The number of women in Washington state's prisons and jails has jumped in the past five years -- up 38.5 percent and 26.5 percent, respectively. The number of men incarcerated rose 24.8 percent and 17 percent during the same period. The P-I examined this trend in a two-day report March 5-6, 2003.

Number of female inmates soars
Eighty-odd women, 54 beds, two toilets. Snohomish County Jail is overflowing with female inmates.

The state has never executed a woman
No woman has ever been sentenced to die in Washington state, but Barbara Opel could become the first.

How farm girl-turned-gangster escaped the noose
Peggy Peterson Paulos may have escaped hanging in 1934 because she was female.

Drug court offers a way out for those who tough it out
Drug users are the largest factor driving the boom in female inmate populations statewide.

Inmates keep their babies, get a grasp on responsibility
It's a 24/7 , one-on-one, all-purpose mother-and-child lovefest in the special nursery at the state women's prison in Purdy.

If mom's locked up, kids are more likely to follow
Studies indicate kids who have parents in prison are two to three times more likely to also end up behind bars.

In world designed for men, too few services for women behind bars
Many corrections officers inside don't want to work with female offenders. They say the women are more difficult, more demanding, more apt to question authority.