In The Media
| 6 November 2015
How Aboriginal women with disabilities are set on a path into the criminal justice system
Aboriginal women only make up between 2% and 3% of the Australian female population. But the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women entering prison has soared from 21% of all women prisoners in 1996, to a record high of 35% in 2014.
In the past year, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women prisoners has increased again by 6% – a higher growth rate than for other women, and for Aboriginal men.
The Indigenous Australians with Mental Health Disorders and Cognitive Disability in the Criminal Justice System (IAMHDCD) project, which draws on a vast dataset of 2731 people who have been in prison in NSW, shows just how badly the system has failed Aboriginal women.
Source: The Conversation