Women’s incarceration has grown at twice the pace of men’s incarceration in recent decades and has disproportionately been located in local jails.
60% of women in jails under local control have not been convicted of a crime and are awaiting trial.
80% of women in jails are mothers, and most of them are the primary caretakers of their children.
Overall, Black women are markedly overrepresented in prisons and jails.
Incarcerated women are three times as likely as men to be sexually victimized by prison or jail staff.