The United States has the largest incarcerated population in the world. About 10% of those inmates are women, and that proportion is growing. But our jails and prisons were not designed with women in mind. Are their specific healthcare needs being addressed?

SOURCES:
1. www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/incarceration.html
2. Health care in U.S. correctional facilities: A limited and threatened constitutional right (2023) Alsan, M., Yang, C. S., Jolin, J. R., et al.
3. “ACOG Committee Opinion Number 830: Reproductive Health Care for Incarcerated Pregnant, Postpartum, and Nonpregnant Individuals” (2021) The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women
4. www.amnestyusa.org/reports/usa-not…men-in-custody/
5. arrwip.org/projects/pregnancy-…stics-pips-project/
6. Improving health equity for women involved in the criminal legal system (2020) Golembeski, C. A., Sufrin, C. B., Williams, B., et al.
7. “Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016: Medical Problems Reported by Prisoners” by Lauren M. Maruschak, Jennifer Bronson, & Mariel Alper from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics
8. Resistance Behind Bars, 2nd Edition (2012) by Victoria Law
9. www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/chroni…unishment.html
10. www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023women.html
11. “Incarcerated Women and Girls” (May 2022) from The Sentencing Project
12. www.sentencingproject.org/reports/mass…tion-trends/
13. “Overlooked: Women and jails in and era of reform” (2016) Elizabeth Swavola, Kristine Riley, & Ram Subramanian via The Vera Institute of Justice.
14. “Federal Prisoner Statistics Collected under the First Step Act, 2022” from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Cover image by Samuel Stone from Pixabay