On the recordJuly 11, 2017
I rise to introduce the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act (Dignity Act), a critical criminal justice reform bill that would provide much needed reforms to address the unique needs women face in Federal prisons. This legislation helps shed light on the unique challenges women face behind bars, which seldom receive the attention they deserve in our criminal justice reform efforts. It is time we begin to remedy the barriers incarcerated women face, and that's what this bill would do. I thank Senators Warren, Durbin, and Harris for cosponsoring this bill, and I am proud to have their support. America is truly exceptional when it comes to incarceration. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the globe's prison population. Since 1980, our Federal population has grown by nearly 800 percent. But let's look specifically at incarcerated women. Only 5 percent of the world's female population live in the United States, but nearly 30 percent of the world's incarcerated women are in our Nation--twice the percentage of China and four times as much as Russia. Since 1978, the number of women incarcerated in State and Federal prisons in the United States has increased by 716 percent, twice the growth rate of men. America currently has 110,000 women behind bars, and women account for a larger proportion of the prison population than ever before in our Nation's history.…
