In The U.S., There Are 219,000 Women Behind Bars

In The U.S., There Are 219,000 Women Behind Bars

- Elizabeth Nolan Brown

CHAINING PREGNANT PRISONERS to hospital beds as they give birth and forcing female inmates to wear blood-soiled clothes after denying them menstrual products: These are just a couple of the unjustifiable conditions common in U.S. jails and prisons, where populations of women have been skyrocketing. Fortunately, a number of state legislatures have mobilized this year to push criminal justice reforms aimed at the unique needs of female prisoners.

In January, Arizona state Rep. Athena Salman introduced a measure requiring the free provision of tampons and menstrual pads to incarcerated women. It was blocked by the House Rules Committee chair, but this prompted an activist campaign (#LetItFlow) and ultimately a decision from the Arizona Department of Corrections to up the allowance of such products per inmate.

Connecticut started discussing reform after a woman gave birth in her jail cell in February. Gov. Dannel Malloy proposed legislation that would ban shackling pregnant women during labor and create friendlier kid visitation policies for incarcerated mothers.