A Year of advocating for change, challenging stigma, and ensuring women’s voices are heard
Lilly Lewis, Women’s Involvement Advisor, One Small Thing
In the next in her series of blogs Lilly Lewis, our Women’s Involvement Advisor reflects on the last year of her work with One Small Thing, exploring how lived experience can and must shape a justice system that is fairer, safer, and more trauma‑informed for women and their children. She shares key milestones and the personal and professional growth that has come from advocating for change, challenging stigma, and ensuring women’s voices are heard.
Looking back on the last year, I feel proud not because the work has been easy, but because it has mattered. Working with One Small Thing continues to remind me how vital lived experience is in shaping a justice system that is fairer, safer, and more trauma-informed for women and their children.
“One of my biggest milestones this year has been continuing to use my voice consistently, not just to share my own experiences, but to make sure women’s realities are heard where decisions are being made.”
I am especially proud of the moments where my role has helped shift conversations beyond “what did she do?” and towards “what happened to her, and what does she need?” That change in mindset sits at the heart of everything we do.
Another important milestone for me has been being part of the Remand Collective, which has shown the power of women coming together to speak honestly about the harm caused by remand. Too often, remand is treated as a temporary measure - but for women and families, the impact can be immediate and devastating. Separation from children, loss of housing, and sudden instability can cause damage that lasts long after release. Being part of this collective has reinforced my belief that real change happens when women are listened to, not spoken for.
One moment that really stayed with me was an event I hosted in central London with women from Hope Street. Seeing women being listened to, valued, and recognised for who they are not what they’ve been through was incredibly powerful. The rawness of their stories, alongside their strength and determination to build better futures for themselves and their children, was deeply moving.
My favourite topic to write about and advocate for this year has been sentencing reform, particularly the damaging impact of short custodial sentences and the importance of meaningful community alternatives. I’ve also felt strongly about challenging stigma, because women in the justice system are too often defined by a single moment rather than the full picture of their lives including trauma, poverty, abuse, and unmet needs.
This year brought major policy developments, including the independent sentencing review and the Sentencing Bill. I hope these changes lead to fewer women being sent to prison unnecessarily, especially when prison does nothing to address the root causes of their offending. For women, imprisonment often means sudden separation from children, loss of housing, breakdown of support networks, and a deepening of trauma. Community-based responses, when properly resourced, have the potential to reduce harm and offer real pathways forward.
I was also really pleased to see that the clause around publishing names and photos of people doing unpaid work was dropped. Publicly identifying people in this way would have increased shame and stigma, and could have placed women at serious risk particularly those with experiences of domestic abuse and coercive control. Rehabilitation should never rely on humiliation.
“My hope for the year ahead is simple: that we keep moving towards a justice system that works with women, not against them.”
I want to see fewer women on remand when it isn’t necessary, fewer mothers separated from their children, and greater investment in women’s centres and trauma-informed community support. Most of all, I want decision-makers to keep listening to lived experience because women know what needs to change, and we must be part of shaping that change.
Reflecting on what I hoped for last year, I can see progress, but I can also see how fragile that progress is. Policy changes matter, but it only becomes real when women feel it in their everyday lives: in the decisions courts make, in the support available, and in whether they are treated with dignity.
I’m proud to be part of this work, and I’m proud to keep pushing for change. Because when we improve outcomes for women in the justice system, we improve outcomes for children too and that’s what truly matters. Looking forward to what 2026 will bring.
My CIC, Watering Your Soul, turned one and I am so happy to have supported over 70 women, over the year, in Rochdale. Our team are going from strength to strength and I would like to thank all our supporters. I’m very excited for what this year will bring and look forward to supporting women this year.
On a personal note, my relationships with all my children are growing stronger and stronger and I can at last feel that we are a secure family again. All the pieces of my puzzle are together. Putting the feelings of my children before anything that I do is my focus, ensuring all outcomes for them within my control are positive.
