression and Anxiety) or meet the criteria for substance use disorder (see Drug-related Deaths). Incarceration exposes traumatized women to further trauma, as opposed to trauma-informed intervention/care or support programs that have been shown to have better outcomes for women and to lower rates of female incarceration.

Female inmates are at high risk for violence and continued trauma once they’re in the criminal justice system. Women are 4x more likely than men to report sexual victimization by other inmates in prisons. They’re also more likely than male inmates to receive harsher punishments for smaller infractions.

When Oklahoma women are incarcerated, they are unable to work and do not have access to comprehensive healthcare. Further, women have specific needs that prisons/jails struggle to address, such as necessary menstrual products, birth control, and medication/treatment for pregnancy or menopause. Oklahoma, in particular, is one of 25 states with no law mandating that period products be offered in prisons. Taken together, these factors partially explain why, when compared to the general population, their mental and physical health is worse while incarcerated and after being released.

Racial disparities among incarcerated women are deeply embedded in the criminal justice system. Two-thirds of women in jail are women of color – 44% are black, 15% are Hispanic, and 5% are of other racial/ethnic backgrounds, compared to the 36% of white female inmates. LGBTQ+ women are also arrested and incarcerated at higher rates than cisgender women.

Finally, incarcerated women are often separated from their families, creating poor health outcomes for mother and child.  More than 60% of women in state prisons have a child under the age of 18. Research has found that children of incarcerated parents are more likely to live in poverty and experience homelessness, and six times more likely to enter the criminal justice system themselves, continuing a cycle of intergenerational incarceration.