According to The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) since 1995, the number of women in prison has grown nearly twice as fast as the number of men in prison. Between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003, the number of women in state and federal prisons grew by 5% to a total of 100,102, while the male prisoner population grew by 2.7%.

Black women were nearly 2.5 times more likely than Hispanic women and over 4.5 times more likely than white women to be imprisoned (this is consistent across all age groups). In a report published in the Women's Health Weekly earlier this year, author J. Sudbury asserts, "The past 2 decades have witnessed an explosion in the population of women prisoners in Europe, North America, and Australia."

Mandatory drug sentencing has had the most dramatic impact on the increase of females incarcerated in federal and state prisons in the United States. Statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons indicate more than 60% of women in custody are serving sentences for drug offenses. According to researchers, Mauer, Potler, and Wolf in their definitive work (published in 2000), Gender and Justice: Women, Drugs and Sentencing Policy Between 1986 and 1996, over the 10 year period covered by the study, the number of women incarcerated in the US for drug offenses rose by more than 800% (888%).

Numbers compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) further illustrate the drastic increase in the number of women arrested and convicted for drug crimes in the United States. According to the Bureau "between 1991 and 2000 arrests for females for drug offenses increased by over 59% with a dramatic 220% increase in drug arrests in juvenile girls."

As of August 27, 2005 (latest numbers available), there were 187,000 inmates in federal prisons and 7% (13,000) were females.

The states with the highest total populations do not lead the nation in female incarceration rates. Numbers complied by USA Today, September 5, 2003; show a national average of 60 females in state and federal prisons per 100,000 female residents.

The percentage of female inmates (per 100,000 residents) for Oklahoma and Mississippi were more than twice the national average. The rate per 100,000 females in Louisiana was 96, Texas 96, Idaho 94 and Arizona 81.

The four states with the largest prison populations include:

1. Texas
2. California
3. Florida
4. New York

As of October 2005, Georgia had 50,460 inmates in state correction facilities. Of the total inmates housed in State facilities 3,385 were female. More than 550 per 100,000 Georgia residents are imprisoned.

Beyond the affects of mandatory sentencing for drug related crimes, BJS reports show that women account for approximately 14% of violent offenders, and there is an annual average of 2.1 million violent female offenders (BJS, 2000).

The reasons behind these rising numbers of female inmates mirror the changing roles and how females are treated in the U.S. culture. Most female inmates are poor, undereducated, unskilled single mothers, and a disproportional number of them are minorities.

Many women in prison have histories of physical and sexual abuse. In one study, 80% experience some form of physical abuse, 29% reported abuse as a child and 60% reported abuse as adults, usually by partners. Thirty-one percent (31%) experienced sexual abuse as a child and 23% as adults.

Women are also abused in the prison system as well. According to the Humans Rights Watch Women's Rights Project documented verbal degradation, sexual assault, and unwarranted visual supervision, denial of goods and privileges, and use of threat of force.

As there is no downward trend in the causes and the results of female incarceration, this phenomenon of increasing percentages of females among prisons populations will continue to be monitored with results published in the future.