I thought it was only right to make my first post by introducing myself and my research.

My name is Poppy Davey (which you probably already know from my profile!) and I am completing a self-defined research project. I am a law student and rather than being interested in the corporate side, I am more drawn to criminal justice. From starting my law journey in sixth form, I have always felt this gravitational pull towards the treatment and experiences of women in the criminal justice and legal system. After starting to investigate my interest when completing an EPQ, the Laidlaw scholarship provided me the perfect opportunity to keep developing my knowledge on this topic. Moving towards the future, my dream career is to work for the UN and in particular UN Women. I realise my privilege in the opportunities I get as a woman in the UK where I have access to such fantastic education and thus want to put it towards aiding in continuing creating positive change for women on both a national and international level. I am now going to stop talking about my ambitions - because we could be here a while if not! - and move onto introducing my research. 

When I applied to the scholarship, I noticed there was no proposed research projects in law and thus decided that I would propose a project myself. Immediately, I knew that this would be within the sphere of women’s experiences in the law and after considering multiple topics, decided I wanted to continue my research into domestic abuse after completing my EPQ in this area. The twist, I decided, would be in how I would focus on the differential experience of various social groups of women. These would be the minority groups of BAME, LGBTQ and the traveller community (which I have since changed to disabled women due to the lack of relevant research). An immediate reflection I have made was of the difficulty in treating these groups as homogenous especially in the context of BAME. Women of different ethnicities do not face a homogenous experience of the law which despite being largely recognised in research continues to be the main way of research.

I think this really demonstrates the need to consider these social groups experiences and treatment in terms of the wider social context and is something I am continually doing as I delve deeper into the topic. What unites these social groups is their minority status and the fact these women have a disadvantaged experience of the criminal justice system and related services compared to the white heterosexual woman.  It is naive to assume that all women get treated the same and I think this provides the reasoning on the importance of this research.

To solve a problem, the issues first need to be identified. This is what my project aims to do. I aim to identify the disadvantages faced so that it is clear the areas that need extra focus on by those in power.