SJC Exchange Library

Originally published by Wanda Bertram on 09/23/2025

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Hi everyone,

This morning, the Prison Policy Initiative published a new report calculating the incarceration rates of women in every U.S. state in 2025 and comparing states to the rest of the world. Our main finding likely won't come as a surprise: Every U.S. state incarcerates more women per capita than most independent nations, and is far out of line with the countries the U.S. considers its peers.

The new report, States of Women's Incarceration: The Global Context 2025, offers a crucial lens through which to view the criminalization of women - a small minority of all incarcerated people in the U.S., but one whose incarceration rates today are at near-historic highs.

The report includes state-specific graphics that compare each state to some of the U.S.'s closest international allies, revealing just how out of line our country is with the rest of the world:

The full report is available here: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/women/2025.html 

I hope it is useful in your work. Please get in touch if you have any questions.