APPG session on Women's Justice Board and racial disproportionality

Last night in Westminster, I attended the APPG session hosted in partnership with the Women’s Justice Re-imagined group to explore what the Women's Justice Board can do to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system. Chaired by Kate Osamor MP and kindly supported by Nicola Drinkwater from Women in Prison, the session brought together leaders and advocates committed to challenging the disproportionate criminalisation of Black, Asian, minoritised, and migrant women. Speakers included Baljit Banga, CEO of Hibiscus Initiatives, Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Traveller Movement. A woman with lived experience, now working with Muslim Women in Prison, read out powerful testimonies from women currently in prison, collected by the Zahid Mubarek Trust. These stories laid bare the failures of various systems and the emotional and physical toll, as well as their hopes for an approach that truly takes their needs into account, for them and all women. Yvonne MacNamara spoke passionately about the need to recognise the distinct identities and ethnicities within the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities. Too often, grouped, erasing their specific needs and cultural differences, each facing different experiences and forms of discrimination and systemic neglect. Without tailored, culturally competent responses, these women continue to be "pushed through" through the cracks. A key theme throughout the APPG was the need for an intersectional approach to justice. Black women, migrant women, Muslim women, and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller women all face unique challenges and risks and blanket solutions fail to meet their needs. Race, gender, culture, immigration status, and poverty intersect in ways that intensify harm and limit access to support. A particularly stark example of this is the treatment of migrant women, who are often viewed as a risk, especially if they have insecure immigration status. This perception, underpinned by racist assumptions, leads to them being remanded at higher rates. It is a clear example of how systemic bias disproportionately harms those already most marginalised. We continue to see Black women and girls being over-policed, sentenced and imprisoned disproportionately as well as the continued practise of disbelieving our experiences and not taking us seriously. Indy Cross, the CEO of Agenda Alliance, reminded the room that true inclusion goes beyond presence, and we must truly listen to women with lived experiences, participating at all levels in decision making. In my opinion, lived and learned experiences must sit side by side, and we cannot discuss the criminal justice system without acknowledging systemic racism and disproportionality. #WJB