A tangled history of feminism’s complicity and resistance

Every week it seems there is a fresh scandal involving abhorrent, racist, misogynist behaviour by police officers. Yet these are the very people women are supposed to approach for help when faced with violence. And many feminists, hoping to use the criminal justice system to protect women, fight for stronger laws and longer sentences for those who harm them.

Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? traces the history of British feminism’s alliances and struggles with the law and its enforcers. Drawing on the legacy of Black British feminism, Leah Cowan reminds us of the vibrant and creative alternatives envisioned by those who have long known the truth: the police aren’t feminist, and the law does not keep women safe.

Leah Cowan is a writer and editor. She is the former Politics Editor at gal-dem, an online magazine and media platform run by women and non-binary people of colour. Leah also works at Project 17, an advice centre for migrant families who have No Recourse to Public Funds and are facing homelessness and destitution. Leah has written for publications including Vice UK, Huck, DOPE magazine, and the Guardian and in 2018 delivered a TEDxTalk presenting an intersectional analysis of emotional labour. Leah speaks and lectures, including for UN Women, in the House of Commons, at the Trades Union Congress, and at Queen Mary University of London. Her first book, BORDER NATION, breaking down the borders of migration, was published in 2021.

「An urgent call to dismantle carceral feminism rooted in a powerful historical analysis that centers the lived experiences and movements of those left out of mainstream feminism. 」－Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing

「A persuasive call for feminists everywhere to reconsider how women's well-being is used to justify oppression.」－《Publishers Weekly》

「Impressive ... Cowan approaches her abolitionist arguments with a clear expertise and care, and her exploration of the ways in which carceral policies impact marginalised communities reflects her career in the sector. Her searing critiques of the state are calm and cutting, but her visions of an alternative are tender and hopeful.」－Paula Lacey, 《The Skinny》5* Review