Purposes of campaigns for change
There are many campaigns for change, with a range of subjects and aims or purposes
that are desired by people. Many relate to a change in law or policy. As required by
this AC, a range of campaigns must be compared, which means that similarities and
differences must be considered. Select campaigns that interest you or are easy to
understand. To ensure a range of relevant campaigns is selected, it is suggested that a
minimum of five should be studied. However, this depends on the detail provided. The
more campaigns you include the more opportunity you will have to include
comparisons.
Some campaign suggestions are listed below, but remember that these are suggestions
only, as any appropriate campaign can be selected for comparison in the controlled
assessment and at this stage does not have to relate to a crime as a comparison of
campaigns; however, their methods and other features are required:
• Sarah’s law (child sex offence disclosure scheme)
• Clare’s law (disclosure about domestic abuse)
• Helen’s law (murderer kept in jail if fails to disclose location of body)
• Campaign to abolish the rule against double jeopardy for murder
• Bobby Turnbull’s campaign regarding gun licensing
• anti-smoking campaigns
• abortion campaigns
• Brexit
• Lillian’s law (drug-driving laws).
Consider some of the campaigns to gain ideas on how they can be compared.
Sarah’s law campaign
In 2000, while she and her family were visiting her grandparents, Sarah Payne, then
aged eight, was abducted and murdered by a man called Roy Whiting. Whiting had a
previous conviction for abduction and sexually assaulting a young girl. Her mother, Sara
Payne, insisted that if she knew someone with such a previous conviction was in the
area she would never have consented to her daughter being left to play in the local
fields without an adult being present. In other words, she felt that she was unable to
make an appropriate decision about the care of her daughter because relevant
information was not available. Therefore, Sara started a campaign, based on the
, American Megan’s law, seeking a requirement for the police to make information
about local sex offenders available to the parent or carer of a child at risk. Campaign
methods and relevant issues for comparison with other campaigns:
• The campaign was for a change in the law to provide a legal right for parents or
carers to formally ask the police if someone with access to a child has a record for
child sexual offences.
• Use of the media: the News of the World, a Sunday newspaper at that time, backed
the campaign and launched a petition backing Sarah’s law. Seven-hundred
thousand members of the public showed their support by signing it.
This was a controversial campaign, which was opposed by some childcare
agencies. The ‘name and shame’ tactics of the News of the World, when it printed
100 pictures of alleged sex offenders, fuelled the opposition. This saw vigilante
attacks where, for example, in Portsmouth, 300 people attacked the home of a
local taxi driver who had been named by the paper. Also, innocent people were
attacked as they looked like people in the published photographs and the home of
a paediatrician was attacked due to confusion over the word paedophile. This
campaign arose from a tragic incident involving the death of eight-year-old Sarah
Payne. Her parents, Sara and Michael, were the main supporters of the campaign
for change, which they helped drive forwards. In particular, Sara spoke at numerous
events such as the Police Federation Conference and numerous fund raising events
that publicised the campaign. She was awarded the MBE in 2008.
The campaign could be deemed a success, as the Child Sex Offender Disclosure
Scheme (CSOD) was piloted in 2008 and rolled out across England and Wales in
2011. According to the BBC News (2013) website, in 2013 nearly 5,000 applications
seeking disclosure of the sex offenders living in the area had been made and more
than 700 paedophiles had been identified since the introduction of the Scheme in
2011.
Brexit campaign
The United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community (former name for
the European Union) on 1 January 1973. This was after two previous applications for
membership had been rejected. Brexit is an abbreviation for ‘British exit’, which
refers to the referendum, on 23 June 2016, whereby British citizens voted to exit the
European Union. Brexit campaign methods and relevant issues for comparison with
other campaigns include:
There are many campaigns for change, with a range of subjects and aims or purposes
that are desired by people. Many relate to a change in law or policy. As required by
this AC, a range of campaigns must be compared, which means that similarities and
differences must be considered. Select campaigns that interest you or are easy to
understand. To ensure a range of relevant campaigns is selected, it is suggested that a
minimum of five should be studied. However, this depends on the detail provided. The
more campaigns you include the more opportunity you will have to include
comparisons.
Some campaign suggestions are listed below, but remember that these are suggestions
only, as any appropriate campaign can be selected for comparison in the controlled
assessment and at this stage does not have to relate to a crime as a comparison of
campaigns; however, their methods and other features are required:
• Sarah’s law (child sex offence disclosure scheme)
• Clare’s law (disclosure about domestic abuse)
• Helen’s law (murderer kept in jail if fails to disclose location of body)
• Campaign to abolish the rule against double jeopardy for murder
• Bobby Turnbull’s campaign regarding gun licensing
• anti-smoking campaigns
• abortion campaigns
• Brexit
• Lillian’s law (drug-driving laws).
Consider some of the campaigns to gain ideas on how they can be compared.
Sarah’s law campaign
In 2000, while she and her family were visiting her grandparents, Sarah Payne, then
aged eight, was abducted and murdered by a man called Roy Whiting. Whiting had a
previous conviction for abduction and sexually assaulting a young girl. Her mother, Sara
Payne, insisted that if she knew someone with such a previous conviction was in the
area she would never have consented to her daughter being left to play in the local
fields without an adult being present. In other words, she felt that she was unable to
make an appropriate decision about the care of her daughter because relevant
information was not available. Therefore, Sara started a campaign, based on the
, American Megan’s law, seeking a requirement for the police to make information
about local sex offenders available to the parent or carer of a child at risk. Campaign
methods and relevant issues for comparison with other campaigns:
• The campaign was for a change in the law to provide a legal right for parents or
carers to formally ask the police if someone with access to a child has a record for
child sexual offences.
• Use of the media: the News of the World, a Sunday newspaper at that time, backed
the campaign and launched a petition backing Sarah’s law. Seven-hundred
thousand members of the public showed their support by signing it.
This was a controversial campaign, which was opposed by some childcare
agencies. The ‘name and shame’ tactics of the News of the World, when it printed
100 pictures of alleged sex offenders, fuelled the opposition. This saw vigilante
attacks where, for example, in Portsmouth, 300 people attacked the home of a
local taxi driver who had been named by the paper. Also, innocent people were
attacked as they looked like people in the published photographs and the home of
a paediatrician was attacked due to confusion over the word paedophile. This
campaign arose from a tragic incident involving the death of eight-year-old Sarah
Payne. Her parents, Sara and Michael, were the main supporters of the campaign
for change, which they helped drive forwards. In particular, Sara spoke at numerous
events such as the Police Federation Conference and numerous fund raising events
that publicised the campaign. She was awarded the MBE in 2008.
The campaign could be deemed a success, as the Child Sex Offender Disclosure
Scheme (CSOD) was piloted in 2008 and rolled out across England and Wales in
2011. According to the BBC News (2013) website, in 2013 nearly 5,000 applications
seeking disclosure of the sex offenders living in the area had been made and more
than 700 paedophiles had been identified since the introduction of the Scheme in
2011.
Brexit campaign
The United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community (former name for
the European Union) on 1 January 1973. This was after two previous applications for
membership had been rejected. Brexit is an abbreviation for ‘British exit’, which
refers to the referendum, on 23 June 2016, whereby British citizens voted to exit the
European Union. Brexit campaign methods and relevant issues for comparison with
other campaigns include:
