cover of episode Harriet Wistrich, lawyer

Harriet Wistrich, lawyer

2025/2/16
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Harriet Wistrich
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Lauren Laverne
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@Harriet Wistrich : 我认为法律对一半的人口来说常常是不适用的。特别是针对妇女的暴力行为在刑事司法系统中存在广泛的失败，包括保护和起诉方面。对虐待幸存者的刑事定罪也是一个大问题。我最初进入这个领域是因为妇女杀害她们的施虐伴侣的案件。我发现，当你看一个家庭凶杀案时，法律中的性别歧视就显而易见了。辩护理由对出于愤怒杀害儿童的男性有效，但对出于对暴力恐惧而杀害的女性无效。那些可能遭受了最可怕的家庭虐待的妇女，可能不得不推迟回应，因为她们害怕如果当时回应，情况会变得更糟。法律不适用于她们，因为她们被认为是可以离开的，这完全缺乏对背景的理解。 @Lauren Laverne : 我认为现在针对妇女的暴力行为的规模一直存在，但现在更多地被记录和认可。警察现在承认针对妇女的暴力行为是国家紧急事件，这是一个巨大的变化。

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Harriet Wistrich discusses the inadequacy of the legal system in addressing violence against women, citing issues with protection, prosecution, and the criminalization of abuse survivors. She highlights the disparity in how the law treats men and women who kill their partners and notes the recent declaration of violence against women as a national emergency.
  • Inadequacy of the legal system in addressing violence against women
  • Disparity in how the law treats men and women who kill their partners
  • Violence against women declared a national emergency

Shownotes Transcript

Harriet Wistrich is one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers. In 2016 she founded the Centre for Women’s Justice and over the course of her career, she has won landmark victories in very difficult legal cases. She has helped women imprisoned after killing their abusers regain their freedom. She’s also represented women seeking justice from the Metropolitan Police over their deployment of undercover police officers who have had relationships and children with female activists.

After studying PPE at Oxford, Harriet moved to Liverpool and began her career working in film and documentaries. She retrained as a lawyer in her early thirties and in 1990 co-founded the pressure group Justice for Women.

Harriet lives in London with her partner, the journalist Julie Bindel.

DISC ONE: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor DISC TWO: No Woman, No Cry (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 1, 1977) - Bob Marley and the Wailers DISC THREE: Puff the Magic Dragon - Gregory Isaacs DISC FOUR: Rumanian Freilach - Daniel Ahaviel DISC FIVE: Back to Black - Amy Winehouse DISC SIX: Ain’t Nobody - Chaka Khan DISC SEVEN: Police And Thieves - Junior Murvin DISC EIGHT: Shame Shame Shame - Shirley & Company

BOOK CHOICE: Middlemarch by George Eliot LUXURY ITEM: A fridge with an endless supply of white wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor