Abuse of women by undercover police must stop now! Women's blockade on Monday
angry woman | 22.01.2011 17:26 | Gender | Policing | Repression
Women in the UK should not have to worry about being sexually abused by policemen. It is as simple as that.
In response, we call for women to come together for a blockade of Scotland Yard, in protest at political policing and in solidarity with all women who have been exploited by men they thought they could trust.
In response, we call for women to come together for a blockade of Scotland Yard, in protest at political policing and in solidarity with all women who have been exploited by men they thought they could trust.
The shocking revelations about police infiltration of protest movements get more extreme day by day. Reading Laura's story in the Guardian today about a 4th undercover cop has made us angry, sad, and upset... bringing home the true gravity of what the state does to political women in the UK.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/19/wife-fourth-police-spy-children
Women in the UK should not have to worry about being sexually abused by policemen. It is as simple as that.
In response, we call for women to come together for a blockade of Scotland Yard, in protest at political policing and in solidarity with all women who have been exploited by men they thought they could trust.
Meet 8am outside Scotland Yard on Monday morning, January 24th
The blockade will be simple and dignified. Despite Scotland Yard’s best efforts we will not be broken.
This is a women led event but men are welcome to come in support.
We demand that the police make public the names and identities of all other undercover offices who have worked or are working to infiltrate movements for progressive social change, so women can know whether they have also been abused by the state, and can decide whether to join other women in considering legal action against the police.
It is likely that the police officers and their superiors have committed the criminal offence of misconduct in public office, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
We demand a fully independent judge-led public inquiry into policy spying. We have no trust that the police can regulate or investigate themselves. Their actions show that they think that they are above the law. This is a dangerous situation that undermines democracy.
Please pass on to your friends, mums, colleagues and fellow activists...
Tweet it: #inquirynow
You can also follow:
www.facebook.com/nopolicespies
@NoPoliceSpies
Location: Outside Scotland Yard
8-10 Broadway, Westminster, SW1H 0BG
Nearest tube: St James' Park (or Victoria)
Buses 11, 24, 211, 148
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/19/wife-fourth-police-spy-children Women in the UK should not have to worry about being sexually abused by policemen. It is as simple as that.
In response, we call for women to come together for a blockade of Scotland Yard, in protest at political policing and in solidarity with all women who have been exploited by men they thought they could trust.
Meet 8am outside Scotland Yard on Monday morning, January 24th
The blockade will be simple and dignified. Despite Scotland Yard’s best efforts we will not be broken.
This is a women led event but men are welcome to come in support.
We demand that the police make public the names and identities of all other undercover offices who have worked or are working to infiltrate movements for progressive social change, so women can know whether they have also been abused by the state, and can decide whether to join other women in considering legal action against the police.
It is likely that the police officers and their superiors have committed the criminal offence of misconduct in public office, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
We demand a fully independent judge-led public inquiry into policy spying. We have no trust that the police can regulate or investigate themselves. Their actions show that they think that they are above the law. This is a dangerous situation that undermines democracy.
Please pass on to your friends, mums, colleagues and fellow activists...
Tweet it: #inquirynow
You can also follow:
www.facebook.com/nopolicespies
@NoPoliceSpies
Location: Outside Scotland Yard
8-10 Broadway, Westminster, SW1H 0BG
Nearest tube: St James' Park (or Victoria)
Buses 11, 24, 211, 148
angry woman
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Solidarity with ALL who have been exploited by people they trusted
22.01.2011 17:56
Can't we highlight the "abuse of people by undercover cops", rather than the "abuse of women by undercover cops". This isn't something that solely affects just women, and to twist it this way is dishonest and unfair.
Men should also not have to worry about being sexually abused by undercover cops. Nobody should.
That aside, it's nice to see some people taking action on this.
someone
How deep does this really go....?
22.01.2011 19:23
We live in a full on police state that believes it should have no accountability to anyone but its paymasters.
Lopekal
agree with first comments
22.01.2011 22:29
occasionally angry woman
should we really be playing the victim?
23.01.2011 01:59
another bloke
Nice one
23.01.2011 04:22
On the gender angle, this affects both women and men but not equally, since there seem to be a lot more male than female long-term undercover cops (& all the relationships we've heard about have been hetero). Mark Kennedy, Marco Jacobs and Jim Sutton all entered into long-term meaningful relationships. It isn't just the fact that there was sex involved that makes this so abusive, but that these were long-term romantic relationships, which for many people is a particularly intimate kind of relationship. I don't know if Lynn Watson similarly entered into long-term relationships.
This isn't happening in a vacuum: worldwide rape of women in used as a weapon in conflict, here in the UK sexual assault of women is widespread, so I think it is important to look at a context where women an in general targeted for sexual abuse, sometimes to further political goals (and from a feminist angle all sexual abuse, whether or women or men, is political since it has the effect of upholding patriarchy). Of course abuse of men is equally as damaging and men deserve just as much support as women, but sexual abuse of women does happen in a particularly systematic way and should be recognized as such and resisted.
angry almost all the time
sundays observer & policemen's wives
23.01.2011 15:23
sundays observer 23/1/11 has mentioned the womens demo at scotland yard, it also says that the sex was understood by senior police to be part of infiltration.
It also says that married officers are chosen so they "have something to come back too"
I wonder if the police officers wives are briefed as to what the police force expects its officers to do?
divide and conquer can work both ways.
beagleboy
Agree with the protest
23.01.2011 16:13
Totally agree with this point
"On the gender angle, this affects both women and men but not equally"
Within the context of patriarchy, violence and sexual assault on women on a massive scale- this is state sanctioned rape and manipulation.
A woman
GOOD!
23.01.2011 20:32
I don't think it's "playing the victim". Knowing some of the women involved, "victim" is not exactly the word which springs to mind. "Angry", "not taking it" and "fighting back" seem much more apposite. Does anybody think they will be conveying an attitude of mournful, sad, powerless victimhood tomorrow morning? I don't. I doubt the cops will be "smirking" either; certainly not the bosses inside the building.
Hope it goes well tomorrow.
P.S. "Lyn Watson" is the only exposed infiltrator I never knowingly had dealings with. I'm told, however, that she had only occasional casual sex with men in the movement and did not purport to form a long-term romantic relationship with anyone. All three men did exactly that. It's quite a big difference, though I agree that everyone who was close to any of these people in any way has been deeply betrayed. For example a woman whose children used to play with "Lyn" and were fond of her, and for whom she bought presents etc. may feel just as deeply hurt and betrayed, perhaps more so, than a man who simply had an after-party roll in the hay with her one night.
Let's support each other in the various ways we need to respond to all this shit and not look for wedges to split us. The state is busy trying to get us arguing with each other, so let's not play their game.
Stroppyoldgit
Typical male
23.01.2011 21:17
Then finally, I realised I'd given her the address of a female activist in a hotspot overseas she was going to visit. That woman was then raped by the local police after a year of no police contact. And that has devastated me. I've not had sex since, and if I ever do then it won't be with an activist.
I can't prove links between these facts, I hope no one does, but my suffering is second-hand, it's due to the trust I misplaced and the woman who was damaged by it, not the fact I might've been 'abused'. It's not the same thing for men or women, I hope any male reading this who knows they were seduced by a female undercover can admit, women are abused by men and not vice versa, it's not equal, not yet.
What the police did to my friend abroad is only slightly different to what these male British cops did here and throughout Europe. I don't agree with 'all cops are bastards', but these cops - and their superiors - are worse than bastards, they are less than human and don't deserve a quick death.
I wish these brave victims and their angry female supporters all the best in their protests and legal action, but if these pigs are punished by the system then they have to be tracked down and disposed of. This is unacceptable behaviour and I hope any police officer reading this knows that to be true.
Danny