This lack of trust extends to the media too. So why would they seek support from a service that they believe is unsafe and doesn’t represent their interests?” “These services become places that do not recognise their victimisation. The Black women Dr Kanyeredzi spoke to for her research “felt betrayed by social work professionals,” she said. In practice, what it means is finding better ways to help women whose first language isn’t English, or who have precarious legal status, or who have different ideas of what a “normal” family looks like. To some on the right, that’s a punchline. “We’ve got a government that doesn’t believe in culturally sensitive services any more,” Aamna says. But a lot of the time, these services fail to understand the nuances of Black women’s experiences. The police isn’t the only route for women who make complaints of abuse: they might turn to charities, social services, or the NHS. So the idea that they would go to the police is just laughable to a lot of people.” “They see the violence and trauma that the institutions that are meant to protect them cause in their communities. “There are huge levels of distrust,” Aamna tells me. Here are some of the key barriers:īefore we even get to the problems Black women face in the criminal justice system, we have to start with the big picture: their lack of faith in public institutions in the first place. She argues that this gets reproduced in the institutions and services that are meant to help them. “Black women’s victimisation is never quite believed as valid, because Black women are experiencing racism, colourism – there’s a lot of forms of abuse and violence that Black women manage in their everyday experiences,” she says. In depth: What Black women faceįor a better sense of how the intersections of race and gender affect Black women who make complaints of sexual misconduct, I spoke to Dr Ava Kanyeredzi, a senior lecturer in forensic, clinical and community psychology at the University of East London. Brexit | British seaports are considering legal action against the government to recover the costs of unused border control posts after confirmation post-Brexit import checks will be delayed for a fourth time. The news came as Boris Johnson faced pressure to act over claims a Tory MP watched pornography in parliament.ĥ.
Politics | A female MP accused a Labour frontbencher of telling her she would succeed because men wanted to sleep with her.
The teenager was incorrectly recorded as Nigerian and recorded as facing “imminent” removal from the UK before he was found.Ĥ. Race | A non-verbal black 17-year-old was taken to an immigration centre despite never having left the UK. The news came as Joe Biden asked Congress for a massive new $33bn US aid package for the country.ģ. Ukraine | In one of the largest deployments since the cold war, the UK is set to send 8,000 troops to eastern Europe to combat Russian aggression. Click here for all the latest from Ukraine.Ģ. Ukrainian rescue officials have said the explosions have injured at least ten people and partially destroyed a 25 storey residential building. Ukraine | Last night, Russia attacked Kyiv with two cruise missiles. It’s a bank holiday on Monday, so there won’t be a newsletter – but take a look lower down for our cultural picks to entertain you this long weekend – and Archie will be back with you on Tuesday. So why is it so difficult for these women to be heard? I spoke to the Guardian’s community affairs correspondent, Aamna Mohdin, who worked on the Westwood story, to find out.īefore that, a bit of housekeeping. All of the women are Black, and some felt that racism would lead people to minimise, dismiss or ignore their claims. This week the Guardian and BBC published allegations from seven women against former BBC DJ Tim Westwood. 56 other MPs are under investigation for sexual misconduct.īut it isn’t only about the most powerful women in the country. News broke a few days later that an MP is being investigated after allegations he was watching porn in the Commons chamber. Most visibly, in politics a national newspaper published a story comparing one of the country’s leading female politicians to Sharon Stone’s character in Basic Instinct.