{"id":3540,"date":"2026-01-21T12:08:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmuperu.co.uk\/bjcj\/?page_id=3540"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:03:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:03:30","slug":"how-we-can-realise-the-ambition-of-the-independent-sentencing-review-by-cementing-the-firm-foundations-needed-to-deliver-transformative-justice-for-women","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mmuperu.co.uk\/bjcj\/how-we-can-realise-the-ambition-of-the-independent-sentencing-review-by-cementing-the-firm-foundations-needed-to-deliver-transformative-justice-for-women\/","title":{"rendered":"How we can realise the ambition of the Independent Sentencing Review by cementing the firm foundations needed to deliver transformative justice for women\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abbi Ayers<\/em>,\u00a0Director of Strategic Development, National Women\u2019s Justice Coalition\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 2024, organisations from across the criminal justice and women\u2019s sectors welcomed the announcement that David Gauke would chair an Independent Sentencing Review (ISR) to re-evaluate our existing sentencing framework. A year on, and following the publication of the ISR\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>final report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in July 2025, the\u00a0<\/span>National Women\u2019s Justice Coalition<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(NWJC) has finished applauding the scope and ambition of the ISR and taken stock of its recommendations. Today, alongside others, we are now asking, where do we go from here?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NWJC is an alliance of 26 women\u2019s organisations,\u00a0all experts\u00a0in delivering trauma-informed, women-centred casework support to women affected by the criminal justice system. Collectively, we share a mission to reduce the stigmatisation and criminalisation of justice-involved women and advocate for better use of community sentencing.\u00a0We were particularly encouraged to see the ISR report acknowledge and evidence the central and valuable role the voluntary sector plays\u00a0in supporting these reforms, not least women\u2019s organisations delivering the Women\u2019s Centre Model.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voluntary community sector (VCS) organisations, and specifically women\u2019s organisations, perceived the ISR to be a bold and critical undertaking. Collectively, we dared to hope it would have the potential to radically transform and embed more sustainable,\u00a0equitable\u00a0and gender-responsive approaches to sentencing women and girls, shifting the balance from punitive justice to effective prevention and rehabilitation\u00a0once and for all.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know firsthand that women in contact with the criminal justice system experience specific challenges rooted in structural and systemic inequalities. Their criminalisation is often underpinned by disadvantage and discrimination, and their offending is driven by their lived experiences of violence and abuse, unsecure housing, mental ill health, poverty, debt, or substance use.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While we welcome the ISR\u2019s core recommendations, which\u00a0reflect our collective asks, we cannot risk overlooking the simple fact that essential foundational work and policy development will\u00a0be\u00a0required\u00a0to ensure the successful implementation of these recommendations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For starters, ISR recommendations must be fully aligned\u00a0with\u00a0the development of the\u00a0<\/span>Women\u2019s Justice Board strategy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and Delivery Plan. Anything less will lead to the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing! They must also be centred in the Home Office\u2019s upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy to achieve the government\u2019s aim to halve VAWG in a decade.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We also need to see political and institutional alignment across the judiciary, probation, police, health, and local authorities. Without\u00a0joined-up\u00a0working and clear leadership from\u00a0the\u00a0government, the burden of reforms will continue to fall disproportionately on voluntary sector organisations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robust accountability structures in implementation processes will be needed if reforms are to effectively translate into frontline practice. Independent mechanisms should be introduced to track implementation and measure impact. Published action plans, timelines, and independent evaluation and oversight will all be essential.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Black, Asian, racially minoritised, and migrant women face systemic racism and discrimination throughout their contact with the criminal justice system and are consistently overrepresented and underserved within it. But despite the huge evidence base\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0these widespread racial disparities, the ISR missed a valuable opportunity to address and examine the intersectionality between race and sentencing policy. This was hugely disappointing. Women\u2019s organisations see how Black and racially minoritised women are consistently over-policed, culturally stereotyped, more likely to be remanded and receive harsher sentences, and disadvantaged by a lack of culturally responsive support and access to legal representation.\u00a0So, the omission of race from the ISR now risks that any policy reforms\u00a0could\u00a0replicate or even deepen\u00a0these systemic and institutional inequalities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To effect meaningful and fundamental change, the government will need to address how race, gender, and class interact,\u00a0influence\u00a0and drive women\u2019s offending behaviours before then adopting an intersectional approach to implementing the ISR recommendations and assessing their impact. Furthermore, the lived experiences and perspectives of Black,\u00a0Asian\u00a0and migrant women must be actively sought after and centred in future policy development.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lived\u00a0experience\u00a0expertise\u00a0should also be embedded within governance and monitoring structures to ensure that the implementation and delivery of reforms authentically reflect the realities on the ground. Engagement events that\u00a0facilitate\u00a0consultation with experts by experience will yield the valuable insights and critique needed to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the ISR recommendations. Specifically, direct consultation with groups that are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system will be critical, including racially minoritised women, those with care-experience and young women and girls.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the make-up of the NWJC, we are now focused on lobbying policymakers and parliamentarians to action the specific ISR recommendations that would uplift and increase the resources,\u00a0capacity\u00a0and resilience of the voluntary community sector to support women on community sentences.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These include:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n