Please join us and Fri’s family outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London at 9.30am on 3rd December to show your support for Fri.

On June 9th 2015 Farieissia Martin, at the age of 22, was convicted of the murder of Kyle Farrell, her violent partner. The trial was two weeks long and the jury were out for one and a half hours returning a unanimous verdict. Farieissia was given a tariff of 13 years.

At the time of the incident, Farieissia and Kyle had 2 children under the age of 3.

Kyle and Farieissia had known each other since primary school and had been together from the ages of 16. Kyle had been sent to anger management sessions at Primary school.  A year into the relationship Kyle started to be violent to Farieissia. The relationship was off and on with a pattern of violence, splitting up and reconciling.  Kyle’s violence often left Farieissia in fear of her life. Farieissia did not call the police for fear that social services would become involved and remove the children

On the night of the incident, Farieissia had been out and Kyle was babysitting. On her return he attacked her including trying to strangle her. In order to defend herself and in fear of her life, Farieissia reached for anything to help stop him. Kyle died as a result of a single stab wound to the heart.

When Farieissia was arrested, she initially lied about the events of the evening, for fear of the children being left alone without either of their parents.

During the trial the history of violence was not explored and a mental health assessment was not carried out. These two issues form part of the grounds for appealing the sentence and conviction. Fri’s application to appeal was turned down by the single judge earlier this year. A panel of three judges will hear Farieissia Martin’s renewed application to appeal her conviction on the morning of 3rd December.

On the 1st March a judge at the Criminal Appeal Court will decide whether Sally Challen can appeal her conviction for the murder of her abusive husband, for which she is currently serving a minimum term of 18 years in prison.

Sally killed Richard in 2010 after years of being controlled and humiliated by him. At the time of her conviction, ‘coercive control’ was not a crime in England and Wales, only becoming recognised in law as a form of domestic abuse in 2015. Coercive control is a way of understanding domestic violence which foregrounds the psychological abuse and can involve manipulation, degradation, gaslighting (using mind games to make the other person doubt their sanity) and generally monitoring and controlling the person’s day-to-day life such as their friends, activities and clothing. This often leads to the abused becoming isolated and dependent on the abuser. It was dramatised very well in Helen’s storyline in Radio 4’s The Archer’s back in 2016.

Sally was only 16 when she met 22 year old Richard. At first he was charming but gradually the abuse began. He bullied and belittled her, controlled their money and who she was friends with, not allowing her to socialise without him. But, whilst he forced strict restrictions on her behavior, he himself, would flaunt his money, have numerous affairs and visit brothels. If she challenged him, he would turn it back on her and make her feel she was going mad.  Although Sally did manage at one point to leave Richard, even starting divorce proceedings, she was so emotionally dependent on him that she soon returned, even signing a ‘post nuptial’ agreement he drew up that denied her full financial entitlement in the divorce and forbade her from interrupting him or speaking to strangers.

It was not long after this reunion, that Richard the offence took place.  Sally , so utterly dependent on Richard, wanted to believe that they could be together, but his behaviour towards her was increasingly humiliating.  The final straw was when he sent Sally out in the rain to get his lunch so that he could phone a woman he had been planning to meet from a dating agency. Sally returned suspicious and challenged him, he commanded her not to question him and she struck him repeatedly with a hammer.

Her defence at trial was diminished responsibility, the legal team downplayed the abusive behavior of her husband, Sally was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 22 years, reduced to 18 at appeal. Despite the death of their father, Sally’s two sons and all those who knew Sally and Richard well have supported her recognizing that she was completely controlled by Richard. 

In 2017, Justice for Women submitted new grounds of appeal to the Criminal Appeal court highlighting new psychiatric evidence and an expert report showing how coercive control provides a better framework for understanding Sally’s ultimate response in the context of a history of provocation.  Unfortunately, permission to appeal was refused by a judge who read only some papers.  Sally’s  last chance is a renewed oral application for appeal before three court of appeal judges. If this application is unsuccessful, Sally who is now 63, will have to spend at least another 12 years in prison.

Please come down to the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand at 9.30am on 1st March to show the Court you support Sally being given the chance to appeal her conviction.

Join us at this book launch and panel discussion on the truth about the sex trade. 

Julie Bindel, author of The Pimping of Prostitution, will outline the key themes of her book and share details of her extraordinary journey travelling the world to uncover the truth about the sex trade. Julie will be joined in a panel discussion with sex trade survivors from the UK, Australia and USA/Canada who will be sharing their personal knowledge and experience about the sex trade.

The speakers will be discussing the most effective methods to abolish the system of prostitution. 

Panel will include: Sex trade survivors Bridget Perrier, Indigenous Canadian abolitionist; Sabrinna Valisce, former 'sex worker's rights' campaigner, from Australia/New Zealand; and Ne'Cole Daniels, Founder of Survivors on the Move. Chaired by the broadcaster and cultural commentator Samira Ahmed. 

The cost of this event is £7.50 (which will pay towards the venue and refreshments). Wine, soft drinks and snacks are included in the cost of your ticket.

Blackwell's will be selling Julie's book as a special launch discount of 40% off the RRP.

6pm Doors open. Registration and refreshments

6.30pm sharp: Julie Bindel launches 'The Pimping of Prostitution'. Followed by panel discussion and questions from the audience.

8.30pm, drinks, snacks and networking.

All welcome, but please note that this event is NOT a debate about whether or not prostitution is harmful. Whatever your view, please be respectful of the speakers. If you heckle or attempt to disrupt the event you will be asked to leave. 

The Pimping of Prostitution: Abolishing the Sex Work Myth
Palgrave Macmillan
28th September 2017
£22.50 | Softcover | 978-1-137-55889-3

Come to a talk on how the law can shape and impact prostitution. 

The debate about which legal and policy approaches work best to curb the problems inherent to the sex trade, including the increase in trafficking, has been raging for decades in the UK. On one side of the debate, ‘sex workers rights’ groups, supported by international human rights lobbies including Amnesty International, have advocated for the so-called ‘New Zealand’ model which provides for the full decriminalisation of all operational aspects of prostitution (including pimping, brothel keeping and all third party exploitation). However, feminists and others argue that such a model only increases the harm caused to those on the frontline and a growing movement of sex trade survivors have joined with others to advocate the 'Nordic model'. This is a legal framework by which sex buyers are criminalised, those selling sex are decriminalised and offered exit strategies, and the sex trade is viewed as a barrier to equality between men and women. 

Which approach is best for the women (and men) in the sex trade, and for wider society? Come to an event at Matrix Chambers, at which Julie Bindel, journalist and feminist campaigner, will launch her new book, 'The Pimping of Prostitution: Abolishing the Sex Work Myth' (Palgrave McMilan, 2017), and hear from Julie, who traveled 164,000 miles, conducting 250 interviews in 40 countries, cities, and states to research the topic. 

Speakers include sex trade survivors Sabrinna Valisce, New Zealand/Australia, Bridget Perrier, Canada, and Ne'Cole Daniels, US, and legal experts including Karon Monaghan QC of Matrix Chambers.

Admission is free but spaces are limited so please register. Refreshments will be served. Julie's book will be available to purchase at the event.