CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 10 - How perpetrators use the legal system to control women
Harriet Wistrich reflects on how perpetrators often misuse legal proceedings to seek revenge and silence their victims.
CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 9 - Direct criminal justice responses to those who pose real risk
Some crimes are far easier to investigate and prosecute than others, so what happens when the criminal justice system fails to prioritise risk of repeat offending?
CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 8 - Ensure victims who do engage with criminal justice processes are adequately and appropriately supported
Women sharing their stories and supporting each other from lived experience helped develop an understanding of the nature of male violence and what was needed to combat it both on a personal and societal level.
CWJ 10-Step Manifesto: 7 - End victim blaming and ensure equality before the law in the criminal courts
Nowhere is a woman’s experience of the criminal justice system brought into greater relief than when she reaches the court room, whether as a witness or as a defendant. Harriet Wistrich explores what needs to change to ensure proper equality before the law and end victim blaming.
CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 6 - “Lies, damned lies and statistics”. Understand the problem through research and the publishing of meaningful data
The publication of data informs any issue or problem in society and helps direct policy and action… But we know statistics can tell only a part of the story and often they hide just as much as they tell us.
CWJ 10-Step Manifesto: 5 - Make all criminal justice agencies properly accountable
One of the key problems with the ability of our criminal justice system to tackle violence against women is not the absence of good laws but the failure to implement them…
CWJ 10-Step Manifesto: 4 - Tackle Police Perpetrated Abuse
As a sexual predator and abuser of women, Couzens was far from exceptional…Even as a police officer murderer, Couzens was not unique.
CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 3 - End The Unjust Criminalisation Of Victims Of Abuse
When victims of crime are forced directly or through circumstances of being in a controlling relationship to commit an offence as part of, or as a direct result of their victimisation, why should they face arrest or prosecution?
CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 2 - Implement The Existing Laws And Measures Designed To Tackle Violence Against Women And Girls
Step 2: Implement the existing laws and measures designed to tackle violence against women and girls
CWJ 10-step Manifesto: 1 - Investigation and Prosecution
If we want to begin to address the horrific scale of male violence against women and girls we need an effective criminal justice response which acts as a deterrent.