The report calls for urgent reforms to stop the criminalization of women for poverty, survival strategies, and gender norms.

The global number of women in prison has increased by 57% since 2000, faster than the prison sentence for men. Many are imprisoned for petty, non-violent crimes linked to poverty, gender discrimination, and structural inequalities, with laws disproportionately punishing them for life-prolonging activities such as petty theft, begging, or informal work.

Despite the scale of this problem, policies against the imprisonment of women remain neglected and critically underfunded. Urgent reforms are needed to decriminalize poverty-related offenses, something Penal Reform International and Women Beyond Walls are pushing the limits for.