The study hypothesized: (1) First World prisons for women would be seriously lacking in up-to-date education, training, work, and health programs; (2) sexual relationships between female inmates would be far more constrained than those between male inmates; (3) physical constraints on female inmate mobility inside prisons and adjacent spaces would be disproportionate to their age and status; and (4) routines in women's prisons would be unnecessarily burdensome. The study was directed toward prisons rather than prisoners and employed nonparticipant observation methods. Prisons in Canada, the United States, England, Scotland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Norway were considered. Results showed facilities for women, even minimal ones, were absent in varying degrees. The first three hypotheses were supported, but the fourth hypothesis could not be confirmed. It was determined private visits and other opportunities for humanizing closed prison environments are distant possibilities unless problems faced by women are politicized and brought to the attention of prison authorities and policymakers. Factors responsible for the differential treatment of female inmates are discussed. 23 endnotes and 1 table