24 Aug 2026
We know that young women aged 17-25 in contact with the criminal justice system (CJS) often experience a complex combination of problems, taking place in a wider context of discrimination and inequality. Systematically overlooked in policy and practice, they are an invisible minority – often overlooked on account of both their age and their gender.
Agenda Alliance exists to make a difference to the lives of women and girls who are at the sharpest end of inequality. Since 2020, Agenda Alliance has run the Young Women’s Justice Project.
Whilst the publication of the Women’s Justice Board report, and its recommendation for the Ministry of Justice to develop and publish a Young Women’s Strategy, presents a clear opportunity to centre young women in criminal justice policy, there has not – to date – been a strategic focus on young women in the CJS, despite the evidence of distinct and disproportionate outcomes for this group.
The impact of this is felt across the justice system, and is reflected in the data that we have been able to compile about young women’s experiences of the criminal justice system through the Young Women’s Justice Project to date. This is laid out in the graphic to the right, and below. These statistics serve as a stark reminder that, at every point of a young woman’s journey through the CJS, there could be opportunities for targeted support and intervention.
In particular, we must see the development and implementation of specialist support for Black and minoritised young women, young women who face faith-based discrimination, and care experienced young women, who we know disproportionately experience use of police force, strip searches, high rates of detention and arrest, and fines. Without a joined-up approach which holistically addresses young women’s unmet need, opportunities to create pathways to support, reduce re-offending and end lifelong cycles of harm will continue to be missed – both for young women at risk of entering the CJS, and those already caught up in it.
Upcoming roundtables
Over the coming months, as part of the Young Women’s Justice Project, we will be hosting a series of roundtables to better understand the needs of young women at risk of contact with the criminal justice system across a range of local areas. Whilst we continue to advocate for the development of a Young Women’s Strategy nationally, we know that the decisions impacting young women’s day-to-day experiences of the criminal justice system, and the cycle of harm it engenders, are also made at a more local level.
We are keen to understand more about this and are particularly interested in hearing from criminal justice practitioners in London (9th September) and the North East (18th October), in both voluntary and statutory services about their experiences of advocating for, and working with young women at risk of criminalisation – as well as the opportunities they see to drive change for young women in the criminal justice system in their regions. If you would be interested in attending one of our upcoming roundtables, or would like to learn more about the YWJP, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with tara@agendaalliance.org.
A note on the data
Practitioners and specialist services have been working with young women with lived experience of the criminal justice system for years, and have developed a wealth of expertise and data. This has supported us to develop and publish a number of publications for our Young Women’s Justice Project.
Despite this, at both a national and local level, there is still a lack of readily available government data and research on young women in the criminal justice system, contributing to their invisibility in policy, practice, funding and commissioning. To address this, we have worked to analyse a range of data sets to get a better understanding of what young women are facing. However, significant gaps remain. This is due to a combination of data not being recorded and certain Ministry of Justice data sets not being made publicly available (with our FOI requests refused).
Accessing data about young women’s (17-25) experiences of arrest, mental health detention, use of police force, restraint in custody, and their experiences post release, is particularly challenging – as is building a comprehensive understanding of ethnic disproportionality – particularly within the court system – due to the vast majority (around 75%) of the ethnicities of young women that are convicted and sentenced being recorded as ‘unknown’.
Likewise, data on faith is not collected throughout the sentencing and convictions process – it is only available when looking at demographic data for women in custody, meaning we have limited information on the extent to which faith-based discrimination is impacting young women at earlier stages of their journey through the criminal justice system. There are also key evidence gaps around the drivers of young women’s criminalisation (including a lack of up-to-date data regarding the links between girls’ exclusion from school and the risk of contact with the criminal justice system).
As we continue to build our evidence-base, we are keen to hear from practitioners, researchers and academics whose work includes a focus on young women in the criminal justice system, and who would be open to talking with us about your work and what they are seeing. Please do reach out if this applies to you.