This is a follow up from an earlier book, written at the turn of the century, on the state of women in the justice system called "How Eve was framed". I've not read that, maybe I should.
Helena Kennedy is a KC and has chaired and been involved in many legal commissions and describes herself as a feminist. She is also from a working class Glasgow family and went into law so as not to end up being a teacher. To hear her read her book gets over some of the passion, anger and frustration she feels. Frivolously, to hear her say "murder" in that classic Glasgow accent is worth the admission alone!
At one sense it is a depressing listen, the lists of cases of women having been raped, murdered, victimised etc etc etc in each chapter is not at all uplifting. More like anger making. She is fair minded in how she describes progress that has been made, but also points out how the law needs to improve, and that is all elements of the law, the police, the legal profession, judges and law makers are all letting the population down. She makes some very good points about equality and that gender neutral language can disguise behaviour that is heavily gendered, giving a misleading representation of that behaviour.
She brings her own experiences into the book, talking of times she has defended a man against an accusation of rape, for instance, and the mixed emotions that position engenders. I'm not sure I necessarily agree with her on every point, but she is considered, interesting, knowledgeable, informative and fair in her assessments. ( )