Miriam Vishniac and Emily Widra | November 12, 2025

Menstruation as misconduct: How prisons punish people for having their periods

Our analysis of prison rules and sanctions across all fifty states and the federal system — as well as accounts of incarcerated people — reveal troubling trends in how the carceral system punishes people for a physiological process they have no control over.

Leah Wang and Bianca Schindeler | July 1, 2025

Birth behind bars: Ten years of U.S. jail births covered in the news highlight horrific experiences and minimal data collection

For some of the thousands of pregnant people entering jails each year, at what might be their moment of greatest need — going into labor — jails turn a blind eye, harming mothers, newborns, and their families. The latest project from our partners at Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People, or ARRWIP, illuminates these haunting stories and the dire need for data and education about pregnancy in jails.

Emily Widra and Emmett Sanders | May 7, 2025

New data on pregnancy prevalence, outcomes, and programs in prisons are welcome additions, but raise new questions

The Bureau of Justice Statistics published 2023 data on pregnancy prevalence and outcomes in prisons, as well as the prison systems that offer relevant prenatal and postnatal accommodations, supports, and programming.

Emily Widra and Wendy Sawyer | November 27, 2024

Who is jailed, how often, and why: Our Jail Data Initiative collaboration offers a fresh look at the misuse of local jails

Using a novel data source, we examine the flow of individuals booked into a nationally-representative sample of jails along lines of race, ethnicity, sex, age, housing status, and type of criminal charge.

Emily Widra | October 8, 2024

New, expanded data on Indian country jails show concerning trends extend to tribal lands

In Indian country jails, populations have rebounded from pandemic lows, the detention of women and older adults is increasing, and new offense type data raise questions about why so many people are incarcerated on tribal lands.

Wendy Sawyer | June 18, 2024

Two years after the end of Roe v. Wade, most women on probation and parole have to ask permission to travel for abortion care

Since the 2022 Dobbs decision, 21 states have restricted abortions earlier than the Roe v. Wade standard. Now, more of the 800,000 women on probation and parole must seek abortion care out-of-state — but for many, whether they can get there depends on an officer’s decision.

Leah Wang | February 28, 2024

Since you asked: How many women and men are released from each state’s prisons and jails every year?

We’ve drilled down into 2019 data to show prison and jail releases by sex in each state and made our best estimates of how many women and men were released from prisons and jails nationwide in 2022.

Emma Ruth | January 8, 2024

Force multipliers: How the criminal legal and child welfare systems cooperate to punish families

Child protective service agencies position themselves as providers of welfare, but their relationship to the criminal legal system demonstrates their shared role in punishing families and exacerbating the conditions that lead to system involvement in the first place.

Leah Wang | September 27, 2023

Updated data and charts: Incarceration stats by race, ethnicity, and gender for all 50 states and D.C.

New data visualizations and updated tables show the national landscape of persistent racial disparity in state prisons and local jails.

Emma Ruth | February 27, 2023

How 12 states are addressing family separation by incarceration — and why they can and should do more

Defending incarcerated parents’ rights and attending to the needs of the children are vital goals that more states should pursue.

Leah Wang | December 22, 2022

New data: Police use of force rising for Black, female, and older people; racial bias persists

New survey data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics on police interactions in 2019 and 2020 provide the broadest look at relations between police officers and the public. The findings leave a lot to be desired (as they’re primarily pre-pandemic), but the message is clear: police are still a massive presence in our communities, and they don’t always provide the solutions and safety we need.

Emily Widra | July 11, 2022

New data: LGBT people across all demographics are at heightened risk of violent victimization

A new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics highlights just how common violent victimization is among women, LGB people, and trans people.

Wanda Bertram and Wendy Sawyer | June 30, 2022

What the end of Roe v. Wade will mean for people on probation and parole

On any given day in the U.S., 666,413 women are on probation or parole.

Wendy Sawyer and Wanda Bertram | May 4, 2022

Prisons and jails will separate millions of mothers from their children in 2022

58% of all women in U.S. prisons are mothers, and other important facts to know this Mother’s Day.

Tiana Herring and Emily Widra | March 31, 2022

What the Survey of Prison Inmates tells us about trans people in state prison

We look at the experiences of 29 incarcerated transgender people before and during their incarceration.

Wendy Sawyer | January 11, 2022

New data: The changes in prisons, jails, probation, and parole in the first year of the pandemic

Newly released data from 2020 show the impact of early-pandemic correctional policy choices and what kind of change is possible under pressure. But the data also show how inadequate, uneven, and unsustained policy changes have been: most have already been reversed.

Katie Rose Quandt and Leah Wang | December 8, 2021

Recent studies shed light on what reproductive “choice” looks like in prisons and jails

States that are otherwise hostile to abortion rights are especially likely to make it difficult for incarcerated people.

Leah Wang | October 8, 2021

The U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately hurts Native people: the data, visualized

We’re lucky when criminal justice data is broken down by race and ethnicity enough to see how Native populations are criminalized and incarcerated. Here’s a roundup of what we know.

Leah Wang | August 19, 2021

Unsupportive environments and limited policies: Pregnancy, postpartum, and birth during incarceration

Making up for a serious gap in government data collection and understanding, researchers are discovering what pregnant incarcerated women should expect when they’re expecting (or when they give birth while in custody). Findings indicate that jails, prisons, and youth facilities have yet to adequately recognize pregnancy and postpartum needs either in policy or in practice.

Leah Wang | June 23, 2021

Rise in jail deaths is especially troubling as jail populations become more rural and more female

New data show record high deaths of people locked up in jail, as jail populations have shifted toward smaller, rural jails and growing numbers of women. A lack of accountability and acknowledgement of women’s unique disadvantages all but ensures more deaths to come.

Wanda Bertram and Wendy Sawyer | May 5, 2021

Prisons and jails will separate millions of mothers from their children in 2021

The most important statistics about the incarceration of mothers and pregnant women.

Alexi Jones | March 2, 2021

Visualizing the unequal treatment of LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system

LGBTQ people are overrepresented at every stage of our criminal justice system, from juvenile justice to parole.

Tiana Herring | November 10, 2020

Since you asked: What role does drug enforcement play in the rising incarceration of women?

Women are being jailed at higher rates than ever. We explore whether drug arrests and substance abuse could be having an impact.

Wendy Sawyer | July 27, 2020

Visualizing the racial disparities in mass incarceration

Racial inequality is evident in every stage of the criminal justice system - here are the key statistics compiled into a series of charts.

Roxanne Daniel | December 5, 2019

Prisons neglect pregnant women in their healthcare policies

Our 50-state survey finds that in spite of national standards, most states lack important policies on prenatal care and nutrition for pregnant women.

Wendy Sawyer | July 19, 2019

Who’s helping the 1.9 million women released from prisons and jails each year?

Women make up a growing share of incarcerated populations, and they have different needs than justice-involved men. Accordingly, some prison systems have begun to implement gender-responsive policies and programs. But what happens after release?

Prison Policy Initiative | May 14, 2019

Policing Women: Race and gender disparities in police stops, searches, and use of force

We analyze gender and racial disparities in traffic and street stops, including arrests, searches, and use of force that occurs during stops.

Wendy Sawyer | March 29, 2019

Massachusetts women do not need a new jail

The Mass. Senate is considering building a new women's jail. We offer a number of reasons why this is a bad idea.

Lucius Couloute | May 14, 2018

New report from Essie Justice shows women with incarcerated loved ones are traumatized by marginalization

Mass incarceration intensifies the financial and social burdens that already fall too hard on women.

Wendy Sawyer and Wanda Bertram | May 13, 2018

Jail will separate 2.3 million mothers from their children this year

80% of the women jailed each year are mothers. We're inflicting profound damage not only on them, but their children as well.

Wanda Bertram | April 11, 2018

State-level studies identify causes of the national “gender divide”

Our January report showed how incarcerated women are being left behind, but to identify specific areas for improvement, state-level research is needed.

Lucius Couloute | March 22, 2018

New data highlights pre-incarceration disadvantages

New research illustrates that many formerly incarcerated people never received a fair first chance at economic mobility, never mind a second one.

Wendy Sawyer | January 10, 2018

BJS update: Women’s state prison populations rose while men’s fell, again.

Released on the heels of our recent report on women's state prison populations, a new BJS report shows that in 2016, the "gender divide" in incarceration trends widened even more.

Elliot Oberholtzer | November 8, 2017

The dismal state of transgender incarceration policies

We evaluated the current transgender and gender non-conforming policies of 21 states in terms of PREA standards, World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care, and correctional staff training and treatment of transgender individuals. All but one come up short.

Wendy Sawyer | June 22, 2017

New government report points to continuing mental health crisis in prisons and jails

U.S. prisons and jails are filled with people who have a current or past mental health problem, and facilities are still not meeting the demand for treatment.

Wendy Sawyer and Emily Widra | May 8, 2017

Unpacking the connections between race, incarceration, and women’s HIV rates

Current research points to an unexpected contributor to the high rates of HIV infection among Black women: the mass incarceration of Black men.

Joshua Aiken | September 30, 2016

Girls are being put behind bars more and more. Will Congress do anything to help?

Leah Sakala | December 12, 2013

It’s time for Massachusetts to stop shackling incarcerated women who are giving birth

We submitted testimony in support of S.1171, a bill that would ban the routine use of physical restraints on incarcerated pregnant women in Massachusetts.