Women and the Death Penalty

Women are rarely placed onto death row. There may be many different reasons for this. Statistics show that there are only 51 women on death row currently and this constitutes to 1.5% of the total death row population (www.deathpenaltyinfo.org). The reason for this is women may be looked at very differently from men. They are looked at as mothers and that their children need them. They are looked at as homemakers and are thought of as having to take care of the home. They are looked at as the “weaker sex”. Traditionally women are not thought of as being as strong as men.
Women on death row are more likely to endure hardships then men. The reason for this is there are so few women that they are more likely to be placed in isolation. Women are also more likely to experience sexual harassment also. They may be deprived of television time, or even recreational time. There are some things that they do have in common with men and that may be inadequate attorneys, education, and different addictions.
The main reason individuals will be placed on death row is murder. There are some states that have enacted that if you have two offenses of raping an individual under the age of fourteen then the death penalty can be pursued. There are also some states that will include treason, drug trafficking in large amounts, and terrorism.
The women that are on death row are mainly in their twenties and thirties when placed in there. The crimes they commit are mainly for murder. There are instances that if a women has children they will get a shorter sentence then a man would. Women are traditionally looked at differently therefore are usually treated differently. The rules should be straight down the books and the same for everyone. This will only happen in a perfect