Day to day life for women is already full, busy, tough, and according to the individual it may even be a little rough, filled with lots of responsibilities. The fact that a woman has to face time behind bars because of issues that they encountered in day to day situation is no easy situation to be in. Women in prison go through a lot more than one would think. Because a mistake was made on their behalf in life, because of something that they either encountered or indulged in caused them to become incarcerated does not mean that they are not human beings. In this paper we will discuss the rise of the percentage of women in prison, reasons women go to prison, Work and education in prison, Medical treatment in prison, and relationships in women prison.
Women in Prison
Percentage of Women in Prison
1980, the number of women imprisoned in the United States has tripled. Now, on any given day, over 90,000 women are incarcerated in US jails and prisons. In 1992, there were 50,493 women incarcerated in federal and state prisons. Amazingly, the rate of women's imprisonment grew from 6 per 100,000 in 1925 to 37 per 100,000 in 1992. According to the May 1994 issue report of Women's Economic Agenda Project things you should know about women in prison in the United States: There are over 90,000 women in prison in the United States today. The number of women in prison has increased 138% in the last ten years. This is partly due to the worsening of economic conditions for women, and also due to the increase in arrest rates due to the "war on crime" and "war on drugs" (http://www.prisonactivist.org/articles/women-prison)
Reasons for going to prison
The majority are in prison for economic crimes. The most typical convictions resulting in imprisonment for women are property crimes, such as check forgery and illegal credit card use. 80% of women in prison report incomes of less than $2,000 per year in the year before their arrest, and 92% report incomes under $10,000. Of the...