Eve Was Framed: Women and British Justice

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The main thrust of the book is that the law should be a progressive force for change in society but it often hides behind a veneer of neutrality. Helena Kennedy’s 1993 book Eve was Framed is to my knowledge not in print anymore, but it’s worth getting a copy second hand if you can. Her attack on double standards is witty and intelligent, and only made me fall further in love with her and her writing. The tone of the book is chatty and informal, the vocabulary is complex at times but nothing a dictionary can’t fix, and overall this book gave me a true appreciation of justice as opposed to simply the letter of the law- I couldn’t recommend it enough. Baroness Kennedy is a leading barrister and she gives insightful detail into her own experiences as a female lawyer and the everyday sexism she has encountered in her career.

It comprehensively covers the 20th-century history of women in the criminal justice system in a variety of roles - lawyer, judge, victim and defendant - and illustrates the impact of misogyny throughout without being preachy. It is also undoubtably true that men’s experiences have been at the forefront of putting the law into practice. I would say some of the points did tend to tar everyone with the same brush, but the author did (very often) make side notes of impartiality. Now that I have started studying the subject, I still find myself reflecting on some of the propositions she puts forward.Maybe the better points in the book were lost slightly by overwhelming amounts of unnecessary and often identical case studies, and I would have preferred a more direct and in-depth analysis of the law at practice itself. She is a regular broadcaster, journalist and lecturer and throughout her career has focussed on giving voice to those who have least power in the system, championing civil liberties and civil rights.

Helena Kennedy focuses on the treatment of women in our courts - at the prejudices of judges, the misconceptions of jurors, the labyrinths of court procedures and the influence of the media. This was designed to help people who are victims of domestic violence and go on to kill their abusive partner. Such brief basics will be helpful to a first-year law student since it helps you to approach law in a more rounded way. If you want to learn more about law than the law itself, for example the wider impact of the law on women, social classes and ethnic minorities, then this book is the one for you.Eve Was Framed is an eye-opening analysis of the disadvantages that women face in the criminal justice system. Those most susceptible to this injustice are women, the young, the working class, immigrants, the Irish, black people and homosexuals. Curfews for women given community sentences save costs on probation officers “but can leave women vulnerable to domestic violence for the 12 hours per day that they are confined to the house”.

Her final questioning of whether women want equality with men or to be treated fairly will certainly stay with you. Kennedy shares her own experience of coming up as one of the few female barristers and the ways in which archaic traditions are limiting the pipeline of female lawyers who could become tomorrow's judges - and thus the system is perpetuated. The book tackles topical issues such as sexual assault, prostitution, domestic violence and abuse with sensitivity and offers compelling arguments about how the law could be reformed, especially to safeguard the children of female convicts and the women who have faced a lack of understanding from a male dominated system. Kennedy envisages the speech for the prosecution, the defence’s response, and wittily comments “transportation from Paradise is one thing, but a sentence of eternal damnation when the conviction has to be based on the uncorroborated testimony of a co-accused must surely constitute a breach of human rights!The book opens with the mysterious description of the Inns of Court, and of the many obstacles encountered by women who aspire with be barristers.