4 December 201922 December 2022 4WardEverUK

The crisis of Aboriginal women held in prison in Australia

source: Aljazeera News
published: 2 December 2019

Melbourne, Australia – Vickie Roach was 12 the first time she was imprisoned.

Forty-eight years ago, in the early 1970s, she was arrested after running away from abusive foster homes and institutions.

“The morning after you arrive, you have to go see the doctor. They would examine you to see if you were pregnant or had STDs. And if you weren’t cooperative they would hold you down and do it,” said Roach, now 60.

For a young girl who had been sexually abused, this procedure was “traumatic”. But her contact with the criminal justice system in Australia began even earlier – when she was two.

2 November 201922 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Grenfell flammable cladding ‘principal’ reason for fire’s rapid spread

source: Huff Post
published: 22 October 2019

Lives were lost in Grenfell Tower because controversial “stay put” advice was not revoked earlier but flammable cladding was the “principal” reason behind the catastrophic fire’s rapid spread, the official inquiry has found.

Judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who leads the inquiry, has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to back 46 changes to laws and regulations to ensure the safety of high-rise residents.

The retired judge also hit out at the London Fire Brigade’s “gravely inadequate” preparation for such a disaster, adding that having no strategy to evacuate the tower was a “major omission”.

17 July 201922 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Eric Garner: no charges against white police officer over chokehold death

source: The Guardian
published: 16 July 2019

Federal prosecutors will not charge the New York police officer implicated in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, an African American man killed almost five years ago.

The decision announced by the US attorney Richard Donoghue on Tuesday was another blow to the Garner family, figureheads in the Black Lives Matter movement, who have campaigned to hold the NYPD accountable. US justice department sources said the final call on the non-indictment was made by the attorney general, William Barr.

Garner’s death, on 17 July 2014, became a focal point for national conversation on race and policing. Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe”, were chanted by protesters across the US.