Eve Was Framed: Women and British Justice

by Becky Cleary

Recently, I read a book by Helena Kennedy called “Eve was Framed: Women and British Justice”. It is one of many books that Helena Kennedy wrote about the British legal system, and is incredibly eye opening. Kennedy writes of not only women in the legal profession but also the sexism that is still prevalent in the British legal system.

The book follows Kennedy’s journey to her career, with her personal experiences alongside descriptions of judge prejudices and female stereotypes that have deeply affected the outcome of court cases. For example, early on in the book, Kennedy describes the clear prejudices in the court in relation to sexual assault cases. Of course, there are the typical ‘she was asking for it’ excuses and a particular case in 1991, in which the rapist received a shorter sentence because the victim was a ‘common prostitute’, but Kennedy also wrote of a few cases that seemed even farther from logic, such as that of two paratroopers in 1986. They had their 18 month sentences reduced because their victim was ‘dissolute and sexually depraved’. This, to me, seems completely ludicrous, and it is not surprising that many women do not come forward when they have been sexually assaulted, as among other things, being humiliated on the stand is a very possible occurrence.

Kennedy also gives a critique on the legal profession and the issues presented in relation to equality. In the book, there are a number of references to inequality in the legal profession, however the most striking to me were the statistics presented by the Department of Constitutional affairs in the autumn of 2004. It found that only nine of 108 High Court judges were women, and of these 108 High Court judges, only one was black. These stark figures then prompted me to do some research on women in the legal profession. After reading this book, it did not surprise me, but it did still disappoint me, that figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in January 2020 showed that 38% of female respondents reported sexual harassment and more than half of respondents to a Law Society survey reported awareness of a gender pay gap. 

Overall, this book is incredibly interesting and eye opening, as it covers extremely important issues of inequality in the legal system that I believe should be brought to closer attention. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in social injustices, and particularly those considering law as it offers a balanced critique of inequality in the legal system, dealing with the facts of personal experience and court cases filled with prejudice.