Discuss how Campaigns affect Policy Making (AC 4.3) Flashcards
Sarah’s Law (Newspaper/ Individual campaign)
After the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne ,by a man who was convicted of something similar before, her mother set up a campaign with the aim of exposing peadophiles. With help from newspapers she spread her story and vowed to ‘name and shame’ every peadophile in Britain if she had to. The government introduced a law after seeing the support her campaign gained, the 2011 Child Sex Offender Disclosure scheme- allowing people to know if there was a convicted peado in the area, info the police can refuse.
Zombie Knives (Newspaper campaign)
Set up by the Express and Star newspaper, this campaign spread the stories of multiple deaths and severe injuries caused by zombie knives, with the backing of the west yorkshire police. Lots of awareness was brought into light and soon a ban was called, thus Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1998 was made, adding the weapon.
Claire’s Law (Individual campaign)
After Claire Wood’s death, by an ex-boyfriend who had been convicted of abuse before, her father set up a campaign to change the law. He aimed to spread the story across the media, by appearing on multiple news/tv broadcasts to explain that people had the right to know if their partner had a violent past. After changing many views and gaining supporter the 2014 Domestic Violence Disclosure scheme was made, allowing people to ask if their partner has any history, info the police can refuse.
Protection Against Stalking (Pressure Group campaign)
Loads of stalking cases were often ignored, seen as trivial and not worth properly investigating. This campaign aimed to have stalking seen as a proper offence so women could be taken seriously, it spread the stores of victims of stalking and their families and people began to see it as its own criminal offence. This brought about the 2012 Protection of Freedoms act.
INQUEST (Pressure Group campaign)
INQUEST aimed to have state related death become the responsibility of the institution (e.g. prisons, psychiatric wards, detention centres, etc…), hoping to end deaths caused by unsafe systems, a lack of care or use of force by institutional failure. They spread stories of failings and protested their message in the media, reaching the sight of many who agreed. This helped influence the creation of the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act making organisations accountable for serious failings resulting in death.
