Eve Was Framed: Women and British Justice

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Those most susceptible to this injustice are women, the young, the working class, immigrants, the Irish, black people and homosexuals. That said, it did leave me wanting to read more from this author, to understand the further issues within the system and what can be done to help and to see how attitudes have changed in the years since this book was published.

She is a regular broadcaster, journalist and lecturer and throughout her career has focussed on giving voice to those who have least power in the system, championing civil liberties and civil rights. Kennedy does a reasonable job of looking at this issue through a more intersectional lens, particularly in terms of race and class. This book highlights that sexism is so pervasive in courts, things are never quite so straightforward. Being a former barrister herself (and now a member of the House of Lords), Kennedy delivers great insight.In essence self defence is a defence only afforded to men because they are the only ones likely to strike out. While it does tell you facts and figures and is detailed in its evidence, it also tells stories of the authors experience and narrates courtroom drama in a way that keeps you interested in what Kennedy is trying to tell you. Before reading the book, I thought trials were fairly simple processes and that, most of the time, the judiciary are easily able to ascertain if someone is innocent or guilty.

Helena Kennedy highlights the ways in which bias plays a role in courts through her own experiences as a barrister, as well as drawing upon case law. It comprehensively covers the 20th-century history of women in the criminal justice system in a variety of roles - lawyer, judge, victim and defendant - and illustrates the impact of misogyny throughout without being preachy. To alert you to such restrictions, please select the country of the billing address of your credit or debit card you wish to use for payment. However, I also recognise as a white middle-class woman myself, there may well have been gaps / problematic elements that I missed.In this book, Kennedy illustrates the difficulty women encounter when trying to navigate the British antiquated court systems. At the Inns of Court, she describes an overwhelmingly male and overtly misogynistic environment steeped in bizarre ritual. Police, lawyers and judges still have difficulties in abandoning their stereotype of the abused woman as someone who is submissive and cowed. American Samoa, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Federated States Of, Netherlands, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Virgin Islands (U. This novel might be slightly out of date in its citing of laws passed ten years ago, especially when legal precedent is constantly changing, but generally, what was true then is still true now (unfortunately).

For example, one of the first pieces of legislation you would study in criminal law as Law student at Oxford is the section of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 dealing with the partial defence to murder of loss of control. Woman also participate in less interstices of the law -- the circuit dinners, and cricket matches, the gold, the wine committees, due to their commitment to children. But despite its size, I believe it has been one of the most important things I have read in impacting how I study Law.

I have it four stars as whilst it was really thought provoking at times I found it very heavy going. Now that I have started studying the subject, I still find myself reflecting on some of the propositions she puts forward. Helena Kennedy’s 1993 book Eve was Framed is to my knowledge not in print anymore, but it’s worth getting a copy second hand if you can.

That's not to say the book is not worth reading since it contains its more than fair share of 'inside stories', analysis and theoretical accounts. If you want to learn more about law than the law itself, for example the wider impact of the law on women, social classes and ethnic minorities, then this book is the one for you. But when it comes to the nuances and complexities of housing trans women in female prisons, her usually fiercely critical eye is strangely absent. It takes women as the key example, showing how they have been adversely affected by images of women held by both lawyers and jurors, and discussing recent debates and cases such as the Sara Thornton case and the Kennedy rape trial, as well as the lesser-known daily business of the courts. This author has lived so many of the experiences by being right with the women it adds a huge weight to the picture that is developed.But this means that we should admire even more people like Helena Kennedy who dared to bring up crucial topics like feminism when such issues were not nearly as popular as they are today. Her final questioning of whether women want equality with men or to be treated fairly will certainly stay with you. The simple but powerful line articulated throughout this book is that the law cannot treat people equally that are not equal.