Women in Prison Network Statement Calls on CSW, UN Member States to Include Incarcerated Women in Global Gender Equality Agenda

Ahead of the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Vance Center and Penal Reform International submitted a statement on behalf of Women in Prison Network members highlighting the need to include incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in broader conversations on gender equality and specifically in UN spaces, including the CSW.

The statement calls on the Commission to “reset the agenda” by ensuring women in prison and formerly incarcerated women participate fully in the 70th session of the CSW, scheduled for March 9-20, 2026. It offers recommendations for the United Nations and Member States to make that participation possible at CSW70 and beyond, from fully funding reintegration policies to removing barriers that exclude organizations led by formerly incarcerated women.

Even as incarceration rates for women have risen dramatically across the globe, the statement notes, “major women’s rights forums, including this Commission, continue to treat women’s incarceration as marginal. Formerly incarcerated women are still mostly absent from conversations at the CSW.”

The statement highlights the distinct experience of women in criminal justice systems and the ways in which factors like race, ethnicity, migration status, gender and sexual identity, and poverty shape that experience. It notes the additional risks for violence that women face throughout the process, how these harms impact their families and communities, and emphasizes the lack of reliable data to guide policymakers in their responses to issues around criminalization and incarceration of women.

“Women in prison and formerly incarcerated women are not only beneficiaries of public policies, but they are also indispensable experts for design and evaluation. Centering their leadership is essential for inclusive justice,” the signatories argue.

The statement also references a 2023 open letter signed by more than 110 organizations, including some Network members, urging the UN to include women in prison in high-level justice and gender dialogues.

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In addition to the Vance Center and Penal Reform International, the following Network members signed on to the statement: Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones, Colectivo Artesana, Corporación Mujeres Libres, EQUIS: Justicia para las Mujeres, Elas Existem, Women’s Justice Institute, International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women, Women Beyond Walls, Clean Start Africa, and Silvia Edith Martínez (in individual capacity).

Recommendations

Some recommendations include:

• Meaningfully engaging formerly incarcerated women in global policy spaces such as CSW – not only as participants, but as contributors to agenda design and outcome-setting;
• Removing financial and procedural barriers that exclude these organizations;
• Fully funding reintegration as a cornerstone of the rule of law; and
• Prioritizing non-custodial alternatives for non-violent and poverty-related offenses in line with the Bangkok Rules, ensuring that imprisonment is used only as a measure of last resort for women.

For the complete set of recommendations, see the statement.

Read the full statement in English here

Additional languages: Spanish / French / Arabic / Portuguese