USA: DEATH PENALTY FOR FEMALE OFFENDERS

January 24, 2012: Professor Victor Streib of the Ohio Northern University Law School has published the latest edition of his periodic reports, Death Penalty for Female Offenders.
This study offers statistics and information related to women who have been executed or are currently on death row. Among the report’s findings are: - In 2011, women constituted 6.4% of all persons sentenced to death, the highest percentage for any year since 1973. - As of the end of 2011, fifty-eight (58) women were on death row, 18 of whom are in California, which hasn’t executed a woman since 1962.
California, Texas and Florida were the leading states for sentencing women to death from 1973 through 2011. - A total of 174 death sentences were imposed upon female offenders from 1973 through 2011. These 174 death sentences for female offenders constitute just 2.1% of all death sentences imposed during the same time period. - Approximately 50% of the women on death row received the death penalty for killing a husband, boyfriend, a related child, or a child in her care. -There have been 12 executions of women since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, just under 1% of all executions in that time.
The report also includes information on all death sentences imposed on women between 1973-2011, including the date of crime, the sentencing jurisdiction, and the date of sentence. (Sources: DPIC, 24/01/2012)