Time: Jails Weren't Built for Women. Inmate Advocates Say That's a Big Problem.
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Though men are still incarcerated far more than women, advocates and lawmakers say it’s urgent to address the conditions jailed women face. The number of incarcerated women ballooned from 26,378 in 1980 to 215,332 in 2014, according to the Sentencing Project, growing at a rate faster than the number of incarcerated men. But the facilities, built primarily to accommodate men, haven’t changed to provide the supplies and support women need, advocates say. Many women behind bars are victims of sexual trauma or suffer from mental health challenges or substance abuse, and many prison staffers, including security guards, aren’t appropriately trained to deal with those traumas, advocates say. “Women are entering prisons that are programmed for men even though their needs are entirely different,” Holly Harris, the executive director of the Justice Action Network, told Motto.
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On Tuesday, Democratic and Republican lawmakers convened “Women Unshackled,“ a day-long conference presented by the Justice Action Network, in Washington, D.C. to discuss policy solutions to these problems. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Harris and Republican Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, argued that it would be more effective to incarcerate fewer women and instead provide them with mental health or rehabilitation services so they can keep their families together.