NWJC’s response to the new Sentencing Council guidelines

The National Women’s Justice Coalition welcomes the revised Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences Guideline published by the Sentencing Council on March 5, 2025, and is collectively disappointed by the response of the Justice Secretary to this new guidance. Increased focus on individual circumstances, and the specific needs of certain groups, to inform sentencing decisions is vital in a criminal justice system that is dogged by deep-rooted institutional racism which compounds, rather than addresses social inequities.  

The specific work of the Women’s Justice Reimagined Partnership (previously the Tackling Double Disadvantage Partnership) has demonstrated that women face a ‘double disadvantage’ of gender inequality and racism that prevents them from accessing the support they need, both within the criminal justice system and when they try to rebuild their lives outside of it, leaving them at greater risk of reoffending. Furthermore, current data clearly shows that women from Black, Asian, and other racially minoritised groups are overrepresented in the prison system and experience some of the poorest health outcomes, including higher risks of maternal mortality, stillbirth and neonatal death. 

Directing sentencers to take full account of an individual’s circumstances – including their ethnicity, cultural background, pregnancy and early motherhood – before determining the most appropriate sentence represents safer, fairer, and more effective sentencing that will ultimately benefit society as a whole. The NWJC therefore fully supports the Sentencing Council’s revised guidelines.