When I discuss offenders on this blog, I often use the male pronoun. This is a deliberate decision, a reflection of the fact that men make up a much larger proportion of offenders than women.

How big is this difference? About 83% of felony defendants in the United States are male. The difference is even larger for violent crimes, where men make up about 86% of violent offenders. Although the gap has been narrowing in recent years, the large majority of felony defendants are men.

There are also distinctions between male and female offenders. Compared to men, women felons are more likely to be HIV-positive, to have significant mental health problems, or to have been victims of physical and sexual abuse. They are also more likely to have abused drugs, and 70% of female prisoners have minor children. Compared to men, women are more likely to have been drawn into criminal activity by relatives, partners, and friends.

Because there are fewer female inmates, there is often a smaller range of prison programs available to them. On the good side, however, violence between female inmates is less common than among males, and gang activity is a less prevalent problem in women’s prisons. Here’s an article that outlines some of the specific challenges of female offenders.

Female offenders can make interesting literary characters. If you’re tempted, I’d urge you to do some research on the reality of female offending. You might even gain some plot ideas.

If you’ve been following this blog lately, you won’t be surprised that I love touring places related to the history of law and criminal justice. Last month, my older daughter and I did a 10-state, 4500-mile road trip. And as we were zooming through Wyoming (at a gloriously legal 80 mph) I was delighted to see a sign advertising the Wyoming Frontier Prison. We exited the freeway in Rawlins so we could take a tour, and I’m so glad we did.

 From 1901 until 1981, this was the Wyoming State Penitentiary (a new state pen eventually opened in the same town; that’s where Wyoming’s felons are now incarcerated). It must have been a miserable place to do time. In the early years, there was no electricity or running water, and our guide said the temperature inside was never more than 20 degrees warmer than the outside temp. Picture that during a Wyoming winter, when the thermometer regularly drops below 0F. Two or even three men would share a single 5 by 7 cell—which at least might have added a bit of body heat.

The state also executed people here. At first they hung them using an interesting—and pretty horrifying—contraption called the Julian gallows. Later they switched to the gas chamber. Which I got to sit in. Yes, some of us have weird vacation thrills.

As you might suspect, many of the prison’s inmates had colorful histories. Train robbers, gunslingers, outlaws of all stripes, the desperate and the downtrodden. Women were housed here too. Some inmates escaped or were released, only to end up back behind these walls. Others were murdered by their fellows.

Nowadays it makes for a fascinating tour. As a bonus, we even got to see a couple of the marmots that live in the exercise yard.

Here are some more photos. If you’re ever in Rawlins, Wyoming, I recommend a stop.