ABSTRACT
Human rights violations are rife against women in prison. This chapter starts with a history of the imprisonment of women in treatment that reflected the temper of the times. A turning point came when the northern troops left the South at the end of Reconstruction. Jim Crow laws were passed, and the prisons went from predominantly white to predominantly Black almost overnight. This pattern of racism was to later reappear with the passage of laws related to the war on drugs. Women of every race and ethnicity were very much affected by these major historical developments. This chapter explores human rights violations relevant to incarcerated women, including medical neglect, sexual abuse, immigrant detention, mistreatment of transgender inmates, and execution. Central to this chapter is a discussion of the social life of women in the world of the women’s prison and ways in which they reconstruct the roles they played in their earlier lives. Sections are provided on the sexual expression, prison (“play”) families, and the importance of maintaining external family ties. The chapter closes with detailed descriptions of major developments that are taking place today in innovative programming centered on gender sensitive initiatives in the United States and European countries.
