Female on Death Row: How Gender Shapes America's Harshest Punishment

Christa Gail Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, was convicted at 18. (Credit: YouTube)

Only a tiny fraction of those condemned to death in the United States are women. Yet their stories reveal how gender, trauma, and systemic bias combine to influence who receives the death penalty and how they are treated.

With 48 women currently on death row—just 2% of the total—their cases highlight questions about fairness, justice, and the impact of gender stereotypes in capital punishment, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.