This article explores why the government strategy for women offenders has failed to achieve its key objectives despite extensive agreement about the need and direction of change and the momentum generated by the Corston Report. It argues that although the women’s policy agenda is supported by equality and human rights legislation, the operational context of the criminal justice system inhibits its realization. The reforms recognize the need for differential treatment in the pursuit of gender equality and reflect principles of distributive and non-distributive justice that promote individual welfare and social inclusion. Paradoxically, they are advanced within a criminal justice system that is predominantly concerned with the distribution of just deserts and the management of criminal risk. The inherent contradictions reflect not only theoretical differences but distinct ideological constructs that shape the ways in which concepts of equality, rehabilitation and justice are interpreted and given practical effect. The agreed policy of equal justice for women requires a culture of rights that undermines the present concepts of desert and ‘less eligibility’ and replaces risk management with rehabilitative opportunities that provide a reparative approach to social harm.