Over one million women are controlled by the criminal justice system and over 741,000 women are in prison worldwide. Globally, the number of women in prison is estimated to have increased by about 59 percent between 2000 and 2020 – a much faster rate than that of men.

Poverty, prior victimization, discriminatory laws and punitive drug policies are the main drivers behind the alarming increase in women’s incarceration. I’ve had the privilege of working with and for incarcerated women and girls for over 15 years as a human rights lawyer. I’ve witnessed the vibrant activism being done to address these issues, particularly by women with lived experience of the justice system. But it has been disheartening to see the challenges these organizations face, from the UK to Sierra Leone, particularly with funding.

Women Beyond Walls’ recent exploratory report found that work with and for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls is desperately underfunded. Forgotten by Funders draws on interviews with a total of 34 small-to-medium-sized organizations working with and for incarcerated women and girls, from 24 countries across five continents, mostly in the majority world. More than half of organizations have women with lived experience of the justice system involved or leading their work.

The report had eight main findings:

  1. Established organizations are doing vital work using multiple strategies in a challenging context
  2. Addressing women’s incarceration is not a priority for most donors
  3. Over two-thirds of organizations (71 percent) do not receive funding from feminist and women’s rights funders
  4. The majority of organizations lack access to flexible, core funding
  5. Most of the organisations surveyed are facing precarious funding situations
  6. Organizations are facing challenges with the funding process and are not able to fund key staff positions
  7. Organizations receive insufficient funding to fully implement all their strategies, particularly their work with women and girls post-incarceration
  8. Organizations are also in need of non-financial support for sustainability

This moment – with more global attention on resourcing for gender equality – presents a critical opportunity to address the longstanding neglect of work with and for incarcerated women and girls. Feminist and women’s rights funders, as well as other donors, should listen to the views and challenges of organizations working in this space, especially to women with lived experience, and consider how they plan to address issues around incarceration within their women’s rights and gender justice strategies. The report presents several recommendations to support this.

Read the full article about women’s incarceration by Sabrina Mahtani at Alliance Magazine.