Unit 2.1

 Unit 2.1 - Compare campaigns for change

Policies - the plans and actions of government departments and agencies, such as the police and courts, schools and colleges, the welfare system, the NHS, social services, local authorities and other public bodies.

Laws - policies are usually based on laws introduced by government and passed by Parliament Laws provide the framework within which government agencies operate. They set out the standards, procedures and principles that government agencies operate. They set out the standards, procedures and principles that government agencies must follow to carry out the governments policies. For example, the law lays down the circumstances under which the police can legally carry out a stop and search policy

Campaigns to change policies -

These campaigns will often be directed at political parties and at the government, but also at other organisations. By influencing the view of political parties, campaigners will hope to bring about change more quickly.

Example - Unlock

Unlock was set up to help people who have a criminal conviction. Unlock is a charity that provides a voice and support for people with criminal convictions who are facing disadvantages because of their criminal record their criminal record. Unlock has two goals:

To help ex offenders move on with their lives by empowering them with information, advice and support to overcome the stigma of their previous convictions

To promote a fairer and more inclusive society by challenging discriminatory practices against those with convictions and by promoting socially just alternatives

A key approach is 'ear to the ground, voice at the top' meaning it listens to those needing change, while working with those who are able to bring about the change.

Major aim is to change policies that limit the opportunities for people with a criminal record, for example in employment. Although there are laws preventing people with certain kinds of conviction from taking up jobs like working with children, this is not true for most occupations. In most cases, yet many refuse to employ ex offenders. Unlock campaigns to persuade  employers to change their policies and employ individuals who have a conviction.

Campaigning methods - 

It has a website and blog which can be accessed by the public and where people can sign up to receive its newsletter

It makes media appearances to publicise its campaign

It carries out and publishes research in areas of concern for those with criminal convictions

Campaigning methods -

Some of the campaigning methods Unlock used were:

Makes media appearances to publicise its campaigns

Carries out and publishes research in areas of concern for those with criminal convictions

Unlocks successes-

In 2005 they identified problems of people coming out of prisons who had managed to get jobs but were losing these opportunities because they didn't have a bank account to get their wages paid into. Unlock campaigned for 9 years working with prisons and banks.

By 2014 nearly 6000 bank accounts had been opened for people in prison so they were ready for when they came out. 114 prisons now have links with a high street bank. All prisons that wanted a bank account opening program had one in place by the end of the project.

Campaigns to change the law-

Some campaigns are aimed to change the law that may already exist because people feel there is some sort of problem with it. Other campaigns aim to introduce a new law in an area of public concern.

E.G - Sarah's law -

This law allows people to ask the police is a person who has access to a specific child has convictions for child sex offences. The new law was party the result of a successful campaign by Sarah's mother, Sarah Payne.

The background:

The campaign to introduce Sarah's law came as a result of the abduction and murder of 8 year old Sarah Payne in 2000. Sarah was killed by a previously convicted paedophile who lived in the area. The campaign was started by Sarah's mother, she wanted to raise awareness that people convicted for crimes committed against children could be living in the area and parents may be unaware. Her campaigns main aim was to change the law so parents would be able to have access to details of anyone who is living in the area and has previously been convicted for crimes against children. This campaign was similar in America in the 1990's to introduce Meghan's law. It had been successful in changing legislation to ensure the public had access to knowing who in the area was convicted of sex offenders.

Media support:

Sarah's campaign was support from the News of the World, a tabloid newspaper in July 2000, this newspaper published the names and photographs of fifty people it claimed had committed child sex offences and pledged to carry on until it had 'named and shamed' every paedophile in Britain. The publishing of this campaign helped increase the profile of Sarah's campaign.

Success:

The campaign's success can be seen from the implementation of the Child's Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, or Sarah's Law across England and Wales a similar scheme operates in Scotland. Sarah's Law allows anyone to ask police if someone in contact with a child has a record of child sexual offences. Police forces process the application, but disclosure is not guaranteed. There does not need to be a suspicion to have a check made on a person. Although anyone with an interest can use the scheme, it is most commonly used by parents and guardians.

Other campaigns to change the law include the following:

Dignity in dying - Campaigns to make it legal to choose the option of assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults. Currently, assisting a suicide is a crime with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Smoking in cars - The British Lung Foundation (BLF) ran a campaign to ban smoking in cars with children in them. BLF estimates that 430,000 children a week are exposed to cigarette smoke in cars. AS a results of the campaign, the law was changed in 2015. If a person smokes in a car with children in it =, both the driver and smoke can be fined £50.

Campaigns to change the priorities of agencies:

An agency is a government or private organisation that provides a service. In relation to crime and justice, this could refer for example to the police, the courts, the probation service or victim support. It also can refer to other agencies like schools and colleges who may be able to influence those likely to offend.

An example- No knives better lives:

The priorities of agencies may change as a result of pressure from specific campaigns. One campaign to change priorities is 'No knives better lives' (NKBL), a national campaign to combat knife crime among young people in Scotland. It is run by Youthlink Scotland and Scottish Government. NKBL works with local organisations to provide information and support. IT seeks to draw attention to the consequences of carrying a knife.

Educational agencies - NKBL's campoaign focuses on schools and colleges, seeking to change their priorities so that they see it as part of their role to hep reduce knife crime. The aim is so turn educational institutions into agencies that can work with those in danger of becoming involved in knife crime.

They engage in a range of activities:

Produces educational materials for schools to teach children about knife crime and its impact

Its website has a range of case studies highlighting the impact of knife crime

Produced a series of videos to help education young people about knife crime

There are blogs students and teachers can follow that provide information on knife crime and the work of NKBL

It recruits and trains peer educators- young people who work to raise awareness of the risks and consequences of carrying a knife.

NKBL has been successful in changing the priorities of schools and colleges so that they now see it as their responsibility to play a proactive role in reducing knife crime in Scotland

Campaigns to achieve a change in funding:

Purpose of some campaigns is to ensure adequate funding for their particular cause. This can involve finding ways to raise extra funds, for example by stepping up appeals to the public to make donations.

Can also involve finding ways to put the funding on a more secure or long term basis. E.G- a campaign may seek to shift the source of its funds from just relying on pubic donations to instead persuading oca and national government to fund its aims.

An example - #WeWontwait

A good example of a campaign to achieve a change in funding is #WeWontWait by Parkinson's UK. It aims to persuade the government and the NHS to commit more funds for research into Parkinson's disease, rather than much of this research having to be funded from public donations. At the same time, however, Parkinson's UK also campaigns for increased financial support from members of the public.

All-party support- Parkinson's UK has support from the All Party Parliamentary group on Parkinson's disease, through which it lobbies government. This is a group of MPs and members of the House of Lords who work to keep the disease on the political agenda and to push for funding for new treatments and for care.

The campaign produces videos to highlight the nature of Parkinson's disease and runs Parkinson's awareness week. Sufferers are encouraged to make their own videos to highlight persona experiences of the disease to raise public awareness. The campaign also uses the hashtag #WeWontWait on Twitter to raise awareness of the need for funding.

Campaigns to change awareness:

Many campaigns have the aim of changing the public's awareness of an issue or crime. This may mean that a campaign tries to hep the public to better understand particular types of crime. A goal of campaigns that raise awareness may be:

to encourage the public to help reduce crime

to encourage victims of crimes to come forward

An example - #MeToo

The phrase 'me too' was used by Tarana Burke, a social activist, in 2006. It was part of a campaign in America on Myspace social media seeking to 'empower through empathy' - that is, to make women stronger by sharing and understanding each other's feelings. Firstly, the campaign was aimed at poor black women who had suffered sexual abuse. Burke used the phrase 'me too' because when she was confronted with a girl who had been abused, she wished she had said 'me too'

The #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and sexual assault was launched in 2017. It resulted from the highly publicised case of the film producer Harvey Weinstein and the multiple allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct made against him. This campaign uses original 2006 slogan and asks women who have been victims of sexual harassment or abuse to tweet with hashtag #MeToo

The campaign aims to empower women and girls to come forward if they have been victims of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, for example in the workplace. The idea is to show the scale of abuse suffered by women.

Success:

The campaign has succeeded in raising pubic awareness of the extent of the problem and the need for action to deal with in. Its success has been for women to raise awareness of their experiences of sexual abuse, men also began tweeting and using the hashtag to show solidarity with the women and also tweeting their own experience of abuse.

Campaigns to change attitudes:

Changes in attitude are often a key purpose of a campaign. In some cases, this may be to hep the public to accept and understand the problems caused by certain types of crimes.

An example- Stop Hate UK

Stop Hate UK is a national organisation that campaigns to prevent hate crimes such as racist and homophobic attacks, and to encourage victims to report cases. It offers advice and support for victims and witnesses, and training to help overcome hate crime. Stop Hate UK works with the crown prosecution service to help promote the reporting of hate crimes.

A key aim of the campaign is to change the attitudes of both victims and witnesses of hate crime towards reporting. The campaign encourages reporting of all forms of hate crime and offers guidance on what actions should be reported and the ways in which they can be reported. The campaign focuses on making people more willing to see hate crime as a problem and to recognise the consequences for its victims.

Stop Hate UK uses both Facebook and Twitter and regularly tweets relevant news in the field of hate crime. It also organises local events to promote its work and to make members of the public more aware of hate crime and its impact.

Success-

The development of an app to enable reporting of hate crime. The app means users in West Yorkshire can report crime in real time, whether they are a victim or a witness. It also allows users to include video or photographic evidence to support their report, while GPS shows where the crime is taking place.