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“Detaining a woman inevitably means detaining her family,” a young mother in Sierra Leone explained to me, holding her small baby in a damp cell. This sentiment resonates with a individual experience from my youth, hearing my mother sob after learning my father had been arrested for political motives in Zambia.

I understand deeply how children become the collateral damage of detention. Through twenty years as a legal professional, I have seen that this is particularly accurate when the primary caregivers, usually women – are the ones taken away.

I have witnessed the devastating impact of incarceration on numerous female inmates and their young ones. Moreover, I have seen how their voices are overlooked, even within spaces dedicated to women’s rights.

Debunking the ‘Bad Girl’ Stereotype

The public often brands women in prison as “troublemakers.” But what if this tag is a fallacy? Most of women behind bars are detained because of non-violent crimes. Detailed analysis conducted over the last 24 months demonstrates that in most cases, women are criminalised due to poverty, mental health challenges, violence or bias.

One in two female inmates in prison, in contrast with a smaller fraction of men, report a drug dependence in the year before imprisonment.

In a detention center in South Africa, a woman shared her arrest for stealing, an act of desperation to get food for her household. In Sierra Leone, numerous women were found to be arrested for financial obligations. In Kenya, stories abound of women detained because of “hawking” – vending goods without a official authorization – simply to survive.

Women from Mexico clarified how the international drug enforcement policies is causing a surge in the number of women in prison, notably throughout Latin America and Asia. A significant number participate in narcotics distribution due to economic need and force; despite not being leaders in the illegal drug market, they are easier to apprehend by police aiming to fulfill arrest targets.

Violence as a Consequence, Not a Cause

The small proportion of women who engage in violent offenses are often survivors of violence themselves. For instance, 21-year-old Chisomo from Malawi, arrested for the killing of her ex-partner. He had sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she left. Chisomo finally fled after he attempted to stab her. Yet, he eventually confronted her again, cutting her. In self-defence, she grabbed the knife and fought back.

My efforts have involved lawyers across the globe who push for legal processes to account for a woman’s history of poverty and abuse. However, regardless of this advocacy, a justice system built by men and for men continues to let women down through gender discrimination. Those who fail to meet conventional expectations of the virtuous and nurturing female are often punished more harshly.

Prisons are not safe spaces for women. At-risk females are imprisoned and come out with deeper psychological wounds.

Cases show instances where women have been subjected to sexual violence and where procedures like intrusive inspections and segregation inflict additional trauma to women with backgrounds of sexual abuse or mental health challenges. Imprisoned women’s rates of suicidal behavior are often greater than those in male facilities.

In spite of UN principles mandating that prison should be a last resort, particularly for pregnant women and women with infants, devastating reports continue to surface of women who suffer stillbirths and of infants who perish in prison.

The Hidden Sufferers – Children

Children – whether with their mothers in detention or separated at home – are the unseen sufferers. Reports indicate there are at least 19,000 children incarcerated with their mothers, while a overwhelming 1.4 million children live with a mother in prison.

The cycle of trauma of parental imprisonment on children are extensively documented. I vividly recall trying to find the kids of a distressed inmate in Sierra Leone, who had no idea what had become of them after her arrest. A neighbour had taken them in but the young daughter went to trade on the street to make money and was never returned.

A Systemic Oversight

Among the primary disappointments is how female detention remains a gap in awareness. High-level forums on female empowerment, where policy and funding priorities are set, repeatedly omit this critical issue. Notably, there was no mention of imprisoned females in the key document at the UN Commission on the Status of Women this year.

Studies show that organisations supporting and advocating for female prisoners are severely lacking in resources, even by funders of advocacy for justice and equity. For too long, social shame, a desire to promote only “sympathetic victims” and the marginalization of those who do not fit straightforward profiles has meant that marginalised women and their children are forgotten, even with pledges to “leave no one behind.”

Glimmers of Hope and Reform

Yet amid observing pain, there exists potential for change. Globally, women are reimagining what a equitable system could be, from both inside and outside correctional facilities. In Colombia, advocates helped pass an progressive legislation allowing women to complete alternative punishments rather than go to jail in specific cases.

In Sierra Leone, gender justice advocates successfully fought against outdated vagrancy statutes. In the UK, community support centers for women offer a model of local aid that is superior in outcomes and lower in expense than prison.

Recently, at the first convening of a global network of women with prison experience, I wept hearing stories of women converting long-held trauma into something empowering, providing each other with solidarity and working together to reshape the structures that affect them.

As the number of women in prison continues to grow at an disturbing speed – growing more rapidly than that of men – and we head towards the sobering milestone of in excess of 1,000,000 women incarcerated globally, this serves as a critical alert.

A Call for Accountability and Action

Next year offers important moments for campaigning to correct this oversight – from major UN meetings to large-scale women’s rights gatherings.

Governments need to be called to answer for their {failure to implement|inability