Addressing the Laws and Practices that Criminalize Women Due to Poverty and Status Worldwide

Speakers from member states, United Nations (UN) entities, civil society, and women with lived experience will discuss key recommendations for gender-transformative, rights-based justice reform. They will emphasize the need for robust, disaggregated data, participatory research methods centered on women’s expertise, and comprehensive legislative reforms, including the decriminalization of offenses disproportionately affecting women due to poverty, caregiving burdens, or social marginalization. Reforms must align with international standards such as the UN Bangkok Rules and be reinforced by public awareness efforts to counter stigma, discrimination, and harmful gender norms.

The discussions will highlight the role of community-led solutions, with civil society organizations—particularly those led by women with lived experience—at the forefront of reform, research, and service delivery. Speakers will stress that women’s lived experiences must inform the design, implementation, and monitoring of justice and social protection measures. The discussions will also focus on expanding rights-based non-custodial measures and transitional interventions to mitigate harms while broader legal reforms are pursued, strengthening justice, gender equality, and the transformation of criminal justice systems in line with international commitments.

Organizers: Penal Reform International, Women Beyond Walls, and Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies

Co-sponsors: The Permanent Missions of Colombia and Thailand to the UN, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), the UN Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.