Women’s Prisons / Correctional Facilities

History regarding the matters of incarcerated women has dictated that there is such inequality with regards to sexual preferences in the criminal justice system. Even prior to 1870, the society has enacted upon an unforgiving outlook regarding nonconforming women. Crowded in unsanitary, small and terribly ventilated rooms in men’s institutions, incarcerated women were horribly abused by male guards and by the whole system of the place itself. Through the years, the call for improving this system has been heard and acted upon by the government.
Today, almost every state in the country has erected their own penal institutions for women which are also administered upon by staffs and officials in which the majority are women. However, even if improvements regarding these implementations have been accomplished by the government, there is still a clamor regarding indifferences with men’s and women’s equality in correctional facilities. LESS CONCERN FOR WOMEN’S PRISON/CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES Due to the dominance of men with regards to the number of incarcerated population than women, more studies are provided for men than for women.
Due to this, there have been many unrecognized concerns regarding women and their system of incarceration. Back in 1993, there was a conference that tackled this matter regarding incarceration of women and they found out many conclusions that resulted from a detailed look at the matter. “Officials of the National Association of Women Judges, which gathered here last weekend for its 15th annual conference, cite a number of court-ordered studies that taken together portray a kind of built-in bias against female convicts in criminal- justice and corrections systems around the country. (Hinds, 1993). They found out results that the number of female population has tripled in number over the past decade that there is a need for more focus regarding the number of jails and prisons and also improving the system as well. They also found out that states have lesser number of alternative prisons for female offenders who are nonviolent, compared to male nonviolent offenders. Findings were also tracked regarding the matter that women tend to have a longer serving time than women due to the fact that they are placed in less crowded facilities than men.

Another point that drew concern was that most states only have so few prisons that most women are moved far away from their homes making it harder for their families to visit. Another matter is that prisons for women provide lesser job-training programs. Vocational training is also very limited leaving female inmates to choose between few options such as clerical work or homemaking. Adding up to these, studies also showed that women are not adequately taken cared of health-wise. There are only few states that offer obstetrics and gynecology. Hinds, 1993). CONCLUSION Inequity towards incarcerated women can be pinpointed out one by one with the help of critical analysis and comprehensive study. But with lack of interest regarding this subject matter, the concern for a study of women and their incarceration system has become bleak and overshadowed by the huge concern for men. Though both genders commit criminal offenses whether minor or major, there must still be equal considerations or specific characterization with regards to the system.
There can be many examples of this dark side of the criminal justice system, for instance, many structures for incarcerated people are all planned and based on the men’s point of view. The health care system, the pregnancy considerations, the design of the structure relating to women, and other female concerns are less addressed. There is a need for further studies of this matter to achieve equal considerations.