Women
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Israel
Israeli occupation authorities are reportedly holding two Palestinian women, both five months pregnant, under harsh conditions at Damon Prison, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Religion
Iran
Blood runs down prison corridors. Sewage seeps beneath cell doors. Drugged women drift in and out of consciousness. The women’s ward of Sepidar prison, in southern Ahvaz, houses around 400 women, mostly Arab, denied even the most basic human dignities afforded elsewhere in Iran’s penal system.
Women
Europe
Drugs
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Ireland
The prison population across Ireland exceeds 5,000 in a system with bed capacity for over 4,600, leaving the Irish Prison Service operating at 14% over capacity.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Women
Material conditions
Overcrowding
South Africa
Female and remand people in prison are enduring massive overcrowding at Cape Town’s Pollsmoor correctional facility, parliamentarians discovered during an oversight visit.
Women
Activities
Rehabilitation
Work
Sierra Leone
After spending almost four years in prison in Freetown, football has provided Marie with the chance of a fresh start in life. While behind bars at a correctional facility in the capital, she enrolled in the first-ever coaching course for women in prison.
Central America and the Caribbean
Pre-trial detention
Women
Drugs
Overcrowding
Mexico
Official data from the Mexican government shows the country’s prison system faces a critical overcrowding crisis. By February 2025, 240,212 people were incarcerated in 275 prisons with an official capacity of 224,825.
Tunisia: relentless harassment
Testimonial
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Women
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Social ties
Tunisia
Sonia Dahmani is a lawyer who has made the defence of women’s rights her personal crusade. She was violently arrested over a comment made during a media appearance, and immediately imprisoned. Her sister, Ramla, has become her voice. This is her account.
Women
Asia
Minors
Social ties
Rehabilitation
Pakistan
The Sindh government intends to build special hostels to provide secure accommodation facilities to former incarcerated female to help their drive to gain economic independence in their lives after release from jail.
Africa
Women
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
Sudan
The authorities at Wau Central Prison said they released 31 incarcerated people, 4 men and 27 women, after a local company called Lukluk paid off their fines.
Crises
Pre-trial detention
Women
Minors
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
Lebanon
Based on 2024 statistics from the Directorate of Prisons in the Ministry of Justice, there are approximately 8,500 imprisoned people in various prisons across Lebanon, with 83% of them being detained without trial.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Social ties
United Kingdom
Women in prison will be given access to hairdryers, hair straighteners and salons in a drive to reduce levels of self-harm. The equipment will be available for loan on wings.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Death penalty
Violence
Iran
Iran executed at least 169 people in January and February alone, according to Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
Women
Europe
Material conditions
Social ties
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
The Lilias Centre, in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, is part of a multimillion-pound experiment to tackle reoffending through rehabilitation. They give incarcerated women greater freedoms than traditional prisons and prepare them for life in the community after their sentence.
Women
Europe
Justice
Mental health
Suicide
United Kingdom
A new HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on HMP Styal found that 39 women had been sent to the prison due to their “acute vulnerabilities and the absence of specialised support in the community.”
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Work
Syria
Syrian journalist Hanin Gebran details the horrific conditions she endured in Assad’s prisons, shedding light on the gendered violence and torture faced by women journalists under the regime.
Women
Europe
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Social ties
United Kingdom
Most women in jail have been victims of more serious crimes than they themselves have committed, writes Andrea Coomber. We’ve known how to tackle this crisis for almost 20 years – now it’s time to put it into action.
Women
Europe
Minors
Health
Mental health
Alternatives
United Kingdom
Pregnant women should not be sent to jail unless it is “unavoidable”, according to new sentencing guidelines. The guidance, published by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, has been hailed by campaigners as a huge milestone.
Women
Europe
Health
United Kingdom
The Ministry of Justice is investigating claims by two incarcerated female that they were handcuffed to male officers during labour, antenatal appointments, and intimate vaginal examinations. The alleged incidents occurred between 2021 and 2023 at HMP Bronzefield in west London.
Women bearing the weight of the law
Analysis
Africa
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Women
Asia
Europe
LGBTQI
Oceania
Access to legal rights
Justice
Drugs
Death penalty
Violence
More and more women across the world are being imprisoned, mostly for minor, non-violent offences. What discriminatory and punitive logic is being applied? What is being done to fight back against it?