Women are the fastest-growing segment of the American prison population and are demonstrated to be the most vulnerable on the inside. In 23 states, it is legal for a woman to be placed in chains during pregnancy, labor, and delivery (Guardian). Despite the severe health risks and heavy criticism from legal and human rights experts, the draconian practice endures.

The Bureau of Justice estimates that up to 6% of the 200,000 U.S. prison and female jail population are pregnant at the start of their sentence, and 2,000 women give birth while incarcerated annually. The shackling practice disproportionately affects Black women, who are nearly twice as likely to be incarcerated as white women (Equal Justice Initiative).

Perinatal shackling means chaining women that are pregnant, in labor, delivery, or the immediate postpartum. Such restraints are applied whenever women are escorted from the facility and include: A “metal rectangular box which clamps down on the chain between the handcuffs to restrict hand movement further.” This “black box” is connected to a “chain…around an incarcerated person’s waist,” and both devices are connected to ankle cuffs (Correctional Association, 135). The result is a heavy iron trifecta intended to immobilize inmates. For the already less mobile pregnant body, shackling is a highly redundant and punitive measure.

Amnesty International has been a vocal opponent to the practice since 1999 when the human rights organization included perinatal shackling as an example of the “U.S. Resistance to International Human Rights Commitments.” For example, the practice is described as a breach of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

In addition to being a blatant rejection of human rights traditions, the practice threatens female inmates’ health. When secured tightly around women’s abdomen, chains add undue pressure and weight to pregnant bodies, and restraints impair a woman’s ability to walk. Falling as a consequence of the imbalance may result in injury to the mother or a possible miscarriage.

The use of ankle cuffs has also been shown to increase blood clots’ risk during pregnancy (Correctional Association, 134). Knowing the physical damage of shackling adds to the level of psychological stress that pregnant incarcerated women already suffer from. One formerly incarcerated woman describes being shackled during labor as “the most dehumanizing, embarrassing, degrading, animalistic thing that I have ever experienced” (Huffington Post).

The First Step Act announced in 2018 is a federal law that prohibits specific punitive measures, including shackling of pregnant women. However, the legislation does not extend to state prisons and county jails. This gap leaves 85% of the incarcerated women in the United States unprotected and subject to unbounded abuse while further endangering thousands of expectant mothers (Prison Policy Initiative).  

So, why should you care? Ending perinatal shackling is imperative not only for the sake of women on the inside today and in the future but also, more broadly speaking, this seemingly localized practice reveals a glaring shortcoming of American law to protect women, both free and incarcerated. The impact of abuses in prisons demands attention from all as the continued practice perpetuates the law’s use to exercise undue harm.

Recap:

• In 23 states, it is legal for a woman to be placed in chains during her pregnancy, labour and delivery
• The practice of shackling disproportionately affects Black women, who are nearly twice as likely to be incarcerated as white women 
• Amnesty International has been a vocal opponent to the practice since 1999 when the human rights organization included perinatal shackling as being an example of the “US Resistance to International Human Rights Commitments.”
• The First Step Act announced in 2018 is a federal law that prohibits certain punitive measures, including shackling of pregnant women; however, excludes the 85% of female inmates who are in state prisons and county jails
• This seemingly localized practice reveals a glaring shortcoming of American law to protect women, both free and incarcerated

Amnesty International, Not part of my sentence: Violations of the human rights of women in 

custody, 1 March 1999. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/019/1999.

Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice, Women Offenders 8.

Jeltsen, Melissa. “Listen To Women Describe The Horror Of Being Shackled While Pregnant.” 

The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 11 Dec. 2015.

“Shackling of Pregnant Women in Jails and Prisons continues.” Equal Justice Initiative. 29 Jan 

2020.

“Shackling of Pregnant Women in DOCCS.” Women in Prison Project, Correctional Association 

of New York. Correctional Association of New York, 2014.

Yearwood, Lori Teresa. “Pregnant and shackled: why inmates are still giving birth cuffed and 

bound” Guardia. 24 Jan 2020.