The United States of America is behind China and India respectively as it relates to having the largest population in the world. However, the country has the largest amount of people incarcerated in the world with 2,094,000 detainees as of July 2021, according to Statistica. 

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There is a new report from the Sentencing Project that highlights the mass incarceration issue among women. Unfortunately, the number of women serving life sentences behind bars without parole has increased by 43% since 2008, according to the report. 

This means that almost 2,000 women serving these life sentences are expected to give their last breath in prison. One of the many causes of women committing serious crimes is the trauma they have suffered in their lives. 

“Women serving life sentences report high levels of psychiatric disorders, histories of physical and sexual violence, and previous suicide attempts. One study finds that more than one third of women serving life sentences have attempted suicide,” said the report’s authors. 

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There are racial dynamics as it pertains to the rise of mass incarceration. According to the Sentencing Project, the imprisonment rate for African American women was almost two times the rate of imprisonment for white women in 2019. 

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Also, 27 states have the death penalty, which include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.  

As a result of these incarceration issues, there have been calls from activists to grant clemency for the hundreds of women in prison.