All Lives Matter: Health Care Needs of Women Prisoners

• In Event: Barriers to Health Care Access in Prisons

Abstract

One of the hardest hit casualties of the imprisonment binge in the United States continues to be women offenders. Of the more than 200,000 women living behind prison or jail walls, thousands of these women are dependent on correctional authorities for their health care. The reality of the situation, however, is that even when the constitution is on their side, STI and HIV-positive women behind bars face special difficulties in exercising those rights and receiving the regimented treatment necessary to control the disease(s). And, in spite of the current dialogue on mass incarceration and its relationship to the health of the black community, incarcerated black women are understudied despite the high prevalence of STI and HIV/AIDS among this population. As more women are locked up, programmatic challenges associated with variations in prison populations’ health concerns speaks to the need to link public health efforts with criminal justice policy and practice. Our paper explores the healthcare needs of imprisoned women and highlights the need for legislative and regulatory protection for STI and HIV/AIDS-infected women prisoners in the United States.

Authors

• Barbara H. Zaitzow, Appalachian State University

• Nicole Pelligrino, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center