Olivia Burgess, Hibiscus Initiatives

The existence of racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system (CJS) should not be considered controversial. It is a documented, entrenched, evidenced problem, and its impact is profound. For those working in the criminal justice sector, the evidence is clear: urgent and systemic change is required. 

Specialist organisations in the Women’s Justice Reimagined (WJR) partnership, witness daily the compounding harms experienced by Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant women in the CJS. These women not only endure the injustices of the CJS itself, but also face the additional burdens of immigration enforcement, racial discrimination, and violence against women and girls (VAWG).  

Their experiences reflect deep-rooted systemic racism, which manifests in over-policing, disproportionate surveillance, harsher sentencing, and reduced access to legal representation and support services. Too often, they are treated as offenders first and foremost: criminalised, silenced, retraumatised, and denied protection.   

We believe that wide-sweeping, radical and urgent change is needed throughout the CJS. In September 2025, we launched a briefing setting out our recommendations for the first steps needed to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system for women. We call on the government and the Women’s Justice Board (WJB) to listen and to act.   

The context of inequality  

The Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Statistics on Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System 2022 shows that Black and minoritised people are overrepresented at every stage: stop and search, arrests, prosecutions, convictions, remand, custodial sentencing, and imprisonment. While the MoJ does not provide disaggregated data, the report shows that Black and minoritised women were significantly more likely to be remanded in custody at both the magistrates and Crown Court, and women in Black, Asian, and ’other’ ethnic groups received longer average custodial sentences than white women. In 2022-23, Black women were 1.4 times more likely to be arrested than white women.  

This is in addition to the overall rise in the imprisonment of women. Since 2012, the average prison sentence length for women has risen from 14.5 months to 20.9 months. Between March 2023 and March 2024, the number of women in prison increased by 10%.  

The MoJ acknowledges that nearly 70% of women in prison or under community supervision are victim/survivors of VAWG. Yet the barriers to disclosure for Black, Asian, racially minoritised, and migrant women are acute. Fears of disbelief, destitution, and deportation mean that many remain silent. For those subject to immigration control, language barriers and lack of access to legal advice exacerbate their vulnerability.  

Despite clear evidence linking women’s convictions to experiences of abuse, whether through coercion, exploitation, or untreated trauma, the system continues to treat them solely as offenders. This not only leads to over-criminalisation but also denies women the support they urgently need.  

Racism is also prevalent inside prisons. Black and Asian women are significantly less likely than white women to report positive experiences in custody, with many describing abuse from staff or fellow prisoners. Over half of Black women report verbal abuse, intimidation, or assault by staff, while 81% of Asian women report victimisation from other prisoners, figures well above the average.  

At every stage, the specific needs of racially minoritised and migrant women are overlooked. Cuts to community and crisis support services, alongside inadequate prison provision, mean that many leave custody with the same unmet needs they entered with (poverty, insecure housing, untreated trauma, and poor health) compounded by the stigma of a criminal record.  

Although the government has committed to reducing the number of women in prison, its strategy has largely failed to account for racial disproportionality. For example, the Independent Sentencing Review focused on women in the CJS in general, without acknowledging the distinct, intersectional barriers faced by Black, Asian, racially minoritised, and migrant women.  

This omission reflects a persistent problem: attempts at reform ignore how race, gender, and immigration status intersect to shape experiences of injustice. Without an explicit commitment to anti-racism, the structural inequalities underpinning disproportionality remain unchallenged.  

What must be done  

Tackling racial disproportionality requires a deliberate, intersectional approach. This means embedding anti-racist practices and policies across the entire CJS. Specifically:  

• Embed anti-racism into policy and governance: The WJB must include anti-racism within its strategy to ensure the needs of racially minoritised and migrant women are addressed. This must include a shift away from criminalisation, reducing reliance on custodial sentences, replacing them with community-based alternatives focused on rehabilitation and support, not punishment.  

• Centre lived experience: Women directly affected by racial disproportionality must be at the heart of policymaking. As a women’s group we support in HMP Peterborough have stressed, diverse voices—not only the loudest—must be heard in shaping solutions.  

• Protect victim/survivors: Women who are victim/survivors of VAWG, trafficking, or modern slavery should be supported, not criminalised. Legislation is needed to ensure that those coerced into offending or acting under trauma are not convicted.  

• Improve data collection: Building on recommendations from the Lammy Review, government must improve the collection, analysis, and publication of data on disproportionality to identify root causes and monitor progress.  

• Invest in specialist services: Sustainable, ringfenced funding must be provided for specialist, community-based services that meet the specific needs of racially minoritised and migrant women.  

 

Women’s offending is overwhelmingly linked to socioeconomic hardship, mental health struggles, and trauma, not violent behaviour. Yet the current system punishes women while failing to address these root causes, perpetuating cycles of reoffending and harm. For racially minoritised and migrant women, this injustice is magnified by systemic racism and exclusion.  

To create a fair and effective system, government must move beyond superficial changes and commit to a structural, anti-racist transformation of the CJS. This means listening to those most affected, dismantling barriers to support, and ensuring that community justice, not criminalisation, becomes the foundation of their approach.  

In the words of the Women Equality Advocates group at HMP Peterborough:  

‘We hope you will listen to as many women’s voices as possible through opening the meaningful channels of communication for them with the Board. We hope that these are diverse voices of those women who have never spoken before, not just the loudest ones.’ 

Only by listening, acting, and embedding anti-racism at every level can we begin to dismantle the racial disproportionality that continues to harm so many women in the criminal justice system.  

Contact: elizabeth@hibiscus.org.uk