There is a general conception that female prisons are less dangerous than their male counterpart, although this is relatively true, collected data is saying otherwise. According to the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice, Female prisoners are much more violent than men in jails. The Ministry stated that the rate of assaults in female jails rose by 21 percent last year, – the highest since records began more than 20 years ago. This was 65 percent higher than the rate in male prisons. Although this study is limited to the United Kingdom, female prisons are just as horrific as their male counterpart everywhere in the world and in some cases even worse than your average male jail. With that being said, we shall consider the 10 most dangerous female prisons in the world, but before that lets us check out a brief history of female prisons and how they came to be.

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History of Women Prison

Female prisons are a relatively new concept; women used to be placed in a separate wing of male prison houses. However, in the 1840’s the rate of imprisonment for women began to increase; in the New York courts, for example, convictions of women increased at a much higher rate than for men in the period 1847 to 1860. As more and more women started getting convicted of as many crimes as their male counterparts, the first women’s prison was finally built in 1869.

With the initial target to reform rather than imprison, inmates were tasked with cooking, farming duties and cleaning rather than being locked up in cells and placed in the dark. The eventual goal was to send the women back into society rather than keeping them hidden from the world. It is important to note that majority of the women in Jail within these period were convicted of crimes against public order, including drunkenness, vagrancy, streetwalking, and petty larceny.

However Female prisons have evolved over the years and are exceptionally different from what used to exist centuries ago. Thanks to some notorious inmates and some of the prisons official governing policy, some female prison have become infamous for being some of the most notorious prisons in the world. So to delve in deeper, here are the 10 most dangerous prisons in the world.

10. Grand Valley Institution (Canada)

Taking the tenth spot among the most dangerous female prisons in the world is the Grand Valley Institution for Women, a candian prison is located in Ontario and the only federal women’s prison in Ontario. The prison is operated by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and has a reported capacity of approximately 130 women. The Grand Valley Institution for Women became infamous for for the death of nineteen-year-old inmate Ashley Smith which caused a gigantic legal inquest and much controversy throughout the world. Known for her unruly behavior Ashley was often moved to a number of different institutions. However, in 2007 Ashley was videotaped strangling herself with a piece of cloth while locked up in one of the notorious Grand Valley solitary cells. Despite being watched by guards it took a further 45 minutes for anyone to intervene.

9. HM Prison Styal (UK)

The HM Prison Styal is a a closed category prison for female adults and young offenders, located in the country hills of Cheshire, England. The infastructure was initially opened as an orphanage for young and homeless children in 1898, it however transformed into a female based prison in 1962. Known as having one of the worst records for suicides in England and Wales, Styal Prison is also said to be the toughest in the whole of the UK. With bullying and drugs rampant throughout the prison walls, overcrowding has also become a huge problem which has caused a number of deaths. A 2004 report revealed that the prison was said to be putting their inmates at risk, however, nothing was done with regards to improving the quality of life of the prisoners.

8. Julia Tutwiler Prison (USA)

Despite the series of reforms championed by the renowned prison advocate Julia Tutwiler who campaigned for prison reforms throughout her life, The Julia Tutwiler Prison named after the said advocate still takes its infamous and legendary place among the most dangerous females prisons in the world. The Prison which qualifies as a “maximum security” jail due to its infamous death is ranked as one of the ten worst prisons in the United States and has also been investigated on numerous occasiondue to its high amount of officer-on-inmate violence. Investigations by the U.S. Department of Justicein 2014, reveal allegations of ongoing sexual abuse of inmates by prison guards. In 2016, Alabama Governor Robert J. Bentley announced that Tutwiler prison would be closed as a part of a “complete transformation of the prison system.” However the prison still remains open till date.

7. Heilongjiang Women’s Prison (China)

Heilongjiang Women’s Prison is renowned for its tough stance on wayward prisoners and its endless allegations of human rights abuse. The prison was recently in the news recently when a Chinese woman revealed that she had withstood severe abuse and torture for nearly three years. Said to have received the torture due to her faith, the woman claimed that she was regularly handcuffed from behind, held in isolation and beaten by prison guards and other inmates. The prisoner also claimed that guards were so desperate to make her renounce her faith that they would do so by any means possible. It was also revealed that the prison had also been investigated for illegal organ harvesting when prisoners complained of having their blood taken from them without consent.

6. Kaechon Concentration Camp ( North Korea)

The Kaechon Concentration Camp is North Korean prison Located in Kae’chŏn county, P’yŏngan-namdo province. The concentration camp sits behind a small hill east of the city center. One of the largest in the country, the prison is around 1000 feet long and is surrounded by a high wall covered with sharp and deadly barbed wire. Holding both men and women, the inmates are mostly political prisoners, however, there are a small number of everyday common criminals. Known for its extremely long sentences and harsh conditions, prisoners are unlikely to leave the prison camp alive. In fact, one female prisoner who did make it out alive told reporters that around 20% of the prisoners died during her stay of just two years.

5. La Mesa Prison ( Mexico)

La Mesa is a Mexican prison, located near the Mexico-United States border. It is is renowned for its tough women, harsh conditions, and extremely common riots. With the most famous riots coming in the year 2008, the prison had two deathly riots within days of each other. The first, which began on September 13th, ended with the death of three inmates after prisoners got angry at the death of another inmate. Then only a few days later the second riot began causing a death count of a whopping nineteen inmates after they were denied water due to the riot before. However, the prison is also associated with Catholic nun Sister Antonia Brenner, nicknamed the “Prison Angel”. Brenner lived in the prison voluntarily for over thirty years caring and cooking for the female inmates.

4. Lowell Prison (USA)

The Lowell Correctional Institution is located in Marion County, Florida is one of the largest female prisons in the United States. The prison, which was Florida’s first female prison, opened in 1956 and has housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the whole country. Some of which includes Rachel Wade, Tiffany Cole and Sheila the Peeler, a serial killer Serving life without parole for the slaying of two men. Sheila the Peeler received the nickname due to the terrifying ways in which she would torture her victims. Also the prison recently had a tuberculosis outbreak resulting in seven confirmed cases and no clue into how the disease managed to find its way into the prison. Then in 2014, a female inmate, Latandra Ellington died suspiciously after writing a letter to a friend detailing the abuse she had been receiving from who she called, “Sgt. Q”.

3. Parappana Agrahara Central Prison ( India)

The Parappana Agrahara Central Prison is the largest prison in the Indian state of Karnataka, holding a total of 4,400 inmates despite just having a capacity of just 2,200. The Prison holds both both men and women criminals and the female prison is the more recent of the buildings and has the lesser inmates. It was recently revealed that a number of prison guards had been selling the female inmates to the male inmates in order to make money. With the claims initially denied it was later discovered that certain female prisoners were made to work in the kitchen area during the night, a move which made it easier for the guards to go undiscovered. The allegation was investigated leading to the removal of a number of prison guards.

2. Silverwater Women’s Correctional Center (Australia)

The Silverwater Correctional Complex is one of the largest maximum security prisons in the whole of Australia. The prison holds both male and female inmates and is renowned for the creepy and frightening inmates that have languished behind its terrifying walls. Silver water was once the home to one of Australia’s most famous female prisoners, Alice Lynne Chamberlain-Creighton, who was wrongfully convicted of killing of her nine-week-old daughter. . Initially sentenced to life in prison in 1982, Chamberlain was eventually released in 2012, after the final inquest stated that the child died “as a result of being attacked and taken by a dingo.

1. The Metro State Prison For Women (USA)

The now-closed Atlanta Metro State Prison for Women takes the number one spot on our list of the top 10 most dangerous prisons in the world. It was once one of the most feared prisons in the whole of the United States and was closed down due to the harsh living conditions and the unruly behaviour of the inmates. The prison was initially established as a male prison but transformed into a female prison . It was said to be so awful that a number of inmates attempted to take their own lives just to get out of there. Lynn Turner who poisoned two of her husbands with antifreeze, took her own life by overdosing on blood pressure medication. Also, renowned for its long and intimidating “death row”, the notorious walkway area was once described as a “path to hell itself”.

10 Most Dangerous Female Prisons In The World