Women at the Front of Systemic Change: ISLG’s Gender-Based Services

By Taylan Stulting, Policy Associate

While significant progress has been made towards gender equality since the United States began celebrating Women’s History Month in 1987, there are still glaring gaps where women experience discrimination and unequal opportunities. In New York, it was recently reported that women on average earn 86 cents on the dollar of what men earn for equivalent jobs, with Black and Hispanic women experiencing even greater disparities nationwide. Women also experience health disparities, unequal representation in government, and other inequities.

While Women’s History Month is an important time for recognizing the progress made toward gender equality and organizing around continued efforts to eliminate sexism and address its impacts, the work cannot be confined to one month a year. ISLG aims to engage in work that supports gender equity across its projects. ISLG believes gender justice can strengthen society, and by centering the voices of women—particularly women of color and trans women—the city, state, and country can better achieve equitable solutions to social problems.

Criminal Justice Investment Initiative

Women have historically experienced disparities within the criminal legal system. For instance, the number of incarcerated women increased by 700 percent between 1980 and 2019, a staggering growth rate that is nearly twice that of men. Additionally, women face unique challenges upon reentry, such as barriers to family reunification and childcare, higher rates of substance use compared to men, and significant healthcare needs. As a result, criminal legal-related programming should be gender responsive to address the unique needs of women. Many of the programs under the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII), which was started in 2014 by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, either directly or indirectly aim to address these gaps.

One of these programs, the Build-Out of Student Services (BOSS) program, works directly with women who are currently or formerly incarcerated to support them in pursuing education and employment goals. Provided by College & Community Fellowship (CCF), BOSS participants receive support enrolling in college, attaining their degree, and developing career pathways through mentoring and other education- and career-oriented services.

Programming is not strictly limited to reentry resources. While gender-based violence (GBV) affects people of all genders, including transgender and gender non-conforming people, women experience the highest prevalence of GBV in total numbers. Through CJII, ISLG has worked on numerous initiatives that address GBV and subsequently support strides towards gender equity. For example, GBV can often have financial consequences for survivors, and for women who already experience financial inequities in the United States, these affects can compound and hinder survivors’ ability to gain independence. Under CJII, Sanctuary for Families was funded to expand its Career Readiness Training Program. Through this program, survivors are able to gain financial independence and, as a result, improve overall well-being.

Other projects under CJII that aim to improve and increase resources for survivors of GBV include the Phoenix Project, which supports young survivors of sex trafficking, Barrier Free Living, which provides services to disabled survivors, including Deaf and hard of hearing survivors, and numerous other grantees.

These are only a few examples of the numerous projects across CJII that directly or indirectly address gender disparities and are supporting the overall movement towards gender justice, particularly within the criminal legal realm.

Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan (PRRP)

In partnership with Voices of Women (VOW), ISLG is working to strengthen law enforcement interactions with survivors of GBV. By bringing survivors together with New York Police Department (NYPD) leadership, this initiative aims to create a formalized feedback loop to increase transparency and accountability and reduce barriers to survivors seeking support from law enforcement. This project centers the experiences of women and survivors of all genders, challenging the widespread notion that survivors need to be saved by empowering them to be at the forefront of systemic change.

Through the PRRP, ISLG is also partnering with NYPD and the Mayor’s Office to End Gender-Based Violence to develop customized trainings on gender-based violence. These trainings will aim to improve survivor’s engagement with law enforcement. One component of achieving this goal is by addressing biases, including gender biases, that often come into play in survivors’ engagement with law enforcement.

Next Steps

True equity and the pursuit of justice can only be realized once all voices are not only brought to the table, but actively acknowledged and solutions are meaningfully implemented. Tapping into community-based organizations and public institutions is critical in addressing the inequities women face on both sides of the criminal legal system as well as other fields. ISLG is committed to finding these gaps and addressing the challenges through community engagement, data-driven responses, and fostering sustainable solutions during Women’s History Month and beyond.