Why Would Feminists Trust The Police: Leah Cowan & Laura Harris

A tangled history of feminism’s complicity and resistance

Every week it seems there is a fresh scandal involving abhorrent, racist, misogynist behaviour by police officers. Yet these are the very people women are supposed to approach for help when faced with violence. And many feminists, hoping to use the criminal justice system to protect women, fight for stronger laws and longer sentences for those who harm them.

Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? traces the history of British feminism’s alliances and struggles with the law and its enforcers. Drawing on the legacy of Black British feminism, Leah Cowan reminds us of the vibrant and creative alternatives envisioned by those who have long known the truth: the police aren’t feminist, and the law does not keep women safe.

Join us at Dead Ink Books on July 4th at 6pm when author Leah Cowan will be in conversation with Dr Laura Harris, sociologist and filmmaker.