Thailand: For female offenders, jail often no solution

Prison overcrowding is a major concern in many countries. With more than 10 million people in prisons worldwide, this issue has been raised by the United Nations on a number of occasions to call for responsive action from its member countries.

Despite their small share of the prison population, the number of women prisoners worldwide has increased at a significantly faster rate than men over the past decade. In Thailand, the female inmate population has risen from 26,321 in 2008 to 47,685 in 2015, or an 80% surge.

As a result, Thailand ranks as having the fourth-largest female prison population (following the United States, China and Russia), and has the highest rate of female incarceration in the world at 73 per 100,000 population.

When we take a closer look at the nature of female offenders, we find that most of them are not dangerous criminals or a serious threat to society. Most women are in fact in prison for non-violent crimes. This includes 80% of female inmates in Thailand who are convicted of drug-related offences.

As the criminal justice system continues to put so many women in prison for non-serious crimes, it raises the question as to whether or not women's individual circumstances and the social context of the offences have adequately been taken into consideration.

In addition to the fact that the continuous growth in the number of females in prison results from complex interplays between a number of issues, such as socio-economic inequality, the severity of penal policy, and even the attitude of the general public towards offenders, here are some more reasons why we should care.

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