Obama Admin. To Expand Clemency For Drug Offenders, But Why Are Women Being Locked Up Twice As Fast As Men?

The War On Drugs Is Zeroing In On Women

When it comes to the discussion of the prison industrial complex in the Black community, most of the focus is on the high numbers Black men behind bars. While the statistics are alarming (as of 2001, one in six Black men had spent some time in prison and jails), women are now being incarcerated at twice the rate as men.

Between 1980 and 2010, the number of women sentenced to prison rose by over 600-percent, and there are now over 200,000 women behind bars. The reason? Drugs.

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