Our first impact report evidences four years of collective influence
Today, the NWJC is proud to publish Stronger Together – Four Years of the National Women’s Justice Coalition, our first impact report, marking an important milestone in our work to improve outcomes for women and girls affected by the criminal justice system.
Collective strength, feminist leadership and credible evidence can shift policy
Since forming in 2021 as a coalition of five founding women’s organisations, the National Women’s Justice Coalition has grown into a national network of 26 partners – over a third of which are small, specialist, by/for led organisations. Our new report – Stronger Together – Four Years of the National Women’s Justice Coalition – sets out how, together, we have strengthened the visibility, legitimacy and influence of specialist women’s services during a period of significant social and economic pressure.
Read our press release in full here.
What we’ve achieved together
This report highlights key achievements from our first four years including how:
- We have influenced major national policy reforms, including contributing to the establishment of the Women’s Justice Board (2024), shaping the Independent Sentencing Review (2025) and securing the removal of Clause 35 from the Sentencing Bill (2026).
- We have reinforced the case for sustainable investment in the women’s sector, publishing new evidence that exposes the funding cliff edge facing specialist organisations.
- We launched the UK’s first Women’s Services Map, now a trusted directory of more than 100 women’s centres and over 420 specialist services.
- We strengthened the national evidence base through our Resource Library, high‑impact research, briefings and peer-reviewed publications.
- We championed lived experience leadership by establishing our National Voice & Advisory Panel (NVAP).
- We centred anti‑racist practice through coalition-wide training, dedicated steering groups and targeted support for small, specialist by/for organisations.
- We secured over £0.5m in funding to support our coalition’s sustainability and development.
Our growing national voice
Through coordinated advocacy, shared intelligence and strategic engagement, we have established ourselves as a recognised and trusted voice on what works for women affected by the criminal justice system.
Commenting on the publication of the report, our Director of Strategic Development, Abbi Ayers, said:
“This report demonstrates the impact that is possible when specialist women’s organisations come together behind a shared mission. Our coalition has shown that collective strength, feminist leadership and credible evidence can effectively shift policy, influence commissioning and elevate lived experience expertise at a national level.”
Our roadmap for change
We outline in the report how we plan to deepen our impact in the years ahead. Our priorities include:
- Growing our coalition purposefully by onboarding more small, specialist women’s organisations.
- Securing long-term, sustainable investment for holistic, gender-responsive, trauma-informed services.
- Strengthening understanding of the Women’s Centre Model across commissioning and policymaking.
- Embedding lived experience leadership so women can influence national policy and practice at the highest level.
- Deepening our influence through stronger relationships with government, parliamentarians and senior decision-makers.
The full report Stronger Together – Four Years of the National Women’s Justice Coalition is available to download here.