The “groundbreaking” inclusion of female incarceration in a global agreement on justice for women and girls adopted at the UN this week has been hailed by campaigners as an opportunity to bring about change for hundreds of thousands of women in prison around the world.
The agreed conclusions of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), being held this week and next at the UN headquarters in New York, explicitly mention “women in detention and in imprisonment”. They set out to address their plight while taking into account the links between discriminatory laws, violence against women and girls and increased risk of incarceration.
The decision to include women in prison in the document comes as numbers of women in detention are rising, and after years of advocacy from formerly incarcerated women and civil society organisations, as well as dedicated Guardian coverage of the issue.
The commission’s conclusions contain analysis and outline recommendations and policies to governments, civil society and other institutions. They are negotiated by UN member states during CSW. This year’s focus was on ensuring justice systems work for everyone equally, including eliminating discriminatory laws, addressing structural barriers and increasing efforts to prevent violence against women.
