Welcome to the Autumn edition of the CWJ newsletter, as usual we have a lot to update you on.
We have welcomed a new member to the team; Sado Ali, who joins us as our fourth intern through The Azra Kemal Legal Internship Programme.
On 16 November we have the online launch of a ground breaking new report; ‘Life or Death: Preventing Domestic Homicides and Suicides of Black and Minoritised women’, created through a partnership project between Imkaan and CWJ.
Last month we held a preview screening of our powerful new campaign film ‘Stop Criminalising Survivors’ at the FiLiA women’s rights conference. The film will be available to view on our website in early December.
Our Big Give match fund campaign took place in October raising a total of £20,669 for The Azra Kemal Legal Internship Programme. Thank you to everyone who donated and shared the campaign. We also opened applications for the internship, and if you are thinking of applying there is still time to do so.
Finally, we would like to thank all our new donors and subscribers. Your support is really appreciated.
Best wishes
The CWJ Team
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In May, David Boyd was found guilty of the 1992 murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan and sentenced to a minimum term of 29 years at Newcastle Crown Court.
Nikki was lured by Boyd from her home in the East End of Sunderland to a derelict building where she was stabbed multiple times and hit over the head with a brick.
Following an initial murder investigation Northumbria Police arrested the wrong man and forced a confession from him. When the confession was thrown out by the judge at a trial in Leeds Crown Court in 1993, the wrongly accused man, George Heron was acquitted.
It took Northumbria Police a further twenty-five years to commence a full review of all the evidence available at the time of the murder, after Nikki’s mother, Sharon Henderson begged them to properly resource the investigation.
CWJ are working with Sharon, who has campaigned for justice for her daughter for more than 30 years and is now seeking to hold the police accountable for their failure to bring her daughter’s murderer to justice.
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The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced in July that they were launching multiple independent investigations into the repeated failures of the Met Police Service (MPS) to take action following serious criminal allegations against serving officer, David Carrick. The IOPC
have also confirmed they are investigating the conduct of ten current or former police officers and staff, in relation to allegations surrounding Carrick. The Angiolini Inquiry has also now been tasked with looking at the conduct of Carrick and police oversight.
CWJ are in the process of preparing a report documenting further evidence from the accounts of women who have contacted us about police perpetrated domestic abuse and undertaking a review of the impact of any of the changes and the initiatives that have been announced as a consequence of the scandal exposed over the last three years. We hope to provide evidence to the second stage of the Angiolini Inquiry on this.
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Undercover Police Inquiry
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At the end of June the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) published its first report into the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) a secret unit within the Metropolitan Police.
The report, which focuses on SDS operations and practices between 1968 and 1982, found that six undercover officers had sexual relationships with at least 13 women. Officers entering into sexual relationships with the women they were surveilling was also found by the UCPI to be a ‘perennial feature’ of the SDS until its closure in 2008.
The report concluded that the actions of this unit were disproportionate and unlawful and the unit should have been closed down at an early stage.
The Undercover Policing Inquiry was launched in 2015 and its investigation is split into six tranches. The next public hearings will take place next year.
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End to End Rape Review Two Years On
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Along with the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Imkaan and Rape Crisis England & Wales we released the ‘What’s Changed? End to End Rape Review Two Years On’ report in June.
 The report set out our assessment of the government’s progress in achieving the aims of its Rape Review Action Plan, as well as highlighting what more is required to transform the current appalling treatment of rape victims and survivors.
In the report we urge the government to use the legislative opportunity of the Victims and Prisoners Bill to introduce some much-needed reforms, including new protections for victims’ therapy records, the provision of independent legal advice and a firewall between statutory services and immigration enforcement.
We also call on government to look beyond the criminal justice system, including committing to prioritisation and investment in work to prevent rape and sexual abuse, so women and girls don’t become victims in the first place.
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 We organised a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on 5 July, in collaboration with the Tackling Double Disadvantage partnership and with the help of Kate Osamor MP, to raise awareness of the barriers to justice faced by Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant victims/survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG) who are accused of offending.
We are asking our supporters to write to their MP to call on the government to implement reforms through the Victims and Prisoners Bill to protect all victims/survivors of VAWG from unjust criminalisation through statutory defences and provision in the Victims’ Code – click here for more information and a template letter/email.
In July we also held an expert round table to discuss the recommendations of the Clare Wade review in respect of domestic homicide sentencing. We also launched our new briefing, Making self-defence accessible to victims of domestic abuse who use force against their abuser, which contained summaries of papers by academic experts in Canada, New Zealand and Australia about attempts made in those jurisdictions to make self-defence more accessible to victims of domestic abuse who use force against their abuser, and the impact of reforms. We also provided information about research in England and Wales on the effectiveness of existing defences, and proposed reforms.
We have commissioned a powerful new campaign film ‘Stop Criminalising Survivors’, which we hope will be used as an awareness and training tool for criminal justice agencies. The film includes five survivors talking about their experiences, as well as expert voices from the frontline and criminal justice lawyers and practitioners.
We held a preview screening on 15 October at the FiLiA women’s rights conference in Glasgow and the film will be publicly launched on 5 December alongside online resources aimed at raising awareness amongst policy makers and practitioners, and stimulating action to achieve change.
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In September, along with 70 other organisations working to end violence against women and girls we published a joint manifesto calling on all political parties to adopt its priorities for ending this abuse.
The manifesto set out our priorities for the next government, calling for a comprehensive, whole-society approach to tackling VAWG that looks beyond the criminal justice system and centres on those who face the greatest barriers to support and protection.
Recommendations included in the manifesto are:
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Put prevention at the heart of the response to VAWG: challenging harmful social norms, supporting bystander interventions, holding perpetrators accountable and creating opportunities for behaviour change.
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International Feminist Legal Network
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 Since our last newsletter we have hosted two webinars with international feminist legal experts, one on torture and violence against women and one on parallel and plural legal systems recordings of these webinars can be viewed here.
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We contributed to the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ Call for Evidence on the Victims and Prisoners’ Bill.
We also prepared a detailed response to the Law Commission's consultation on Evidence in Sexual Offences prosecutions (including a carefully evidenced section on bad character evidence).
A short submission was made to the Home Office consultation on Domestic Homicide Reviews, where we called for improved domestic homicide reviews in suicide cases, better communication of decision-making and retaining domestic homicide reviews for cases where the victim and perpetrator live in the same household but are not intimate partners or family members.
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Launch event for ‘Life or Death: Preventing Domestic Homicides and Suicides of Black and Minoritised Women’
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 A partnership project between Imkaan and CWJ, the online launch of our ground breaking new report will take place on Thursday 16 November at 13:00.
The research examines the obstacles faced by Black and minoritised women who lose their lives to domestic homicide and suicide in the context of domestic abuse, drawing on the frontline experience of Imkaan member organisations.
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Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize 25th Anniversary
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The Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize has reached its 25th year and in the last few years CWJ has awarded one of the prizes for a woman or group who has fought a legal case raising issues of violence against women in the criminal justice system.
Nominations for this year's prize, which will be awarded at an event early next year on 9 February, have now opened, click here for details. The deadline for nominations is 12 January 2024.
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Big Give Women & Girls Match Fund
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In October we took part in the Big Give Women & Girls Match Fund to raise money for The Azra Kemal Legal Internship Programme, which is our internship for women from underrepresented groups to work with our lawyers.
We raised a total of £20,669, thank you to everyone who donated and shared the campaign, it is very much appreciated.
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 Sending traditional cards is becoming more costly, so with this in mind we have created a range of e-cards for different occasions, which can be sent for a donation.
For more information, please click here
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You can now raise money for us when you shop online by registering with easyfundraising.
Easyfundraising partners with over 7,000 brands who will donate part of what you spend, with no extra cost to you.
To find out more, click here
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Azra Kemal Legal Internship
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We are inviting applications to our unique paid internship for women from underrepresented groups to work with our lawyers who focus their work on holding the state to account for violence against women and girls.
Closing date: 9am on Monday 6 November 2023
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Trainee Solicitor (Justice First Fellowship)
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We are delighted to be a Host Organisation for The Legal Education Foundation’s Justice First Fellowship, offering a training contract to an aspiring solicitor to work with us.
Closing date: 9am on Friday 8 December 2023
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Institute for Addressing Strangulation Knowledge Event
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On Tuesday 28 November the Institute for Addressing Strangulation is holding a Knowledge Event.
The event will showcase the institute's findings so far and highlight areas for further development.
For more information click here
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Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize
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The Emma Humphreys Memorial prize is looking for new trustees to join their board.
To find out more click here
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