Pregnant women have been shackled even during labour. Incapacitating electroshock weapons have been used against restrained and sleeping prisoners. There are 1.7 million people incarcerated in the US, including people awaiting trial and asylum seekers fleeing persecution in another country. Between 1980 and 1996, the number of people in US prisons and jails tripled. In this same period, the number of women prisoners quadrupled.
All prisoners are vulnerable to human rights abuse.
For many, such abuse is a daily reality. And they have few defenses when corrections officers are allowed to retaliate against prisoners who attempt to bring human rights abuses to light. In a recent visit to Michigan, Amnesty International received reports that prison staff have also threatened and carried out acts of retaliation against women prisoners who have complained about sexual abuse and other violations of their human rights.