Emily Thornberry hails Boris Johnson's ex-wife as Labour minister pledges crackdown on harassment
Emily Thornberry has hailed Boris Johnson's ex-wife Marina Wheeler KC in her address to the Labour Party Conference
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Emily Thornberry has hailed Boris Johnson's ex-wife Marina Wheeler KC in her address to the Labour Party Conference.
Unveiling a swathe of new measures to protect women at home and in the workplace, the Shadow Attorney General said she would use the advice of experts with years of experience.
WATCH: Emily Thornberry addresses the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool
Addressing the Labour Conference, Thornberry said: "No woman should be forced to wait until she is attacked to get the protection she deserves."
"These are the practical changes that only a Labour Government will deliver - on stalking, whistleblowing, and cohabitation.
The Shadow Attorney General said she would use the advice of experts with years of experience
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"Making women's lives better and more protected in the streets, online at work and in their homes."
"Over the coming months, I will review the law through the eyes of the women having to navigate them, supported by the advice of experts like Marina Wheeler KC, who has spent years working on harassment and discrimination cases."
Thornberry promised that, under Labour, women would have the right to know the identity of their online stalkers under a series of reforms.
She confirmed the party's plans to give women in co-habiting couples the same rights, including over property, as married women should their relationship end.
Labour would also seek to strengthen employment rights to safeguard women from abusive colleagues.
The Shadow Attorney General told the Labour Party Conference that a woman is “200 times more likely” to be a victim of stalking than it is for her stalker to end up in prison.
She said: “It is time we treated stalking with the seriousness it deserves, strengthening the use of stalking protection orders, developing the right for women to know the identity of their online stalkers, and working to end the sick practice of stalkers abusing our court system to bring vexatious claims against their victims – because no woman should be forced to wait until she is attacked to get the protection she deserves.”
Speaking shortly after Thornberry, Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Today, rape victims are systematically failed.
"They wait, on average, over two years to go to trial with no-one to advocate for them. And the result? Over 60 per cent drop their cases and rapists walk free.
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“Labour’s legal advocates will ensure that their rights are upheld.
"This would mark the most transformative change to the status of rape victims within our justice system.”
She added: “The introduction of legal advocates will drive down drop-out rates and help bring perpetrators to justice, increase prosecutions and make our streets safe.”