The Women’s Justice Commission is a multi-year research, policy, and communications initiative that documents and raises awareness of the unique challenges facing women in the justice system and builds consensus for evidence-based reforms that enhance safety, health, and justice. The project spans the full scope of the adult justice system—from arrest and diversion through prosecution, incarceration, release, and community supervision—with a particular focus on trauma-informed and gender-responsive prevention and intervention strategies.
Publications
Women's Justice: A Preliminary Assessment of Women in the Criminal Justice System
While there are significantly more men than women incarcerated in the U.S., women in the criminal justice system face distinct challenges and have a unique set of needs that frequently go unaddressed. This assessment reviews existing research about women’s pathways into the system and the challenges they face from arrest through reentry.
Women's Justice: By the Numbers
This series of charts presents a portrait of women in the criminal justice system, highlighting trends in victimization, arrest rates, breakdown of offenses, sentence length, incarcerated populations, recidivism, racial disparities, and more.
Commission Members
Loretta Lynch(Chair)
Former U.S. Attorney General
Sarah Stitt(senior adviser)
First Lady, Oklahoma
Courtney Bryan
Executive Director, Center for Justice Innovation
Norma Cumpian
Assistant Deputy Director, Anti-Recidivism Coalition
Nancy Gertner
Retired Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts; Senior Lecturer, Harvard Law School
Ed Gonzalez
Sheriff, Harris County, Texas
Leticia Longoria-Navarro
Executive Director, The Pathfinder Network
Chris Mathias
Representative, Idaho State Legislature
Anne Precythe
Owner, Precythe Sturm Advisory Group, LLC; Former Director, Missouri Department of Corrections
Emily Salisbury
Associate Professor of Social Work; Director, Utah Criminal Justice Center, University of Utah
Topeka K. Sam
Founder, The Ladies of Hope Ministries
Brenda V. Smith
Professor, American University Washington College of Law; Director, Project on Addressing Prison Rape
Jillian Snider
Policy Director, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, R Street Institute; Retired NYPD Officer
Carolyn Sufrin
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Gyn/Ob; Founder and Director, Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People
Tori Verber Salazar
Founder and CEO, Law Offices of Tori Verber Salazar; Former District Attorney, San Joaquin County
Whitney Westerfield
Director of Legal and Government Affairs, LifeSkills; Former State Senator, Kentucky
Pamela Winn
President and CEO, RestoreHER US.America
Stephanie Akhter
Director, Women's Justice Commission
Expert advisers
Alyssa Benedict
Executive Director, CORE Associates, and Co-Founder, The Women's Justice Institute
Deanne Benos
Co-Founder and Director, The Women’s Justice Institute
Janaé Bonsu-Love
Director of Research, Building Movement Project
Marium Durrani
Vice President of Policy, National Domestic Violence Hotline
Erica King
Senior Manager, Center for Effective Public Policy National Resource Center on Justice-Involved Women
Anadora (Andie) Moss
Founder and CEO, The Moss Group
Commission meetings
About The Art
The banner design was created by artist sheri crider, an Albuquerque-based artist whose work “reimagines the best and worst of ourselves” and engages nontraditional audiences in galleries, prison cells, classrooms, courtrooms, and other spaces. The Women’s Justice Commission also thanks CCJ member Syrita Steib and incarcerated women in graphic design for Oregon Corrections Enterprises for their inspiration.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
“The portraits reflect real women who have and still are navigating incarceration. The individuals behind statistics and reports are crucial to fostering transformation in the criminal justice system.”
Supporters
Support for the Women’s Justice Commission comes from Ford Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation, the Joan Ganz Cooney & Holly Peterson Fund, The Just Trust, Ms. Foundation for Women, the Navigation Fund, the National Football League, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Southern Company Foundation, and the Tow Foundation. The Commission also receives support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and other CCJ general operating contributors.
