' Stop Criminalising Survivors' Film Launch

On Tuesday 5 December 2023, The City Law School hosted a film screening by the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) in partnership with the Criminal Justice and Human Rights Centre at City.

The ' Stop Criminalising Survivors' film and accompanying resources 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.

Executive Dean of the School, Professor Richard Ashcroft, welcomed all those participating in the evening event, and after the film screening there was an expert panel discussion chaired by Ritula Shah, broadcaster and former presenter of BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight.

Dr Cassandra Wiener, Co-Director, Criminal Justice and Human Rights Centre at City 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.

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.