While women represent a smaller percentage of the overall justice population, they continue to be the fastest growing.
700%
44%
80%
44%
80%
Since 1980 the number of women in U.S. prisons has increased by more than 700% and has outpaced men by more than 50%.
The number of women in local jails increased 44% between 2000 and 2013 and the women’s jail population is now 14 times higher today than it was in 1970.
80% of women in jails are mothers. Most of them are primary caretakers of their children.