Key information contained in the report:

• Data from 2015 estimates that there are more than 700,000 women and girls held in 219 national prison systems and that the population is increasing at a faster rate than for the male population.
• In Ireland, the prison service reported that 80 per cent of female committals to prison in 2014 were for non-payment of fines
• Studies confirm that a high number of women are being imprisoned for minor offences relating to poverty and familial roles.
• UNODC suggested that the number of children in prison may be slowly declining, with the rate falling from 12 to 10 per 100,000 children between the period 2004–2006 and the period 2011–2013
• While there continues to be a lack of data and comprehensive research available on elderly prisoners globally, the increasing length of prison sentences, partly due to punitive sentencing policies, has been identified as one of the reasons for this trend.