Of 80 randomly selected inmates from Missouri's 2 correctional facilities for women, only 52 ultimately consented to be interviewed. The sample was drawn at midyear 2002 and was slightly skewed toward minority inmates. Almost all the inmates interviewed (94 percent) acknowledged that they had personally witnessed at least one act of violence between inmates while they had been incarcerated. Eleven inmates (21 percent) indicated that violence between inmates occurred "all of the time" or "daily." The rest of the sample reported that they had observed between 1 and 50 incidents of violence among inmates. The average number of instances of violence witnessed by the women was 31.73. Forty-four percent of the sample admitted to having personally been involved in a violent altercation with another inmate. The women reported that they avoided certain prison activities and locations because they posed a high risk for violence. The women also reported avoiding interaction with inmates with characteristics associated with violent behavior, such as being argumentative, bullying, and loud. Overall, the findings indicate that violence among female inmates in Missouri is a routine feature of prison life. Some steps that could reduce such violence are to avoid placing in the same housing units inmates classified in different security levels, since violent inmates tend to prey on more vulnerable inmates; placing women in housing units by age; and reducing the number of women allowed to participate in recreation, especially at night. 2 tables, 1 figure, 9 notes, and 25 references