Many of the women held in Japanese prisons endure "serious human rights violations," including inadequate access to health care, separation from their children and excessive restrictions in their communications within and outside of prison.
Japan has 11 dedicated women's prisons, with 3,913 female inmates as of 2021, the most recent figures show. The number of incarcerated women is down from a high of 5,345 in 2011, although the number of inmates aged 65 or older is increasing and stood at 20% of the total in 2021.
The reasons for these violations are complex... First, there are many women in Japan who shouldn't be imprisoned in the first place. Petty theft by older women, and the simple possession and use of drugs are the two leading crimes for which women are imprisoned for. Once they are imprisoned, they are in an environment that faces a serious shortage of resources, such as a lack of prison doctors and guards, which results in inadequate access to medical care as well as other abusive practices.
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