The sad plight of American female prisoners has been neglected for far too long. Press accounts of overcrowding, Rape, draconian sentences, torture, and appalling medical treatment in US women's prisons appear frequently but are soon forgotten.
Female Prisoner shackled in Coma
Between 1990 and the year 2000 the number of Female Prisoners doubled this wasn't because of any sudden unexplainable rise in violence among our female population but it was the culmination of the "get tough" War on Drugs era first initiated by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and his failed policy is still in effect today. Before Ronald Reagan our prison system had a rehabilitative model in practice sadly once he came into power a tough punishment model took it's place this is the system we have had for the past 27 years.
In 1986, 12.0% of women in prison were drug offenders. In 1991, 32.8% of women in prison were incarcerated for drug offenses. (Women in Prison, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991. US Department of Justice, March 1994, NCJ 145321)
The overwhelming majority of these women are in prison for non-violent drug offenses. Many others are held under what they refer to as "girlfriend crimes," which basically means they refused to cooperate and rat out their husbands or boyfriends. Several thousand young women have been sentenced to life on so called drug conspiracy cases by just dating a drug dealer which border on absurdity since any creative cop or prosecutor can make up a conspiracy case as they go along.
Here are a few examples of female prisoner abuse believe me there are thousands more and just as bad or even worse than these listed below.
4 Guards Held In Sexual Abuse Of Women In County Jail
4 of the roughly two dozen guards who oversee the women's quarters in the Westchester County jail were arrested today on sex-abuse charges, including raping and sodomizing prisoners and forcing them to strip in exchange for medication.
"That was not part of my sentence, to...perform oral sex with the officers."
New York prisoner Tanya Ross, November 1998.
This report describes violations of the internationally guaranteed human rights of women incarcerated in prisons and jails in the United States of America. The violations include rape and other forms of sexual abuse; the cruel, inhuman and degrading use of restraints on incarcerated women who are pregnant or seriously ill; inadequate access to treatment for physical and mental health needs; and confinement in isolation for prolonged periods in conditions of reduced sensory stimulation.
In Ohio, a 15-year-old girl who ran away from home for one night was put in an adult jail by a judge to "teach her a lesson."There a guard raped her. Hundreds of other children were put in that jail every year, mostly for minor offenses like truancy.
Arizona's infamous female chain gang
Approximately 500,000 women and girls are held in prisons throughout the world the United States incarcerates roughly 200,000 of these female Prisoners. Just 4% of the worlds population resides in the USA yet we confine about 40% of the planets female prisoners.
There are 20,000 women prisoners serving time in the continent of Africa which has a population of 935 Million People over 3 times our population yet we 10 times more female prisoners than all of Africa. 73% of all humanity lives in Asia which obviously makes it the Earth's most populated continent yet it merely has 172,000 female prisoners with Asia's total population just over 4 billion people.
Powerlessness and Humiliation
In federal women’s correctional facilities, 70% of guards are male. Records show correctional officials have subjected female inmates to rape, other sexual assault, sexual extortion, and groping during body searches. Male correctional officials watch women undressing, in the shower or the toilet. Male correctional officials retaliate, often brutally, against female inmates who complain about sexual assault and harassment
Impunity
Ineffective formal procedures, legislation and reporting capacity within US jails and prisons account for much of the ongoing sexual abuse of women. In 1997, according to the US Justice Department only 10 prison employees in the entire federal system were disciplined, and only 7 were prosecuted. If a prison official is found guilty, he is often simply transferred ("walked off the yard") to another facility instead of being fired. The inmate may also be transferred.
Racial and ethnic differences exist in incarceration rates among women. The highest rate of incarceration is among non-Hispanic Black women aged 30-34 years, with a rate of 1,024 inmates per 100,000 non-Hispanic Black women. Among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic women the highest rates are also in the 30-34 year age bracket, with a rate of 366 per 100,000 Hispanic women and 213 per 100,000 White women. The total rate for women aged 18 years and older is also highest among non-Hispanic Black women at 349 per 100,000 women, compared to 137 per 100,000 Hispanic women and 68 per 100,000 non-Hispanic White women.
Mary Snowdon
Mary was a Native American Prisoner at Leavenworth Kansas Federal Penitentiary 1900
As in our male prison population Mental illness is also the # 1 health problem among female inmates. The number of female inmates in state prisons with mental illness was highest: 73 percent.
Statistics also show three quarters of women prisoners to be mothers with over 60% single mothers and at least a third to be homeless.
The inhumane policy towards the mentally ill in our country is also is part of Reagan's legacy since it was his administration that cut off nearly all federally funded mental hospitals as a so-called budget cutting policy yet they only went to prison instead of the hospital so it wound up not saving a God damn dime. Conservatives worship Reagan and claim he was against big government yet it's his policies that created 1 million new prisoners in just 20 years when it took the country 200 years to get it's first million prisoners. This sure as hell ain't saving no fucking money for anybody.
Ronald Reagan the Prison President
1 Million or half of our nations inmates are non-violent drug offenders. However the most troubling aspect is that our drug law policies reflect embarrassing racial disparities unfit for any nation, especially a democratic one. Another very problematic occurrence is the constantly growing industry based on prisons, punishment, and war. I wonder is it due to our terrible economic situation has it became so dire that this is the only source of job growth and income that the government must maintain it ? God knows the War on Drugs has been a failure for a 100 years !
The Independent United Kingdom
Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons
We should care about our prisons
It is particularly the marginalised who need the protection of human rights.
By definition prisons are closed environments. They operate outside the normal controls and processes of society; and it is often the case that society as a whole is less than interested about what happens behind their walls. We do not talk of "our prisons" as we talk of "our" schools and hospitals; politicians rarely feel the need to promise more prison officers, as they do more police or more doctors and teachers.
Because they are out of sight and out of mind, prisons need to have a light shone on them, so that society as a whole can know what is being done in its name.
Nearly everyone single of those sinister bastards who tortured those Iraqi's at Abu Gharib worked as either police officers or as prison guards here in the United States prior to being called up to active military duty. With that in mind it makes one think about what is truly going on behind the walls of our nations correctional institutes.
It's bad enough to have this many prisoners but at the very least we should demand that they be treated as human beings. Without doubt we need some helpto end this barbaric and very un-American nasty practice.