The Global Coalition publishes a country mapping report on women on death row

And in 2021, the World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10 is dedicated to the invisible reality of women on death row. In preparation for the day, members of the Global Coalition Against the Death Penalty (Global Coalition) have conducted research to document the situation of women on death row in their countries.

To get a global view of the existing data on women on death row, the Global Coalition conducted a systematic process of this new data, which was compiled into a report published in August 2023.

Women are on death row in the majority of countries with more than 3 prisoners on death row

The report showed that in December 2022, women were on death row in at least 42 of the 78 countries that retained and abolished the death penalty in practice worldwide (54%). More specifically, the report reveals that of the 59 countries with more than 3 people on death row, 71% (32 countries that retained the death penalty and 10 countries that abolished the death penalty in practice) have women on death row. These results indicate that when a country that has retained or abolished the death penalty has no women on death row, it is often because there are no or very few people under sentence of death. Of the countries with more than 3 people on death row, only 9 countries (7 countries that retain the death penalty and 2 countries that abolish the death penalty in practice) are very likely not to have women on death row . However, at least 5 of these countries had women on death row during the first decade of the 21st century. The report also notes that in the following eight countries, the Global Coalition was unable to obtain reliable information about the presence of women on death row: Afghanistan, Algeria, Laos, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, South Korea, and Syria.

Accessing accurate data on women and the death penalty is a challenge

The report highlights how difficult it is to obtain information on women on death row. For example, of the 42 countries where women are on death row, 12 have retained the death penalty and there is no accurate data on the number of women on death row. For many countries, this challenge applies to all persons on death row, not just women. However, the report notes that for some countries, such as Singapore and Sudan, the absence of data or estimates on the number of people on death row is limited to women.

The report also stresses the difficulty of obtaining qualitative data. In fact, data on the crimes and conditions of women sentenced to death are limited, especially when compared to existing data on the crimes and conditions of men sentenced to death. The report indicates that this may be due in part to a lack of interest in work advocating the abolition of the death penalty on the basis of gender, and stresses the need for enhanced research and in-depth analysis on these issues.

The data collected in the report shows that most of the countries with the largest number of women on death row, and the highest percentage of women on death row, are retainers of the death penalty. However, there are some exceptions, such as Niger, Lebanon, Kenya and the Maldives, which have abolished the death penalty in practice as the number of women on death row and/or the percentage of women on death row rises (see report for more details).

Over the past ten years, 14 countries have executed women

The results of the mapping also reveal that the countries where we know women have been executed in the past 10 years are the following: Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, North Korea, Saudi Arabia. Arabia, Oman, Somalia, and the United States. It is worth noting that the countries that execute the largest number of women are also the countries that execute the largest number of people in general, and they are China, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

The report concludes by noting that the factors explaining the greater or lesser presence of women on death row are not yet clear, and that further analysis is needed. Such analysis should include, but is not limited to, an analysis of the gender distribution of the prison population in general, police practices, gender equality and the type of offenses for which women are imprisoned. The report also highlights the need for more research on transgender and sexually non-conforming people and the death penalty, as information on this population remains very limited and often inaccurate, as it follows a purely binary format.

Read the full report here.

If you have any additional information, please contact Global Coalition Women and Gender Project Manager Melene Szwarcberg at: mszwarcberg(@)worldcoalition.org