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