Sisters Uncut raise the alarm on police violence against women
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
- Feminist protest group Sisters Uncut delivered a formal complaint to the Royal Courts of Justice about ‘routine and systemic violence against women’ in the police force.
- As hundreds of people gathered, Sisters Uncut activists entered the Royal Courts of Justice to deliver a scathing complaint against police violence and brutality.
- As the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill is set to pass, Sisters Uncut encourage people across the country to “withdraw consent” from UK policing, and join CopWatch intervention groups.
On Tuesday 2 November at 15:30, feminist protest group Sisters Uncut delivered a letter of complaint against the rampant violence against women within the UK police force.
Crowds gathered outside as activists from Sisters Uncut took the letter into the Royal Courts of Justice and read its contents for all to hear. As the sound of hundreds of rape alarms filled the Court, and whistles and chants filtered in from outside, their message was clear “Met Police are the perpetrators of violence against women and they do not keep us safe”.
In typical Sisters Uncut style, smoke flares billowed whilst banners emblazoned with ‘Met Police Blood on Your Hands!’ caught the eye of all who passed by.
Security guards manhandled activists out of the Royals Courts of Justice, hitting two black sisters in the face as the crowd chanted ‘Hey Mister! Get Your Hands Off My Sister!” Thankfully no one was seriously harmed or arrested, but the irony of this kind of treatment at a protest violence against women wasn’t lost on anyone who witnessed it.
The full letter, available on the group’s website here, reads:
“Today we withdraw our consent to police power. This is our super complaint on behalf of all women and all victims of police violence and corrupt criminal justice institutions.”
“The police claim Wayne Couzens was one bad apple, a lone monster, but we know 15 officers have killed women since 2009. We know colleagues referred to Couzens as ‘the rapist’. They did nothing. We know he exposed himself not once, but multiple times. They did nothing. We know he sent vile misogynistic racist and homophobic messages to colleagues on WhatsApp. They did nothing. We know that even after Couzens pled guilty, colleagues attended court to provide positive character references for him.”
“We know the police treated the family of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman with utter contempt: officers took photos of their dead bodies and turned the horrific violence they’d experienced into a joke. Women in Black, immigrant, disabled and working class communities bear the brunt of complicity in this corruption.”
The Met police officers who took selfies with the dead bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman have still yet to face justice. The sisters were murdered in June 2020, and officers were charged with misconduct last week and made a guilty plea in a court hearing earlier today.
In the same week, two Metropolitan police officers made headline news for allegedly raping women. One officer, James Geoghehan, stood trial for rape last week. PC Adam Zaman has been remanded in custody for allegedly raping a woman on Sunday 24 October.
As police are set to be handed even more powers through the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts bill, Sisters Uncut call on everyone to sign up to their Police Intervention Training here.
At least 15 women have been killed by police officers since 2009. As reported in the Guardian, according to the Centre for Women’s Justice, one woman a week comes forward to report a serving police officer for domestic or sexual violence.
The Guardian also reported that, according to the Bureau for Investigative Journalism, 700+ reports of domestic abuse were made against police officers between April 2015 and April 2018
Between 2012-18, there were 1,500 accusations of sexual misconduct (including sexual harassment, exploitation of crime victims and child abuse) resulting in only 197 officers being sacked.
Speeches were delivered at the protest by members of Sisters Uncut, Feminist Fightback, Women of Colour Global Women’s Strike and Women Against Rape. Also joining the speakers was Patsy Stevenson, the woman who was thrust into the headlines when she was brutally pinned to the ground by Police during the vigil for Sarah Everard in March 2020.
Speakers spoke in solidarity with Bristol activist Ryan Reynolds (22) who was handed a severe custodial sentence last week for their part in demonstrations against police brutality and increased powers in March this year. Speakers made the clear connection between police violence against women, impunity in the courts, suppression of the right to protest and the systemic racism, misogyny and oppression evident in the Police force.
An anonymous member of Sisters Uncut said:
“We are raising the alarm on police corruption and violence in the UK – and spotlighting who the true dangers to our society are: the police. Police officers took selfies with the dead bodies of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman back in June 2020, and have only just been charged with misconduct. Meanwhile, several people who attended the Bristol Kill the Bill protest in March 2021 have already been sent to prison for a number of years. Time and time again, the police have shown that their priority is to protect themselves and their own power, whilst repeatedly enacting violence against women. And the courts are complicit: they are too busy prosecuting protestors to hold the real perpetrators of violence in our society to account: the police.”
Angela Lloyd, a secondary school teacher who has recently joined a CopWatch group in West London said:
“I joined my local CopWatch group because after all the news this year, I can no longer trust the police. The relentless reports of the police’s violence against women has left me totally disgusted and disillusioned. It has felt like every single day since Sarah Everard was murdered, more stories of horrific police violence have come out, and nothing is being done to hold them to account, so it feels like it’s up to us to hold them to account now.”
Download images here – please credit @protests_photos
Notes for Editors:
- Sisters Uncut are a direct action group protesting cuts to domestic violence services. The group was formed by domestic violence survivors and support workers in 2014.
- Sisters Uncut are part of the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement – a coalition of over 40 activist groups who have joined forces and taken to the streets repeatedly since March to reject the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill – demand no more police powers.
Sisters Uncut are renowned for their bold protest tactics, including jumping on the red carpet at the ‘Suffragette’ premiere, dying the Trafalgar Square fountains red and blocking bridges across the UK.
LETTER: Raising the alarm on police violence against women
Monday, November 1, 2021
WE ARE RAISING THE ALARM ON POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.
WE ARE CALLING ON THE PUBLIC TO JOIN US TO DELIVER A LETTER OF COMPLAINT ON BEHALF OF ALL WOMEN.
There is an epidemic of police violence against women in this country. Today we withdraw our consent to police power.
This is our super complaint on behalf of all women and all victims of police violence and corrupt criminal justice institutions.
This week, 63 police officers have been found abusing their powers for sexual gain. We know this is just the tip of the iceberg.
750 Metropolitan police officers have been accused of sexual misconduct since 2010, only 83 were sacked. Police are a third less likely to be convicted of domestic abuse than the general public. This is a CRISIS.
The police claim Wayne Couzens was one bad apple, a lone monster. But we know 15 officers have killed women since 2009.
We know colleagues referred to Couzens as ‘The Rapist’. They did nothing.
We know he exposed himself not once, but multiple times. They did nothing.
We know he sent vile misogynistic, racist and homophobic messages to colleages on WhatsApp. They did nothing.
We know, even after Couzens pled guilty, colleagues attended court to provide positive character references for him.
We know the police treated the family of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman with utter contempt: officers took photos of their dead bodies and turned the horrific violence they’d experienced into a joke.
Women in Black, immigrant, disabled and working class communities bear the brunt of complicity in this corruption. We withdraw our consent NOW.
There is an epidemic of impunity protecting the police across the entire criminal justice system. From the streets to the courts: the whole system is guilty.
We call out these institutions: the police, CPS, courts, Home Office, psychiatric institutions, the DWP, Family Courts, and Social Services.
Whilst violent police are protected, activists and mourners who protest police violence are punished.
Courts in Bristol are handing down draconian sentences to campaigners against police violence, like Ryan Roberts who is facing riot and arson charges for standing against police brutality.
Yet the police who brutalised women at Clapham Common vigil have faced no consequences.
The Government is pushing through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which would give even more powers to police already drunk on the ones they have.
We are raising the alarm because the police are entirely unaccountable. There is no recourse to justice or safety for victims of police violence.
We will take action until we are safe from police. CopWatch groups are forming around the country to intervene in police activity to keep our communities safe. Expect us.
We raise the alarm with our sisters, siblings and communities at the sharpest edge of state cruelty.
In rage and grief we will resist, we refuse to be silent.
Sisters Uncut
Women of Colour Global Women’s Strike
Women Against Rape
Feminist Fightback
Black Lives Matter
SISTERS UNCUT PROTEST WAYNE COUZENS SENTENCING, SAY “POLICE DON’T KEEP WOMEN SAFE”
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
- This morning Sisters Uncut, the direct action feminist group who led the vigil for Sarah Everard at Clapham Common in March, gathered at the Old Bailey for the sentencing of Wayne Couzens.
- Court: Wayne Couzens arrested Everard under COVID regulations in front of witnesses who did not intervene.
- At least 15 women have been killed by police officers since 2009 (1) and one woman a week comes forward to report a serving police officer for domestic or sexual violence (2).
- Sisters Uncut: “Wayne Couzens used his power as a police officer to kidnap and rape Sarah Everard. We know that this is not a rare occurrence – one woman a week reports a serving police officer for domestic or sexual violence. The police don’t keep women safe, and they cannot be given more powers. We must resist the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.”
- Sisters Uncut announce police intervention training and CopWatch patrols: we will intervene to stop police violence in our communities.
- Sisters Uncut available for tv, radio and print interviews.
Contact: 07557477232 / [email protected]
This morning Sisters Uncut, the direct action feminist group who led the vigil for Sarah Everard at Clapham Common in March, gathered outside the Old Bailey for the sentencing of Wayne Couzens. From inside the court, Sisters learnt that Wayne Couzens arrested Everard under COVID regulations, in front of witnesses who did not intervene.
Outside the Old Bailey, a representative from Sisters Uncut cited statistics from groups such as the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) to argue that the police do not keep women safe, and that the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which increases police powers, must be stopped.
Today, Sisters Uncut announces a series of training sessions on police intervention, and the launch of a nationwide network of CopWatch patrols. Women, and all those from marginalised communities must stand together to protect ourselves from police violence and all forms of gendered violence.
Statistics about police and violence against women
As reported in The Times, according to The Femicide Census, at least 15 women have been killed by police officers since 2009.
As reported in the Guardian, according to the Centre for Women’s Justice, one woman a week comes forward to report a serving police officer for domestic or sexual violence.
The Guardian also reported that, according to the Bureau for investigative Journalism, 700+ reports of domestic abuse were made against police officers between April 2015 and April 2018
Between 2012-18, there were 1,500 accusations of sexual misconduct (including sexual harassment, exploitation of crime victims and child abuse) resulting in only 197 officers being sacked.
Between 2015-17, 415 referrals were made for officers that had abused their position to sexually assault someone, with domestic and sexual violence victims, sex workers and drug users being most at risk of being abused by an on-duty police officer.
Sisters Uncut demand an end to police violence and a halting of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which, they state, will embolden police officers to perpetuate even more violence.
Sisters Uncut call on everyone to sign up to Police Intervention Training here.
Sisters Uncut, as part of the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement – a coalition of over 40 activist groups who have joined forces and taken to the streets repeatedly since March to reject the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill – demand no more police powers. No new misogyny legislation, no PCSC Bill. Kill the Bill.
Quotes:
A member of Sisters Uncut said “Today we learned that Wayne Couzens ‘arrested’ Sarah. He used his power as a police officer to kidnap and rape her. We will never know what might have happened if somebody had stopped to film or intervene with Couzens when he ‘arrested’ Sarah. We do know that the police cannot be given more powers. Couzens was not one bad apple – it’s the whole institution that is rotten. We must resist the Policing Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, and we must work together to resist the police on our streets.”
Another member of Sisters Uncut said: “The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will enable the police to decide where, when and how citizens are allowed to travel, congregate, protest, and work. Sentences of up to 10 years are laid down for anything from a protest to a house party or even just a lone individual causing ‘serious annoyance’. We have seen how increased police powers – COVID regulations, in Sarah’s case – means increased violence. This Bill will create more unaccountable police powers and will enable more unaccountable police violence. It attacks all marginalised communities, and it is all of us that must resist”
Images from gathering at the Old Bailey for the sentencing of Wayne Couzens
BREAKING: Tens of Thousands take to the streets for Mayday Kill the Bill protests
Saturday, May 1, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @sistersuncut
On Saturday 1 May, tens of thousands turned out to lively ‘Kill the Bill’ protests across the UK. The demonstrations are the latest in the public protests against the government’s police powers Bill.
In London an estimated 10,000 people attended, and events started at midday in Trafalgar Square, where gathering crowds watched as feminist campaign group Sisters Uncut drove up to the square in a red double decker bus playing grime music from speakers and shouting ‘Kill the Bill!’.
Using portable speakers on the back of a pick-up truck in Trafalgar Square, a rally was held featuring speakers from Sisters Uncut, the youth empowerment organisation The 4FRONT Project, anti-school exclusions campaign group No More Exclusions, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Socialists, Women of Colour and Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM).
Shortly after, the crowd of thousands set off in the streets towards the Home Office, where speeches were given from atop the double decker bus, including students from Pimlico Academy who recently walked out of school in protest of racist school uniform policies. Activists expressed solidarity with Osime Brown, a young autistic Black man currently facing deportation to Jamaica.
The crowds marched over Vauxhall Bridge to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens to participate in several direct action workshops including how to intervene in police Stop and Searches, how to resist evictions and how to stop immigration raids.
This is the latest demonstration in the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement – a coalition of over 40 activist groups who have joined forces and taken to the streets since March to reject the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is due to resume its path through parliament in May.
The groups are committed to disrupting the Bill’s progress through parliament at every stage and have lifted up the Bill’s attack on racialised communities, the right to protest, and on civil liberties.
Groups in the Kill the Bill coalition include Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Socialists, Disabled People Against Cuts, No More Exclusions, Women’s Strike Assembly and IWGB.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a 300-page piece of proposed law that seeks to increase police powers in terrifying ways. It will drastically impact the lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, give police expanded Stop and Search powers and criminalise the right to protest. Lawyers argue that this proposed legislation violates international law.
Quotes
Sara Parkes, a teacher who attended the protest said: “The resistance that’s building against this Bill is so inspiring, and there are people who are coming together to learn more about how it impacts all of us in different ways. As a teacher, my concern is the government proposals around ‘secure schools’, which are effectively youth prisons. We can’t let this pass into law.”
An anonymous member of Sisters Uncut said: “The police powers bill should be scrapped entirely. It is authoritarian in tone and in nature, and will lead to more abuse of police powers. It will take a mass movement to force it to be thrown out of parliament.
If this police powers bill becomes law, we will see even more police violence – against people who speak up against injustice, and specifically against Black, Muslim and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.”
Coalition Leads Mass “Kill the Bill” Demonstrations Across the UK for Mayday
Friday, April 30, 2021
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @sistersuncut
Tens of thousands are set to attend 40 different ‘Kill the Bill’ rallies in cities across the UK on Saturday 1 May. The demonstrations are in protest against the government’s police powers Bill.
Events will kick off at 12:30 in Trafalgar Square, London, with simultaneous demonstrations planned across 40 different locations in the UK, including Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Cambridge, Sheffield and Edinburgh. This map displays the full list of protests this weekend. Online protests are also being conducted by Disabled People Against Cuts and IWGB.
This is the latest progression in the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement – a coalition of over 40 activist groups who have joined forces and taken to the streets since March to reject the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is due to resume its path through parliament in May. The groups are committed to disrupting the Bill’s progress through parliament at every stage and have lifted up the Bill’s attack on racialised communities, the right to protest, and on civil liberties.
Groups in the Kill the Bill coalition include Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Socialists, Disabled People Against Cuts and Women’s Strike Assembly.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a 300-page piece of proposed law that seeks to increase police powers in terrifying ways. It will drastically impact the lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, give police expanded Stop and Search powers and criminalise the right to protest. Lawyers argue that this proposed legislation violates international law.
Quotes
Dani Cane, a youth worker who plans to attend the protest on Saturday said:
“The police have repeatedly proven that they are drunk on power, and will always use violence against us, not just against the most vulnerable people they routinely target, but anyone who they deem to be not behaving in a way they approve of. It is vital that we prevent this bill from being passed in order to keep ourselves safe and resist the authoritarian abuse of state power. We must be able to hold the police accountable for the violence they relentlessly cause.”
An anonymous member of Sisters Uncut said:
“The police powers bill should be scrapped entirely. It is authoritarian in tone and in nature, and will lead to more abuse of police powers. It will take a mass movement to force it to be thrown out of parliament.
If this police powers bill becomes law, we will see even more police violence – against people who speak up against injustice, and specifically against Black, Muslim and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.”
Jess Sharp, a domestic violence worker who plans to attend the protest on Saturday said:
“It has felt like every single day since Sarah Everard was murdered, more stories of horrific police violence have come out. The police are bullies and perpetuate endless violence, giving them more power puts us at more risk and so we cannot allow this bill to pass”.
Sisters Uncut storm Westminster Bridge to drop ‘Kill the Bill’ banner
Thursday, April 29, 2021
- Feminist campaign group spearheading the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement drop banner outside parliament ahead of mass demo in London on Saturday 1 May.
- Sisters Uncut say “police are drunk on power and should not be given more” in the police powers bill.
- Sisters Uncut are an anonymous feminist direct action group founded in 2014.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @sistersuncut
At 8am on 29 April 2021, infamous feminist campaign group Sisters Uncut dropped an 8 metre banner from Westminster Bridge that reads ‘Sisters say Kill the Bill: see you on 1 May’. The anonymous activists stood behind the banner and let off purple and green smoke flares.
The stunt is the latest escalation in the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement – a coalition of over 40 activist groups who have joined forces since March to reject the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is due to resume its path through parliament in May.
Sisters Uncut send a bold message to the government that the controversial Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will not survive the parliamentary process.
On Saturday 1 May, tens of thousands are expected to rally in Trafalgar Square, London, with simultaneous demonstrations planned across 40 different locations in the UK, including Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Cambridge, Sheffield and Edinburgh.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a 300-page piece of proposed law that seeks to increase police powers in terrifying ways. It will drastically impact the lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, give police expanded Stop and Search powers and criminalise the right to protest. Lawyers argue that this proposed legislation violates international law.
So far, Kill the Bill protests have been notorious for police brutality against protestors.
Sisters Uncut detail their reasons for the Mayday protests here.
Quotes:
Dani Cane, a youth worker who plans to attend the protest on Saturday said:
“The police have repeatedly proven that they are drunk on power, and will always use violence against us, not just against the most vulnerable people they routinely target, but anyone who they deem to be not behaving in a way they approve of. It is vital that we prevent this bill from being passed in order to keep ourselves safe and resist the authoritarian abuse of state power. We must be able to hold the police accountable for the violence they relentlessly cause.”
An anonymous member of Sisters Uncut said:
“The police powers bill should be scrapped entirely. It is authoritarian in tone and in nature, and will lead to more abuse of police powers. It will take a mass movement to force it to be thrown out of parliament.
If this police powers bill becomes law, we will see even more police violence – against people who speak up against injustice, and specifically against Black, Muslim and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.”
Jess Sharp, a domestic violence worker who plans to attend the protest on Saturday said:
“It has felt like every single day since Sarah Everard was murdered, more stories of horrific police violence have come out. The police are bullies and perpetuate endless violence, giving them more power puts us at more risk and so we cannot allow this bill to pass”.
Why we’re marching on Mayday
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
On Saturday 1 May, tens of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets in 40 different locations across the UK. Why? To stop the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a huge, 300-page piece of proposed law that seeks to increase police powers in terrifying ways.
If this police powers bill becomes law, we will see even more police violence – against people who speak up against injustice, and specifically against Black, Muslim and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
What is in the bill that’s sparked all of these protests?
This proposed laws will give police unprecedented powers to use against the public. Police are already drunk on the powers that they have – if they are given more, it will only lead to more violence.
Here are the specific parts of the bill we are most concerned by:
Protest (the right to assemble) is a human right
You never know when you might need to take to the streets to speak up against injustice, but you have a right to do it. The police powers bill will try to shut down our ability to do that, police will have the power to seriously restrict and criminalise protest by:
- Imposing a start and finish time
- Setting noise limits
- Applying rules of a demonstration by just one person
- If someone fails to follow police directions, they could be fined up to £2,500.
- Police will be able to arrest people at protests without warning. Right now, police need to prove to protesters that they knew they had been told to move on before they can make arrests. The bill gives the police the right to arrest someone where they “ought to have known” a condition existed.
- The proposed law includes an offence of “intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance” – and language in the bill suggests that if someone ‘annoys’ a police officer, they could be charged. The language and the scope of powers given to senior officers and to the Home Secretary through this Bill are open for abuse.
- The bill will seek to lock up protest organisers for longer sentences – increasing the maximum sentence from 3 months to 11 months imprisonment. These changes risk plunging people further into the criminal justice system, simply for exercising their democratic right.
- Trespass is currently a civil law offence and police have no powers to arrest offenders. The police powers bill makes it a criminal law and would empower police to arrest any person and seize any vehicles or property. This impacts the right to protest overnight or set up protest camps. This also has a huge impact on Gypsa, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities – even the police don’t want this.
The police already abuse the powers they have – and shouldn’t be given more. The violent policing of the Sarah Everard vigil, the reckless brutality of police against protestors in Bristol and London (including police pretending to be postmen to gain entry to a protestor’s house, handcuffing her while half-naked), the use of mobile fingerprinting technology at protests to harvest public biometric data, and the £10,000 fine given to a nurse protesting the 1% NHS pay rise are very recent examples of this.
If the police are handed more powers, we’re about to see more terrifying violence against people who are courageous enough to speak out against injustice.
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) rights
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities are among the most persecuted and marginalised in the UK. The police powers bill wants to criminalise their existence. This will be done by criminalising ‘unauthorised encampments’ and established trespass – effectively criminalising GRT communities’ way of life. The proposals in the Bill are extremely discriminatory:
- The Bill will create a new offence of “residing on land without consent in or with a vehicle”. It is undoubtable that these powers will be used to target GRT communities – whose vehicles include homes, and who may end up homeless. It’s vital to recognise this in the context of a country that has a huge shortage of sites for GRT communities to reside on.
- If a person or family is removed from an area, they are banned from returning for 12 months. A person who returns will face harsh criminal punishments, including up to 3 months in jail or a fine of up to £2,500.
GRT communities anticipate even more violent evictions than they already face if this police powers bill goes through. As GRT socialists have said: “this bill has rubber stamped the treatment we receive, such as being racially stereotyped, segregated from public spaces and businesses and economically excluded”.
Stop and Search
The proposal to create a new civil order, the Serious Violence Reduction Order (SVRO), will hand police an extraordinary power to stop and search a person who has previously been convicted of a weapons offence at any time, in any place, completely free of suspicion. This will hand the police a highly oppressive tool, unlike anything seen before, which will disproportionately impact Black men. Already, Black people are 8.9 times more likely to be subject to a stop and search than white people, and non-Black people of colour 4.1 times more likely.
- Stop and search is already a discriminatory and invasive police practice, but right now, a stop and search can only be lawfully exercised during a set timed period and over a defined geographic location. Previous convictions have never been used as a grounds to stop and search someone. The current time period for suspicionless stop and search is 24 hours. SVROs will be implemented for up to 24 months at a time – and can be renewed indefinitely.
- SVROs can be handed to someone who has never handled a weapon, but “ought to have known” another person they were with at the time, did.
- This means police will be given extraordinary powers to stop and search someone anywhere, at any time, despite no evidence of a person ever handling a weapon before.
- If someone resists an SVRO – for example, by failing to do anything required, or obstructing a police officer in the exercise of it – they could be put in prison for up to two years, or receive a fine. Human Rights organisation Liberty is concerned that “this could be interpreted broadly, to criminalise people requesting that police provide the legal authority for subjecting them to a stop and search or failing to provide an answer to a question put by a police officer”. Liberty also say that “making a refusal to co-operate a criminal offence may lead to people being fined or criminalised in circumstances where they do not understand the instructions given by a police officer and therefore fail to comply. This may also detrimentally impact disabled people or people with mental health needs, some of whom may find it difficult to follow directions.”
Other provisions in the Bill will see invasive surveillance of young people and children, similar to the widely-condemned PREVENT strategy, and a mandate for controversial children’s prisons (known euphemistically as ‘secure schools’) to be run for charitable benefit.
The Bill has also opened the gateway for retrogressive policies like Diane Johnson MP’s tabled amendments on sex work, which will push sex workers into dangerous working conditions by.
What does Kill The Bill mean?
We believe that the police powers bill should be scrapped entirely. It is authoritarian in tone and in nature, and will lead to more abuse of police powers. All of the above affects all of us, and it will take a mass movement to force it to be thrown out of parliament.
Kill The Bill weekend of action
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Over the past two weeks we have seen the explosion of a national movement against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. People across the UK have taken to the streets to say: no more police powers – the Police Crackdown Bill must be stopped. In this short space of time, we have gained some big wins, including forcing the government to delay the Bill through Parliament, instead of quietly rushing it through like they had originally planned to do.
Amazingly, and unsurprisingly, this movement has rapidly grown way beyond us.
This weekend, people across the UK are once again taking to the streets to demand that the government #KillTheBill. There have been demos called across the country throughout the weekend including one in London on Saturday, April 3rd.
We are calling for a National Day of Action on Sunday, April 4th: this is not a demonstration, but rather a series of small events and actions you can take from home. There is more information on this below.
We know that not everyone can, or wants to, go to demonstrations. The actions below contribute to the movement and can be done from home. Our strength is in our numbers, and it is only through a national mass mobilisation that we will defeat the police powers bill. We already know the police are drunk on power, and they cannot be given more.
Although we are not leading on any demonstrations this weekend, we encourage those that do go out to do so safely: please follow COVID-safe protocols and check out Green and Black Cross’ website for advice on your rights when protesting. Remember to not go to or leave a demonstration alone, and if asked to do anything by a police officer, always ask: under what power?
This is a national movement and one that we are proud to be a part of. We have spent the past week reaching out to and organising with groups affected by the police powers bill – you can read our collective statement of solidarity here. This Bill affects communities differently, but is bad for all of us: it threatens our right to work, assemble, protest, and travel. This also means that we will need all of us to defeat it, this movement leaves no one behind.
Many of you have sent us posters, designs and more support over the last few weeks. We’re now putting these to use as part of our National Day of Action on 4th April 2021.
What can you do on 4th April?
- Use the resources available here to let your community know that you are part of the #KillTheBIll movement.
- Put a poster up in your window
- Flyer outside a busy spot (wearing masks and observing social distancing)
- Post flyers through all your neighbour’s letterboxes
- Put up posters in your community
- Share your posters online using the hashtag #KillTheBill
- Set aside some time to read more about the Policing, Crime Sentencing and Courts bill.
Part of the government’s strategy is to let time pass in the hopes that we forget about the bill. We will not let this happen. We are asking that everyone, in their cities, towns, and villages call their local radio stations to say: do not give more powers to the police.
- You can find your local digital radio station here.
- Here are some talking points:
- The police are drunk on power and should not be given more
- You are concerned about the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that is moving through parliament, and want it to be scrapped entirely.
- The events at the Clapham vigil and at demonstrations over the last few weeks are a dangerous indication of what the future of protest will look like if the police powers bill moves through parliament.
- The police powers bill will give police increased power to threaten, intimidate and use violence against Gypsy and Traveller communities – including give them permission to seize their property (which includes homes)
- The police powers bill will increase stop and search powers, which already discriminate against marginalised communities
We are letting the government know: we will make this bill unenforceable in the streets. This is just the beginning. We will #KillTheBill.
Sisters Uncut Statement on Bristol – We Will Not Be Divided
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
It feels like every day a new story about police violence comes to light. Over the past week, we’ve seen a police officer walk free after being caught on camera assaulting a woman, using tactics that he had learned on the job to force her to the ground, screaming that she was a ‘fucking slag’ when she managed to escape. In the 6 years between 2012 and 2018 there were 594 complaints of sexual violence against Met police employees, of which only 119 were upheld. We know that only a fraction of incidents of sexual violence are ever reported to the police, so it’s safe to assume that the true number is far, far higher. With the passing of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act earlier this month, the state authorised police officers to deceive women into sexual relationships, and even into pregnancy. The police are the perpetrators.
The police already have a monopoly on violence and the Police Crackdown Bill will only entrench this further. Protests in Bristol over the weekend were described in national newspapers as having ‘turned violent’, yet we know that it was protesters, not police, who bore the brunt of that violence. Police tactics, including kettling, the use of batons, and dispersal techniques such as horse charges, are violent in both intent and effect. Whether they are manhandling protesters at Saturday’s vigil in memory of Sarah Everard, aggressively pursuing young Black women for their details, or forcefully arresting protestors for shaking their heads at officers, as we saw last weekend at Bristol, it is clear that it is the police who turn protest into violence.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will enable the police to decide where, when and how citizens are allowed to travel, congregate, protest, and work. Sentences of up to 10 years are laid down for anything from a protest to a house party or even just a lone individual causing ‘serious annoyance’. This bill attacks all communities, and it is all of us that must resist.
31 years ago, a mass movement formed in opposition to Thatcher’s poll tax, a flat tax that would have punished the poorest in society, and took to the streets to defeat a bill that could not be defeated in parliament. During the protests, mounted police and police vans charged through crowds of people, who were beaten with batons, but politicians and the media drew a contrast between a moral majority and a small number of violent protesters. The stigmatisation of protesters is a tactic of division that we won’t stand for. It is a fearful response by a state that thrives on division and scarcity. While the police can use violence against people with impunity, protesters are condemned for ‘violent’ damage to property.
We applaud all those who went out this weekend, and took to the streets to defend the right to a life free of state violence. The police use violence to divide us, but we will not be divided. The conservative media attempts to paint a moral hierarchy, but we will not be forced apart. We know that this bill can be defeated, and we are coming together in a coalition of solidarity to do just that. We will not be silenced. We will kill the bill!
Signed By
8M Feminista Latinx
Abolitionist Futures
Anarchist Communist Group
Black Lives Matter UK
Community Action on Prison Expansion (CAPE)
Cradle Community
Disabled People Against Cuts
Docs Not Cops
Jewish Solidarity Action
Kurdistan Solidarity Network
Migrant Media
Migrants Organise
Minority Protection Initiative
No More Exclusions
Prisoner Solidarity Network
Red Fightback
Remember & Resist
Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
RS21
Sisters of Frida
SOAS Detainee Support
United Families and Friends Campaign
Women Defend Rojava
Women’s Strike
BREAKING: Sisters Uncut declare victory at halting police powers bill in Parliament
Thursday, March 18, 2021
- Feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut declare victory as controversial police powers bill is delayed in Parliament.
- Sisters Uncut have organised five consecutive days of action since Saturday 13 March, where women were brutalised by police at a Sarah Everard vigil.
- Sisters Uncut say the police are drunk on power and should not be granted more.
- Since Saturday 13 March, thousands have joined Sisters Uncut outside Parliament Square and New Scotland Yard. A coalition of grassroots groups have mobilised together to speak out against the Bill.
- In response to the breaking news that the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has been delayed until April, the group are defiant: “This is the power of protest, and this is just the beginning. We are ready to fight the police powers bill at every stage of parliament”
Email: [email protected]
At 21:30 on Thursday 18 March, feminist direct action group celebrated victory against the government’s police powers bill.
Sisters Uncut have held five consecutive days of organised protest against the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, which was sparked by the police violence against women at a Sarah Everard vigil on Clapham Common on Saturday 13 March.
The week so far:
At 18:00 on Saturday 13 March, Sisters Uncut joined thousands of people on Clapham Common at a Sarah Everard vigil. After flowers were laid and the sun went down, Metropolitan police stormed the bandstand where women were standing and told members of the public to “go home”. By 7.30pm, police were trampling flowers and grabbing, manhandling and arresting women in the crowd.
At 16:00 on Sunday 14 March, Sisters Uncut declared a second vigil outside Scotland Yard in direct response to the police violence. A minute’s silence was held for Sarah Everard, before the crowd moved to Parliament Square, where thousands of people lay down on the ground in protest at the state’s violence against women and gender non-conforming people. Speeches were made, featuring MP for East Nottingham Nadia Whittome who emphasized that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will expand police powers and diminish the right to protest. She said, “This bill will see the biggest assault on protest rights in recent history. If this bill passes, we won’t be able to gather outside Parliament Square anymore in mourning like we are today.”
At 17:00 on Monday 15 March, after two consecutive days of vigils honouring Sarah Everard and rejecting gendered violence and police violence, thousands gathered for a third day of protest at Parliament Square. Protesters were joined by multiple Members of Parliament and trade unionists. Between speeches, the crowd took a minute of silence to remember Sarah Everard and all victims of police, state, and gendered violence.
At 09:00am on Tuesday 16 March 2021, on the second day of the government’s reading of the draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, feminist group Sisters Uncut laid flowers outside parliament spelling out the words “kill the bill” in a bid for the government to scrap the legislation.
At 18:00 on Tuesday 16 March, thousands gathered at Parliament Square for the fourth consecutive day of protests for Sarah Everard and against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill moving through Parliament. Speakers at the protest called the Bill an “assault on freedom” and implored Members of Parliament inside to “kill the bill.”
This demonstration happened at the same time as the bill had its second reading in Parliament. The vote was called during the demonstration, and whilst it passed this reading 359–263, protesters pledged to continue fighting, chanting a popular refrain from Assata Shakur, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom – it is our duty to win.”
Speakers referenced police at Clapham Commons on Saturday who ignored sexual harassment of women protesters, spoke about the dehumanising photos taken by police of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry after their deaths, and invoked the names of Black people who died at the hands of police. Members of Sistah Space, a Black-led domestic violence support centre, said, “This is for Sarah, for Sandra Bland, for Breonna Taylor, for Nicole and Bibaa. If you see a Black woman arrested, get involved.”
A speaker from Sisters Uncut announced the reading vote, saying, “This is just the beginning. We will fight in our thousands at every stage, and we’re just getting started. Join us. We will not be silenced.”
At 19:00 on Thursday 18 March, Sisters Uncut held an online meeting with over 4,000 attendees. Speakers included the Public Interest Law Centre, Black Lives Matter, Traveller Pride, No More Exclusions, Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM) and Disability Justice.
Evidence shows that giving the police more power, as is proposed in the Police, Crime, Senencing and Courts Bill, will lead to an increase in the number of survivors being arrested, especially black and minority ethnic and poorer survivors. It will give police more power to digitally stripsearch survivors of gendered violence who report to the police. It will give police more powers to enact sweeping new stop and search powers, to increase surveillance and to criminalise Gypsy and Traveller communities. And most importantly it will give police more power to to decide where, when and how citizens are allowed to protest institutional systemic violence.
Quotes:
An anonymous member from Sisters Uncut said, “The last week has shown that protest works. That’s why they want to ban it, and that’s why we’re fighting back. The coalition that is coming together shows just how many people are angry about the brutal reality of policing in this country, and who are determined to roll back this dangerous extension of state power. Saturday night has shown us that the police are drunk on power, and should not be rewarded with more.”
“Policing by consent is a story this country likes to tell about itself. The reality is that policing is unaccountable, aggressive and violent. Targets of police repression – working class people, racial minorities, sex workers and many others – have had enough.”
Notes for Editors:
- Sisters Uncut are a direct action group protesting cuts to domestic violence services. The group was formed by domestic violence survivors and sector workers in 2014 to defend domestic violence services from austerity cuts, and has blossomed into a mass movement across the UK, with groups in Doncaster, London, Newcastle, Bristol, Portsmouth and Birmingham.
- Sisters Uncut is formed of non-binary people and women renowned for bold protest tactics, including jumping on the red carpet at the ‘Suffragette’ premiere and dying the Trafalgar Square fountains red.
