Emily Salisbury, director of the Utah Criminal Justice Center and an associate professor of social work at the University of Utah, is an inaugural member of the Council on Criminal Justice’s (CCJ) newly launched Women’s Justice Commission.
This national, nonpartisan panel was formed to “document and raise awareness of the distinctive needs of women in the justice system and build consensus for evidence-based reforms that enhance safety, health, and justice,” according to a media release about the commission.
As an applied criminologist, Salisbury researches the decarceration, rehabilitation and social reintegration of women in the criminal justice system, with a focus on gender-responsive strategies and trauma-responsive care in correctional practices.
Salisbury is the research director and co-creator of the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA). This risk, needs and strengths assessment is the only validated tool in the public domain designed for women involved with the criminal justice system.
The creation of the Women’s Justice Commission occurs as gaps between men and women narrow on certain key criminal justice measures. More than one in four adult arrests are women, and women and men are equally as likely to experience violent crimes. While men’s rates of incarceration are going down, the rates of women in jail or prison are increasing.
“The unique challenges faced by women moving through our criminal justice system all too often go unseen and unheard,” said Loretta Lynch, chair of the commission and former U.S. Attorney General. “We can and must do better to reduce the flow of women into the justice system, help them maintain relationships with children and families during incarceration, and provide the support they need to thrive after release.”
Salisbury often advises the federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Department of Justice, state departments of corrections, and international organizations. She testified about discrimination against women in prison to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2019. A Presidential Impact Scholar at the U, she has received the Marguerite Q. Warren and Ted B. Palmer Differential Intervention Award from the American Society of Criminology Division on Corrections and Sentencing.