Oliwia Kozica 2.1 write up:
Sarahs Law and Clare’s Law:
Roy Whiting was convicted of the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne on December 12 th 2001, he was sentenced to
life imprisonment. This then led to Sarahs Law, campaigning for people to formally ask the police to tell them if
someone has a record for child sexual offences, this highlights the aim of the campaign for wanting a change in policy
and law. Sarahs law targeted parents, carers and guardians to make them more aware of any paedophiles and protect
their children. This target audience was successfully reached through the emotional factor of the whole family being
included in the media coverage, having all Sarahs siblings and family come together to ask for help in striving for
change in law helped more people to contribute. Methods in pushing the campaign out to the public predominantly
focused on TV interviews and newspaper coverage. This consisted of petitions to be signed by the public, this
included in the newspaper which allowed a wider audience to be able to contribute also. However, Sarahs Law also
saw many marches and protests of the public which shows the success of the campaign as it was seen nationally.
Overall, Sarahs law was a success, it saw a change in government attitudes on how to deal with sex offender – Tony
Blair said he would back Sarahs law if it was passed by parliament. Since the first year of Sarahs Law, 200 children
have been protected, Sarahs law also saw more than 700,000 signatures just from the newspaper petitions; this
shows how effective the media was in the success of the campaign.
Clare’s Law was a campaign to get the police to disclose a person’s history of abusive behaviour to their partners
following the murder of Clare Wood by her obsessive ex-boyfriend, who the police did not offer enough police
protection for her domestic violence situation. This campaign was created by Michael Brown, Clare’s farther, which
aimed for a change in policy and law. Clare’s law is seen to target women or anyone vulnerable to domestic violence,
in order to prevent them becoming victims like Clare did. Methods like newspaper and TV awareness were used to
raise awareness of the campaign, also ambient awareness worn by people like Michael Brown included the
campaigns image on items like T-shirts to promote to campaign to the public eye. Women’s groups would be seen
wearing these T-shirts in front of parliament which really allowed them to express the meaning of the campaign to
the public due to the visible strive seen trying to get parliaments attention. In fact, the campaign was successful in
the way that it gained a lot of political support. For example, the MP for Salford helped Michael Brown to get the
campaign to reach parliament and in conclusion raise greater support. Success was also seen in the pilot scheme to
test out the law, 53/90 provided information to help identify domestic abuse offenders. The fact that the law was
actually launched indicates success of the campaign, it reached its aim for a change in law that would have been
detrimental to the UK if no action was taken by the government.
Comparing this campaign to Sarahs law, there are similarities and differences in both campaigns. For example, both
campaigns wanted a change in law and policy. Both campaigns believed that government attitudes on situations like
theirs should be changed in order to protect people. Similarly, both campaigns used similar methods to raise
awareness for their campaigns like TV and newspapers. For campaigns so specific like Sarahs and Clare’s law, their
target audience differ which depends on their purpose. However, both of their purposes targeted the police to give
the public information. Sarahs law purpose was for the police to give records of an individual with child sexual
offences, in which they targeted parents/guardians who would want this information for their child’s safety. While
Clare’s law purpose was for the police to give information of past domestic violence offender, in which this targeted
vulnerable people of domestic violence that this information would be helpful too. Both campaigns target theses
groups so specifically as they want as much support as possible, this would assure this as its most likely for these
groups to connect and want a change. Both campaigns are shown to be high successes for what their purposes and
aims intended for.
Sarahs Law and Clare’s Law:
Roy Whiting was convicted of the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne on December 12 th 2001, he was sentenced to
life imprisonment. This then led to Sarahs Law, campaigning for people to formally ask the police to tell them if
someone has a record for child sexual offences, this highlights the aim of the campaign for wanting a change in policy
and law. Sarahs law targeted parents, carers and guardians to make them more aware of any paedophiles and protect
their children. This target audience was successfully reached through the emotional factor of the whole family being
included in the media coverage, having all Sarahs siblings and family come together to ask for help in striving for
change in law helped more people to contribute. Methods in pushing the campaign out to the public predominantly
focused on TV interviews and newspaper coverage. This consisted of petitions to be signed by the public, this
included in the newspaper which allowed a wider audience to be able to contribute also. However, Sarahs Law also
saw many marches and protests of the public which shows the success of the campaign as it was seen nationally.
Overall, Sarahs law was a success, it saw a change in government attitudes on how to deal with sex offender – Tony
Blair said he would back Sarahs law if it was passed by parliament. Since the first year of Sarahs Law, 200 children
have been protected, Sarahs law also saw more than 700,000 signatures just from the newspaper petitions; this
shows how effective the media was in the success of the campaign.
Clare’s Law was a campaign to get the police to disclose a person’s history of abusive behaviour to their partners
following the murder of Clare Wood by her obsessive ex-boyfriend, who the police did not offer enough police
protection for her domestic violence situation. This campaign was created by Michael Brown, Clare’s farther, which
aimed for a change in policy and law. Clare’s law is seen to target women or anyone vulnerable to domestic violence,
in order to prevent them becoming victims like Clare did. Methods like newspaper and TV awareness were used to
raise awareness of the campaign, also ambient awareness worn by people like Michael Brown included the
campaigns image on items like T-shirts to promote to campaign to the public eye. Women’s groups would be seen
wearing these T-shirts in front of parliament which really allowed them to express the meaning of the campaign to
the public due to the visible strive seen trying to get parliaments attention. In fact, the campaign was successful in
the way that it gained a lot of political support. For example, the MP for Salford helped Michael Brown to get the
campaign to reach parliament and in conclusion raise greater support. Success was also seen in the pilot scheme to
test out the law, 53/90 provided information to help identify domestic abuse offenders. The fact that the law was
actually launched indicates success of the campaign, it reached its aim for a change in law that would have been
detrimental to the UK if no action was taken by the government.
Comparing this campaign to Sarahs law, there are similarities and differences in both campaigns. For example, both
campaigns wanted a change in law and policy. Both campaigns believed that government attitudes on situations like
theirs should be changed in order to protect people. Similarly, both campaigns used similar methods to raise
awareness for their campaigns like TV and newspapers. For campaigns so specific like Sarahs and Clare’s law, their
target audience differ which depends on their purpose. However, both of their purposes targeted the police to give
the public information. Sarahs law purpose was for the police to give records of an individual with child sexual
offences, in which they targeted parents/guardians who would want this information for their child’s safety. While
Clare’s law purpose was for the police to give information of past domestic violence offender, in which this targeted
vulnerable people of domestic violence that this information would be helpful too. Both campaigns target theses
groups so specifically as they want as much support as possible, this would assure this as its most likely for these
groups to connect and want a change. Both campaigns are shown to be high successes for what their purposes and
aims intended for.
