Lawmanity

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with Pheona Matovu – activist, researcher, and co-founder of award-winning social enterprise Radiant and Brighter – about law, racial justice, migration, and the challenges of building systems that work for those most affected by exclusion and inequality. Drawing on her work with people seeking asylum, refugees, and racially marginalised communities,...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with activist and former Rape Crisis Scotland Chief Executive Sandy Brindley about the relationship between law, justice, and social change for survivors of sexual violence. Having helped shape the work of Rape Crisis Scotland since its inception and supported survivors of sexual violence for more than 30 years, Sandy reflects on the progress made in...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with human rights lawyer and lecturer Fiona McPhail about the campaign to challenge lock change evictions of people seeking asylum in Scotland, and what the Stop Lock Change Evictions Campaign – later known as the Roof Coalition – can teach us about social justice lawyering in practice. As former Principal Solicitor of Shelter Scotland’s Housing Law S...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with anti-poverty campaigner and One Parent Families Scotland Chief Executive Satwat Rehman about the relationship between law, poverty, and political power, and whether legal systems are truly capable of delivering justice for single parent families. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across the voluntary and public sectors in Scotland and E...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with disability rights activists Heather Fisken and Tressa Burke and human rights lawyer Louise Whitfield about disability justice, strategic litigation, and the gap between legal rights on paper and disabled people’s lived experiences of inequality in the UK.  Drawing on their work across disabled people’s organisations, community advocacy, policy, a...

Read transcript Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with researcher, theatre-maker, and human rights campaigner Pinar Aksu about migration justice, hostile immigration law, and the possibilities and limitations of using law to create social change. Drawing on her work in migrant justice campaigning and community organising, and her ongoing doctoral research ‘Art and Law in Migration’, P...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with feminist activist, researcher, and former Scottish Women’s Aid Chief Executive Lily Greenan about decades of campaigning on violence against women and girls and LGBT+ rights, the limits of legal reform, and the role of activism in creating social change.  Drawing on over forty years of organising – from rape crisis advocacy and police training in...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with human rights lawyer and author Nani Jansen Reventlow about her new book ‘Radical Justice’ and what it means to confront injustice at its roots.  Drawing on her work in strategic litigation and her reflections in ‘Radical Justice’, Nani explores how systems of oppression are sustained, how the law can both reinforce and challenge them, and why mea...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with feminist campaigner, consultant, and commentator Talat Yaqoob about how law shapes power and inequality, and whether it can genuinely deliver justice for marginalised communities.  Drawing on her extensive work across women’s equality, anti-racism, and intersecting inequalities, Talat explores how these dynamics play out in practice, from reactio...

Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with Scottish Traveller advocate and social justice campaigner Davie Donaldson about the realities of navigating the legal system as a Traveller in Scotland, and what true justice could look like for Traveller communities. Drawing on his lived experience and over a decade of advocacy, Davie reflects on the structural barriers embedded within the law,...

Read transcript Episode Notes In this week’s episode, we speak with activist and law graduate (and Lawmanity’s new Legal Caseworker!) Amanda Amaeshi about what meaningful access to justice really looks like in practice.  Drawing on her final-year module Access to Justice and Community Engagement at University College London (UCL) Faculty of Laws, as well as her experiences volunteering with the UC...

Episode Notes In this fourth and final episode of our special series, ‘Equal under the Law?’, our expert panel of inspiring activists and lawyers from across the UK come together to reflect on their journeys to this very moment, and offer advice to young activists. Davie Donaldson encourages young activists to draw on their own experiences to pursue justice for their communities. Sandy Brindley hi...

Episode Notes In this third and final episode of our special series, ‘Equal under the Law?’, we delve into the complex relationship between law and social justice through the voices of inspiring activists from Scotland. We explore the pivotal question: “What does justice look like?" Read transcript

Episode Notes In this second episode of our special series, ‘Equal under the Law?’, we explore whether the law serves as a barrier or a tool for marginalised communities striving for equality, with a little help our expert panel of 11 inspiring activist leaders from Scotland. (Content warning: This episode discusses experiences of discrimination, violence, and trauma. Please take care while listen...

Episode Notes In this first episode of our special series, “Equal under the Law?," we delve into the complex relationship between law and social justice through the voices of inspiring activists from Scotland. We explore the pivotal question: "Does the law treat you and your community equally?" Our guests, including Pheona Matovu, Satwat Rehman, and Pinar Aksu, share their experienc...

Episode Notes This week's, we talk to activist lawyer, Maria McCloskey, former director of Public Interest Litigation Support in Belfast, NI about how she worked with grassroots climate justice activists - the Stop Whitehead Oil Terminal (SWOT) campaign - to bring a successful legal challenge to plans to develop a major fossil fuel terminal in a quiet seaside town near Belfast. Learn more: The Sto...

Episode Notes This week, we’re  speaking to Andy Sirel, Legal Director at JustRight Scotland, about a legal challenge that secured access to further and higher education for potentially thousands of young people in Scotland.  Tune in to hear how an aspiring doctor, and a student-led campaign successfully established a right to education in human rights law for migrant young people in Scotland and...

Episode Notes This week, we’re talking to feminist lawyer and activist, Harriet Wistrich, about her decades-long commitment to seeking justice for women who kill their abusive partners, and her determined fight for justice for women, in a system designed for men. Harriet talks about her journey to becoming an activist lawyer, why she founded the charity Centre for Women’s Justice in 2016, and many...

Episode Notes This week, we sit down with legendary LBGT+ activist Tim Hopkins, to explore how campaigners used the law to achieve equality for LGBT+ people in Scotland, from the 1980s to the present. Tim shares his insights and wisdom from over thirty years of campaigning - against the notorious Section 28 law in the 1980s, to organising the first Pride March in Scotland in the 1990s, to leading...

Episode Notes We’re here today to help listeners understand how the law can be used to achieve really significant change by looking at how Alison Pickup and colleagues led a successful campaign to challenge the UK Government's Rwanda policy, her role as a lawyer and activist in that campaign and your reflections now … a year on from that significant legal change, as the current UK Government prepa...