Women's Views on News |
| Undercover police scandal: one more victory Posted: 21 Jan 2016 04:42 AM PST
On 15 January 2016, the Metropolitan Police withdrew their defence in a case brought against them over undercover police relationships. In a significant development at the High Court in London, the police asked for judgment to be entered against them in respect of the claims for deceit, assault/battery, misfeasance in public office and negligence. The claim had been brought by Kate Wilson, who was deceived into a 2-year relationship with undercover officer Mark Kennedy. The successful claim states that supervising officers had been negligent and had acted improperly in causing or allowing the relationship to happen. The implication of this judgment is that the actions of Mark Kennedy "were undertaken with the express or tacit knowledge of other police officers employed by [the Metropolitan Police]". Supervising and managing officers "knew that [Mark Kennedy] was abusing the power that he was given as an undercover police officer", and their failure to act on this knowledge was "unlawful and in abuse of their own duties as supervisors and managers of [Mark Kennedy's] undercover activities." Another implication of the judgment is that in circumstances where the police chose to use secret operations like these, they have a duty of care to the private individuals affected and are liable for any damage caused by their negligence. This may have important implications for future cases brought against them for their abusive undercover operations. The judgment goes beyond even the historic apology issued by the Metropolitan Police in November to Kate Wilson's fellow claimants, where the force acknowledged that undercover officers "had entered into long-term intimate sexual relationships with women which were abusive, deceitful, manipulative and wrong." However, despite this court victory for the women, concerns remain at the police's lack of disclosure after a four-year court battle, raising further questions about their cooperation with the upcoming Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing, and the power of that Inquiry to robustly uncover the truth. Kate Wilson said: "The police had already unequivocally accepted that the relationships were wrong. "It is now clear that wrongdoing goes far beyond the individual undercover officers. "Yet we are denied access to any information about the extent of the intrusion into our lives, who knew and how far up the hierarchy it went. "The police's decision not to defend the claim is clearly motivated by a determination to avoid disclosure of documents relating to the undercover operations, at any cost. "Alongside recent revelations that they are unlawfully destroying files, it makes you wonder what further horrors they are really trying to hide. "How many more women may have been affected by these abuses?" she asked. "How many more children may have been fathered by these undercover officers?" "It is clear the police are not going to come clean," she continued. "The only way there can be real justice is if the Inquiry releases the cover names and opens the files so that these women can come forward themselves."  |
| Women, peace and security: shadow report Posted: 20 Jan 2016 02:39 PM PST
Following the publication in December of the UK government's annual Report to Parliament on its progress regarding the UK’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (UK NAP), GAPS published its shadow report Assessing UK Government Action on Women, Peace and Security in 2015. Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) is the UK's only women, peace and security civil society network, and is a membership organisation of 17 NGOs and experts in the field of development, human rights, humanitarian and peacebuilding. GAPS was founded to ensure progress was made with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and to promote and hold the UK government to account on its international commitments to women in conflict areas worldwide. GAPS includes the following members: ActionAid UK, Amnesty International UK, CARE, Conciliation Resources, International Alert, International Rescue Committee UK, Northern Ireland Women's European Platform, Oxfam, Saferworld, Soroptomist International UK, United Nations Association UK, UN Women National Committee UK, Widows for Peace through Democracy, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Womankind Worldwide, Women for Women International, and World Vision The shadow report draws on the expertise of GAPS member organisations, as well as the inputs of civil society in conflict-affected countries through a survey of women's rights organisations in the six focus countries of the UK NAP: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Libya, Myanmar, Somalia and Syria. The report commends the UK government for its work to promote Women, Peace and Security on the international decision-making stage, including through the commitments it made at the High-level Review of 1325 in October last year. Looking ahead to 2016, GAPS calls on the UK government to continue to demonstrate its role as a leader on the Women, Peace and Security agenda on the global stage at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. Further still, the UK must do more to go beyond undertaking a series of actions on this agenda, and commit unwavering support for women's meaningful inclusion, backed up by much needed resources and institutional systems. And as champion governments such as Sweden affirm their commitment to a 'Feminist Foreign Policy', GAPS calls on the UK government to step up and commit to the following minimum standards of engagement on Women, Peace and Security through its own planning, activities, reporting and accountability processes: Affirm that comprehensive action across the Women, Peace and Security agenda is a UK government priority, with women's human rights at its core; Ensure the meaningful participation of women from conflict-affected contexts in all related UK-hosted peace, security, and development talks, and call for women's meaningful engagement in those hosted by other countries; Guarantee that the UK government's Women, Peace and Security plans can be resourced and implemented – earmarking finances for this agenda, tracking spending through gender markers in wider development, humanitarian and stabilisation funding, and through a dedicated budget for the NAP; Guarantee consultation of women's rights organisations and local civil society in the design and review of UK Women, Peace and Security objectives and ensure that the views of women and girls and their reflections on new and emerging issues are integrated in UK government planning; and Commit to strengthen transparency with an open book on the UK's progress against Women, Peace and Security commitments including clear monitoring and reporting processes. To download the report, click here.  |
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