Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) is launching a new film and resources to address sexism and racism experienced by victims/survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) who are accused of offending.
Five survivors of domestic abuse share their stories of criminalisation in a film to be screened today (Tuesday 5 December 2023) by CWJ in partnership with the Criminal Justice and Human Rights Centre at City, University of London.
View the one-minute film trailer here. The 30-minute film and other resources are available here.
Farieissia (Fri) Martin*, a survivor who appears in the film, said:
“If you live in a black community like Liverpool 8 where there is a bad history with the police it makes it very hard to report domestic violence. When you have children there is often a fear that social services will take them away. When I was arrested for stabbing my partner after he tried to strangle me, I was too frightened to tell the full history of abuse I had experienced and there were no records to support me. Because I lied at the beginning this worked against me in court and I was convicted of murder, despite the history of abuse and the fact I was defending myself.”
At least 57% of women in prison and under community supervision by probation services are victims of domestic abuse, and for many this is directly linked to their offending. The true number is likely to be higher due to barriers to disclosing abuse. However, research by CWJ and others shows that this is frequently not taken into account in decisions to prosecute, convict and sentence women.
Women and girls from ‘minority ethnic’** groups are overrepresented at every stage of the criminal justice system, with Black women twice as likely as white women to be arrested. A quarter of girls and nearly a fifth of young women prosecuted in 2021 were from ‘minority ethnic’ groups.
In this powerful 30-minute film, five survivors explain how they were criminalised as a consequence of their experience of domestic abuse. The film is intended to encourage law and policy makers and practitioners to take action to remove barriers to survivors’ disclosure of domestic abuse, and to ensure their experience of abuse is properly taken into account, when they are themselves accused of offending. Lu, a survivor appearing in the film, said:
“I have been let down and failed by … Police and all the other bodies involved, I am being punished by the system that was supposed to be there to help and protect me...”
After the film screening there will be an expert panel discussion chaired by Ritula Shah, broadcaster and former presenter of BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight. As well as survivors who took part in the film, expert panel members will include:
Harriet Wistrich, Solicitor and Director of CWJ
Pragna Patel, Founder and former Director of Southall Black Sisters
Nicole Jacobs, Independent Domestic Abuse Commissioner
Valerie Castell JP, Chair, Adult Court Committee, Magistrates’ Association
Tana Adkin KC, Chair, Criminal Bar Association
David Tucker, College of Policing
Graham Ritchie, Crown Prosecution Service
CWJ and other specialist charities argue that effective defences are needed for victims of domestic abuse who use force against their abuser, and for those who are coerced into offending. They are calling for culture change, investment in closer joint work with women’s specialist services, improvements in training and guidance for police, prosecutors, judges and magistrates, and safeguards to ensure victims’ experience of VAWG is properly taken into account in decisions to arrest, prosecute, convict or sentence them for offences linked to the abuse. They point out that Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant women can receive particularly unfair treatment.
Harriet Wistrich, Solicitor and Director of CWJ, said:
“The criminalisation of survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of male violence represents the dark side of a criminal justice system that already fails to protect victims and investigate and prosecute perpetrators. The stories recounted in this film are illustrative of the stories we hear from far too many women who seek our help. The message of this film must be a wake up call to all who work in criminal justice to urgently address such grave miscarriages of justice.”
Dr Cassandra Wiener, Co-Director, Criminal Justice and Human Rights Centre, said:
“It is a real honour and a privilege to be hosting this important screening. The film highlights what we at the Criminal Justice and Human Rights Centre have long known – that criminalising domestic abuse survivors is a form of secondary state sponsored victimisation. This film marks the launch of a wider collaboration with the Centre for Women’s Justice to build an agenda for reform to better support (rather than prosecute) survivors of domestic abuse so that the stories told by the women in the film will stop being repeated, and the role that coercion plays as part of survivors’ offending gets proper recognition in the criminal law.”
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said:
“Women face numerous obstacles when it comes to obtaining justice for domestic abuse – from not being believed, through to the systems that should be there to protect them, being used against them by their perpetrator. It is unacceptable that our justice system can not only disregard the experiences of survivors, but actually criminalise them as a consequence of experiencing domestic abuse, especially if women come from Black, minoritised and other marginalised communities. We know that there are people in the justice system tirelessly working for change, but for it to be truly effective, it must be systemic. Our justice system must evolve to put the needs and experiences of survivors at the heart of everything it does. The lived experiences of the five survivors highlighted today are vital in shining a light on the injustices facing women who have been criminalised due to their experiences of male violence, and we are grateful to them for sharing their stories.”
Nicole Jacobs, Independent Domestic Abuse Commissioner, said:
“I welcome this important campaign film which shines a light on the double trauma faced by victims and survivors of domestic abuse who are criminalised. Prison is simply not the right place for them.
“I strongly support long-standing calls from the Centre for Women’s Justice for effective defences for victims of domestic abuse who use force against their abuser, and for those who are coerced into offending.
“I supported campaigns for this to be included as part of the Domestic Abuse Act and I welcome renewed efforts to see culture change to ensure victims and survivors’ experience of abuse is properly considered at all stages of the criminal justice process.
“We must also see investment in specialist services in the community such as women’s centres which provide holistic support to women in contact with the criminal justice system.”
Valerie Castell JP, Magistrates' Association, said:
“The Magistrates’ Association is very conscious of the issues highlighted in the film. We work with our members to raise awareness about the factors that are often behind offending by women and create understanding as to why prison is usually an inappropriate outcome.”
Ghadah Alnasseri, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Hibiscus Initiatives, said:
“There is an immediate need to address the multidimensional challenges faced by Black, minoritised and migrant women who fall victim to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and are also suspected of offending. Many of the women we support at Hibiscus are in fear of destitution and deportation, primarily due to the absence of a protective firewall between law enforcement and immigration authorities. The lack of trust these women have toward authorities further compounds their vulnerability to exploitation. The women we support struggle with inadequacies in interpreting and translation services, a deficiency that can lead to misunderstandings and missing of crucial information in their cases. The criminal justice system's lack of cultural competency significantly contributes to failures in recognising instances of abuse and exploitation that Black, minoritised and migrant women encounter.”
*Fri Martin was convicted of the murder of her boyfriend in 2015; she successfully appealed in 2020. A retrial was ordered and she was convicted of manslaughter in 2021.
**CWJ aims to use language that challenges and does not contribute to racist ideas, actions and policies. We use the terms ‘Black, Asian and minoritised women’ and we aim to be more specific where we can. Where we are referring to data collected by others using different terminology, we use that terminology in quotation marks in order to ensure accuracy.