SOLVED. YA dystopia - some women and one child in a prison - outside world has had some mysterious disaster. [s]

[Kyamo]

I read this book around 1995-1998 I think. It was a YA or older children's book written in English. There is a small prison - just one large cell containing around 10-20 women and one child. The story is told from the point of view of the child. One of the women was named Althea. Guards bring food but do not communicate with the prisoners. More plot details under spoiler tag.
(view spoiler)[ Suddenly all the guards run off in a hurry and don't come back. After the guards have gone, the women get out. I think a key was dropped or left in a door when the guards rushed out. Outside, it is deserted, there are no people anywhere. They try to survive and try to find out what happened. They find more of the small prisons, but in these, the prisoners hadn't had the key and could not get out, so they died when the guards stopped bringing food. I don't think the book ever reveals what sort of disaster happened. (hide spoiler)]

[Kris]

Kyamo, what is the child's age and gender, is the mother in the same prison cell?

Why were the women imprisoned? Where are the males in their families? (Spoilers are okay - just give us a clear warning before revealing a spoiler.)

Is this future Earth, around what year?

[Kyamo]

The child is a girl, I think around age 12. Her mother is not in the same prison. I think she isn't related to any of the other women she is imprisoned with. The males - (view spoiler)[ some of the other prisons they found after getting out had males in them, none alive. Presumably male family members could have ended up in one of those. (hide spoiler)]

We don't know why they are imprisoned. I don't think they know either. The time period is not specified, but there is no futuristic technology. It is one of those books with more questions than answers and a lot of things are left mysterious. Or at least that's the way I remember it.

[0possum]

Maybe I Who Have Never Known Men. Parts of it seem to match. The cell with lots of women for sure. I don't remember a young child but a younger person's point of view -maybe a child or young adult- I Who Have Never Known Men

[Kyamo]

Yes, I think that is it! Thank you so much!

[0possum]

You're welcome! That book is almost haunting.