"We've not given up": Young women surviving the criminal justice system

Young women are in a unique position in the criminal justice system. As a minority on account of both their age and their gender, they are systematically overlooked in policy and practice and have limited access to specialist support.

This executive summary sets out key findings from the Young Women’s Justice Project’s final report. It describes young women’s pathways into the criminal justice system, the role played by the criminal justice system in driving a cycle of abuse, inequality and offending, and the consequences of a failure to prioritise young women in policy. It highlights the experiences of Black, Asian and minoritised young women and young women with experience of the care system as groups that are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

Published by Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ), as part of the Young Women’s Justice Project.