The founder of the Everyday Sexism project, journalist Laura Bates introduced QC Helena Kennedy's new book as "shocking vital and urgent; and also incredibly timely… " Eve Was Shamed: How British Justice is Failing Women revisits ideas first explored in Eve was Framed, published in 1992. Helena Kennedy explained that she sees #Metoo as a call out to the law: "Women are saying, 'This hasn't worked for us'." And #Metoo is throwing a brick through the windows of social justice. "Social media has changed the situation. It is a source of solidarity, but also a space where women have been humiliated, destroying the self-confidence of young women."
The statistics are brutal: two women a week are killed by a partner; every seven minutes a woman is raped and there is only a seven per cent rape conviction rate. Eve was Shamed looks at the changes that must be made. "At law school you are taught that the law is neutral and that you should deliver it in a neutral way," said Kennedy. "But the whole business of law is man-made. Institutions such as the BBC and the Church close ranks to protect themselves. They work on a ‘do not rock the boat’ system, but this boat does need rocking. We are entitled to expect more from the judiciary."
As Chair of the Committee on Europe in the House of Lords, Kennedy sees Brexit as a disaster for law, and for women. The committee has been looking at the fine detail of intellectual rights and how these will work outside the EU. When Thatcher destroyed the unions it was EU regulations that protected workers' rights such as maternity benefits, holiday and sick pay. "These things did not exist in the UK until we joined Europe. Theresa May has promised that "As long as I am Prime Minster they will remain", but what will happen if she is not?'
With the rise of facism across the whole of Europe, law needs the confidence of everybody. 'Everything we do should be informed by respecting others dignity and humanity.' Asked about bringing politics into schools Helena Kennedy said debating is so important, 'And teaching young people to say ‘why’?'