Rights of Women works to secure justice, equality, and safety for all women. Our mission is to advise, educate and empower women.

On a daily basis, we provide free specialist confidential legal advice directly to women in England and Wales via four telephone advice lines covering family, immigration and asylum law, criminal law, and sexual harassment at work.

We aim to increase women’s understanding of their legal rights, and to improve their access to justice enabling them to live free from violence and make informed, safe, choices about their own and their families’ lives.

Legal aid is public funding for legal advice and representation. We believe it should be available for all women who are unable to afford legal advice and representation. It is the mechanism through which all women are able to enforce their rights and access justice.

We provide women who are eligible with the information they need to access legal aid, and we provide as much advice, guidance and support as possible to those who not eligible. This is not, however, a sustainable solution. A core principle of access to justice is that it should be available to all, not just those who can afford it.

In recent years, our campaigning efforts have led to some progress: the Government have updated the eligibility criteria, and new regulations have been introduced. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the number of women accessing family law legal aid.

Progress is nevertheless slow, and there remain significant problems.

In general, legal aid is provided depending on the type of case and after a financial assessment ensures access to legal advice for those who are unable to pay. Many women are unable to access legal aid because the financial assessment (known as the ‘means test’) is unreasonably strict, leaving women who are unable to afford to pay for advice and representation either to represent themselves, or not take any action at all. In turn, this often means that they cannot leave an abusive relationship.

This is a significant issue and it should not be underestimated or overlooked. Women unable to access legal advice and representation will be unable to enforce what rights they have.

We speak daily to women who are prevented from accessing legal aid and who, as a result, do not seek protection from abuse, do not attempt to regularise their immigration status or choose not to challenge court decisions to not prosecute their attackers.

Access to justice can save the lives of women and their children. We have campaigned on this issue for many years, but meaningful has yet to be delivered.

The Istanbul convention offers some hope in breaking this impasse. Article 57 of the Istanbul Convention requires countries to ‘provide for the right to legal assistance and to free legal aid for victims under the conditions provided by their internal law.’

Additionally, many articles in the Convention relate to access to justice. For instance, Article 19 requires countries to provide appropriate legal information; article 29 requires countries to provide appropriate civil remedies against the perpetrator or against the state for failing in their duties. These provisions are about ensuring that women have access to a range of legal rights, and that they are made aware of them.

If the Government ratified the Istanbul Convention, they would have an obligation to meet these requirements.

Legal aid is the mechanism through which we can ensure that all women are able to access justice. For this and many other reasons, we are committed to the campaign for ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention.

Take action now:

Sign the petition for the UK to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

Write to your MP about the importance of legal aid.

The Government is currently in the process of reviewing financial eligibility for legal aid. They are expected to announce the outcome of their review for consultation in the Spring of 2021. Just as getting the Istanbul Convention implemented has been an uphill battle, so is the campaign to widen access to legal aid.

We would encourage anyone who supports IC Change’s inspiring campaign to write to their MPs highlighting the importance of legal aid for access to justice. We need to ensure that all parliamentarians understand why this matters. Movement solidarity that joins the dots between different issues is the backbone of social justice campaigning, and our strongest route to victory.