World Coalition Advocacy at the Commission on the Status of Women: Advancing Justice for Women Affected by the Death Penalty

Advocacy

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 23 April 2026

A delegation from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty participated in the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to highlight the often-overlooked realities faced by women in contact with the criminal justice system, including those facing the death penalty.

The delegation included several member organizations, such as The Advocates for Human Rights, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, Penal Reform International, and Witness to Innocence, alongside other partners in attendance.

Under the priority theme—“Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls”—the Coalition engaged with states, civil society, and international partners to promote a more inclusive approach to access to justice, highlighting the systemic discrimination affecting women who are accused, detained, or convicted, which remains largely absent from multilateral discussions.

Access to justice denied to women facing the death penalty

On the sidelines of the CSW session, the World Coalition co-organized three side events dedicated to the criminalization of women, including one sponsored by the governments of Switzerland, Canada, and Mexico. The discussions highlighted the structural factors and intersectional discrimination that shape their criminal justice experiences, particularly for those facing the death penalty, while identifying concrete avenues for action: improving access to justice, gender- and trauma-sensitive approaches, and legal and social reforms.

Speakers across the panels emphasized that women’s criminalization is often driven by structural inequalities such as patriarchy, poverty, gender-based violence, and coercion, with so-called “survival crimes” disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable. They also stressed that justice systems retain inequitable practices and processes and remain largely patriarchal, gender-blind and exclusionary. Addressing these challenges therefore requires not only legal reform, but broader social and structural change—grounded in intersectional approaches, greater investment in the provision of services to communities, and recognition that criminalization itself both reflects and reinforces existing inequalities.

A Step Forward Toward Global Recognition

One of the main outcomes of this year’s CSW was the inclusion, for the first time, of references to women in conflict with the law—including those facing irreversible sentences—in the adopted conclusions. This marks an important milestone in the global recognition of these issues and reflects sustained advocacy efforts by civil society.

This development reflects a growing awareness that access to justice cannot be fully realized without addressing the specific barriers faced by criminalized women.

Despite these advances, the World Coalition will continue to advocate for gender-sensitive justice systems, the reform of discriminatory laws, improved access to essential services, and the inclusion of affected women in decision-making processes.