Human Rights and U.S. Female Prisoners

SUMMARY

In December 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The concept of universal human rights is that every person, simply by being human, has the right to be treated with dignity and equality. After a brief overview of international human rights declarations and treaties since that time, this article looks at the mistreatment of women prisoners in the U.S. today in the areas of health care, mental health, and sexual abuse, and determines that it is a violation of their human rights on a number of levels. Despite lip service by the government and the belief of many citizens that the U.S. is a country that honors human rights, when we look at what really goes on, we find that the U.S. falls behind other democratic countries in its treatment of domestic prisoners, particularly women prisoners.

Key Words:

• Human rights
• international law
• prison health care
• rape of women prisoners