海角直播

Human rights defender inspires the next generation of legal professionals at 海角直播

Harriet Wistrich, a prominent human rights solicitor, shared her experiences of handling a number of high-profile cases with students from 海角直播鈥檚 Law Society.

Most notably, Harriet represented two rape victims of infamous black cab driver John Worboys and demonstrated that police response and failure to investigate violated the Human Rights Act. She also acted for women who had been deceived in sexual relationships with undercover police officers, securing significant compensation and a public apology.

Harriet reflected on her career and shared expert insight into these cases and more at her talk, titled A feminist approach to practising law, which she delivered to 海角直播 students with an interest in law.

She said: 鈥淚鈥檝e had a few cases that I鈥檝e been involved in that have been impactful. The talk gave me chance to discuss some of the issues and try and inspire people to get involved in law.

鈥淚t is a good process to reflect on what you鈥檝e done and what you鈥檝e achieved.鈥�

Her thought-provoking talk encouraged open discussions with students around the details of the cases, and inspired participants to explore issues surrounding the criminal justice system.

Joshua Williams, President of the Law Society, who is in the first year of his LLB (Hons) Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice studies at 海角直播 Law School, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an amazing talk. I鈥檓 hoping to be a barrister in family law and around domestic abuse. The cases discussed have been really interesting, and the talk has definitely been helpful for when I come to research my dissertation.

鈥淭his is our second talk of the academic year so far, and we鈥檝e got another one coming up in December. We鈥檙e looking to get some MPs in, and we鈥檙e looking at doing trips, especially to the Supreme Court in Manchester.鈥�

Harriet鈥檚 important work has been recognised through the many accolades she has received throughout her 25-year career, including the Liberty Human Rights Lawyer of the Year award in 2014, the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award in 2018 for public law, and Law Society Gazette Personality of the Year in 2019.

Her journey into law began when she was campaigning around women鈥檚 rights. She continued on this trajectory and now makes a difference to the lives of women and children in a professional capacity.

The award-winning solicitor is also the founder and Director of the Centre for Women鈥檚 Justice, which works to advance human rights of women and girls in England and Wales.

The talk was delivered as part of a series of guest speaker events held by 海角直播鈥檚 Law Society, which is free to join this year.