[Fortune-media] WOMEN IN PRISON FACT SHEET

[Eric Appleton]

Here are some more numbers you might be able to use.

Eric
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http://www.corrassoc.org/women_fact.html

WOMEN IN PRISON FACT SHEET


United States


There are currently an estimated 950,000 women in criminal justice custody
-in prison, jail, on parole or probation- in the U.S.

Since 1980, the number of women entering prisons in the United States had
risen almost 400%, double the rate of men.

The majority of women inmates are incarcerated for non-violent crimes such
as prostitution, fraud or drug offenses.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly a quarter (24%) of
women in state prisons are mentally ill.

Forty percent of women in prison held no job prior to incarceration. Of
those who had jobs, two-thirds reported never receiving more than $6.50 an
hour.

Women under the custody of the criminal justice system are the mothers of an
estimated 1.3 million minor children.

Two-thirds of women in prison in the U.S. are women of color.

New York State


3,508 women were incarcerated in New York State prisons as of January 1,
2000 - 5% of New York State's total prison population.

New York State has one of the largest female prison populations in the
nation, exceeded only by Texas and California.

Nearly 70% of the women committed to New York State prisons in 1999 were
convicted of non-violent/non-coercive crimes.

Over 50% of all women in New York State prisons are incarcerated for drug
offenses.

As of January 1, 2000, 54% of women confined in NYS prisons were African
American, 29% were Latina, and 17% were white.

Currently 91% of women under custody for a drug offense are women of color:
55% are African-American and 36% percent are Latina.

Approximately 75% of the women prisoners in New York report that they are
mothers. In a 1998 survey, women in New York prisons reported having over
7,000 children.

March 2000

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, New York State Department of
Correctional Services, U.S. Department of Justice.


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