Nearly one-third of the world’s women prisoners are in the United States, noted Hillary Clinton in an op-ed piece for CNN and on her website.
The presumed Democratic nominee for president outlined her reform plan for incarcerated women.
“I will institute gender-responsive policies in the federal prison system and encourage states to do the same — because women follow different paths to crime than men,” said Clinton.
Women in state and federal prisons have grown between 1991- 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
The statistics show the female prison population increased in 36 states.
Clinton suggests, “First, we need to reform policing practices, end racial profiling, and eradicate racial disparities in sentencing. Second, we need to promote alternatives to incarceration, particularly for nonviolent and first-time offenders, so families aren’t broken up.”
Between 2012 and 2013, female prisoners sentenced to more than a year in a state or federal prison grew by almost 3 percent (2,800 inmates) while male prisoners increased 0.2 percent (2,500), according the BJS.
White females comprised 49 percent of the prison population compared to Black females (22 percent), according to the BJS. However, the imprisonment rate for Black females was twice the rate of White females.
“We need to improve access to high-quality treatment for substance abuse, inside and outside the prison system,” said Clinton. “Because drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a crime — and we need to treat it as such.”
Twenty-five percent of women prisoners were serving time for drug offenses, compared to 15 percent of male prisoners, reported the BJS.
“Most women in prison are there because of nonviolent drug or property crimes,” said Clinton. “Over 60 percent of them report drug dependence or abuse in the year before they went to prison.
“Many of them grew up in abusive households.”
The BJS reported that 82 percent of the women had suffered physical or sexual abuse as children or had experienced domestic violence.
Clinton shared the stories of two formally incarcerated women, Alice and Tanya. Both names were changed to protect their privacy; together, they spent nearly 30 years behind bars.
Alice grew up in a home scarred by domestic violence, and wound up in an abusive relationship herself, according to the Clinton article. She spent 17 years in prison.
“Being a woman — being in prison, it’s terrible,” she said. “A woman has needs. Sometimes she can’t get basic necessities, like maxi pads. There’s a limit to how many panties you can have. There’s a limit on everything.
“Sometimes the security officers are not too kind to women in prison. You have to be strong. You have to mentally be stable to do this time that they give you.
“Any amount of time for a woman in prison is bad, but when you’re a long-termer doing long prison time, it can be really bad for your mental health. “
Based on self-reported data by the BJS, 73 percent of female inmates had mental health problems compared to 55 percent of male inmates in state prisons.
Tanya was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a robbery she didn’t commit, according to the article.
“There’s no such thing as being good in prison,” said Tanya. “It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how hard you fight, how diligent you are. You’re in there, they have control, and they’re going to break you down in any way possible.”
She earned her associate’s degree on the inside and is now working toward a B.A.
“When people hear you’ve been incarcerated, automatically the way they talk to you changes,” she said. “The way they treat you changes.”
The articles also highlighted, that women faced sexual abuse by guards, substandard access to reproductive care and being shackled while pregnant on the way to the hospital.
“We say we are a nation of second chances — and it’s time that we act like it,” opined Clinton.