Interesting facts about women in US prisons who have been wrongfully convicted.
4. Two hundred and forty-one women have been exonerated since 1989.
Of the 2,750 people who have been exonerated in the last three decades, about 9% were women, according to data from the
National Registry of Exonerations.
5. Most female exonerees were convicted of crimes that never occurred.
Nearly 73% of women exonerated in the last three decades were wrongfully convicted of crimes that never took place at all, according to data from the
National Registry of Exonerations. These “crimes” included events determined to be accidents, deaths by suicide and crimes that were fabricated.
6. About 40% of female exonerees were wrongly convicted of harming their children or other loved ones in their care.
Almost one-third of female exonerees were convicted of crimes in which the victim was a child, according to data from the
National Registry of Exonerations.
These include nine women who were convicted of shaking a baby to death.
Thousands of people have been accused, and many convicted, of harming children by violently shaking them and causing a condition known as Abusive Head Trauma (previously referred to as “shaken baby syndrome”). However, scientists and medical experts
have said the three symptoms used to diagnose Abusive Head Trauma — diffuse brain swelling, subdural hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhages — can all result from many other causes, including diseases, falling at home, and even the birthing process, and that the concept of “shaken baby syndrome” has never been validated.
8 Facts About Incarcerated and Wrongfully Convicted Women You Should Know (innocenceproject.org)
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