We're challenging harmful narratives this Black History Month ????

Hi there – got a minute?

This Black History Month, we’ve been tackling the harmful stereotypes that contribute to the overrepresentation of Black women in the criminal justice system and how systemic racism affects their employment opportunities. We’d also like to extend a huge thank you for your generous support during our Big Give campaign, which has helped even more women build brighter futures.

Black women in the justice system: The cycle of injustice

Black women are disproportionately impacted at every stage of the UK’s criminal justice system.

Young Black girls are often seen as older—a bias called adultification—which leads to harsher treatment and can drag them into the justice system for life. Black Caribbean girls are twice as likely to be excluded from school than their white peers.

This unfair perception contributes to the higher rates of arrest, charges, and convictions that Black women face compared to white women. Black women are 1.4 times more likely to be arrested than white women. Only 1% of court judges in the UK are Black, a figure unchanged since 2014. This lack of representation contributes to bias and harsher treatment for Black women.

The harsher sentences Black women often receive create lasting barriers to finding jobs, making it even tougher to rebuild their lives after leaving the system. These sentences result in longer criminal records that hinder job opportunities, creating overlapping challenges long after they leave the justice system.

Our 2021 report,?Worse Case Scenario, highlighted how racism within the justice system severely impacts Black women's chances of employment. Three years on, these issues still persist, underscoring the urgent need for change.

Read the report here

Confidence is the key

With lived experience of the justice system, Lucinda, Employability Coach at Working Chance, is moving forward from her past and now helping women with convictions find employment. She encourages other Black women leaving the justice system to believe in themselves and to know that they deserve to flourish in life, as much as anyone else.

Thank you for your support! ??

Thanks to your generosity, we raised over ￡14k in our Big Give campaign to help more women build brighter futures. If you missed the opportunity to double your donation, no problem! You can still help a woman find meaningful work and thrive with your support.

"When I reached out to Working Chance, what stood out was that they didn’t judge me. They saw that I wanted to get back into work and helped me to do that."

- Lucy, Working Chance client

Support more women like Lucy to get help finding work