this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2026
195 points (96.2% liked)

Feminism

1680 readers
6 users here now

Welcome to the feminism community on Lemmy.World!

Rules:

  1. This is a feminist community, meant for discussing issues around equality and gender. Disagreement is acceptable but anti-feminist statements are not. Similarly, TERF-aligned comments, including anti-trans or other anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments are not allowed. This does not preclude debunking anti-feminist talking points.
  2. Posts must be related to feminism, gender issues, or related content. Topics can include current issues/news, historical topics, personal questions/thoughts, or discussion threads. If you are unsure if your post is on-topic, feel free to message the mods before posting.
  3. Memes and humor are allowed but should not be excessively posted.
  4. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Utilizing such language in your username will also result in a ban.
  5. Follow site-wide rules.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

In July 2017, at a music festival in Hyde Park, London, a man took a photograph up her skirt without her consent. She grabbed his phone, saw the image, and took it straight to the police. They told her, gently, that there was nothing they could do — it wasn’t a specific criminal offence. Within days, the case was closed.

She went home and decided that answer was not good enough. With no lawyer, no funding, and no political connections, she launched a campaign to make upskirting a crime. Eighteen months later, she had changed the law for all of England and Wales.

...

Martin’s power did not come from expertise. She had no legal degree, no seat in Parliament, no wealthy backers. What she had was a refusal to accept a bad answer and the stamina to keep asking the question long after most people would have given up. The expertise — the lawyer, the MP, the drafting — arrived because she kept going, not before.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 49 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Interesting story, but I have to assume the article was written entirely by AI. Short, choppy sentences, a heading for every paragraph, scant on details. It's too bad, because I wanted to hear more about how she did it.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 65 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)
[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 40 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That was a great read; did not expect to be hit with a bucketful of nuance about the punitive nature of the judicial system.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 29 points 1 month ago

I really appreciate your first comment - this Guardian article was even better than the OP story. Without your comment, I'm not sure I would have dug more into her today. Thanks.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Mad respect to her for seeing the need for solutions beyond the carceral.