Campaigns to change the law
Some campaigns are aimed at changing an existing law because
campaigners feel there is some problem with it. Other campaigns aim to
introduce a new law in an area of public concern.
Sarah’s Law
The campaign to introduce Sarah’s Law came as a result of the abduction
and murder of eight-year-old schoolgirl, Sarah Payne in 2000.Sarah was brutally
murdered by a previously convicted paedophile, Roy whiting, had a history of
child sex crimes, as he had previosuly abducted and sexually asuslted another
eight year old girl prior to sarah’s murder who lived in the local area. Sarah’s
mother, Sara, wanted to raise awareness of the fact that people such as Roy
Whiting, Sarah’s killer, could be living in the area without any warning.
A campaign that was successful in changing the law was that ofSarah’s
Law.Sarah’s Law allows people to ask police if a person who has access to a
specific child has convictions for child sex offences.The new law was partly the
result of a successful campaign by Sarah’s mother, Sara Payne.
Sarah’s law was developed by the Home Office alongside Sarah’s mother to
help safeguard children from sex offenders. Since its introduction in 2011, 700
pedophiles have been unmasked by the scheme. Five sex offenders a week are
revealed to worried parents and guardians.
Background: Sara’s campaign focused on changing the law, so that parents would
be able to have access to details of anyone living in their area, who had a
conviction for crimes against children.The campaign for Sarah’s Law followed a
similar campaign in America in the 1990’s to introduce Megan’s Law.This had also
been successful in changing legislation to allow the public knowledge of
convicted sex offenders in their area.
Media Support: Key to Sara’s campaign was support from the News of the World,
a tabloid newspaper.In July 2000, the paper published the names and
photographs of fifty people it claimed had committed child sex offences.It also
pledged to carry on until it had ‘named and shamed’ every paedophile in Britain.
The News of the World publicising the campaign and the resulting actions from
the ‘name and shame’ campaign increased the profile of Sara’s campaign.
Success: The campaign’s success can be seen from the implementation of the
Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, or Sarah’s Law across England and Wales;
a similar scheme operates in Scotland.Police forces, process the application, but
disclosure is not guaranteed.There does not need to be a suspicion to have a
check made on a person.Although anyone can use the scheme, its most common
, users are parents and guardians.
Related Real Life Example: Megan's Law is the name for a federal law, and
informal name for subsequent state laws, in the United States requiring law
enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding
registered sex offenders. Laws were created in response to the murder of Megan
Kanka
Some campaigns are aimed at changing an existing law because
campaigners feel there is some problem with it. Other campaigns aim to
introduce a new law in an area of public concern.
Sarah’s Law
The campaign to introduce Sarah’s Law came as a result of the abduction
and murder of eight-year-old schoolgirl, Sarah Payne in 2000.Sarah was brutally
murdered by a previously convicted paedophile, Roy whiting, had a history of
child sex crimes, as he had previosuly abducted and sexually asuslted another
eight year old girl prior to sarah’s murder who lived in the local area. Sarah’s
mother, Sara, wanted to raise awareness of the fact that people such as Roy
Whiting, Sarah’s killer, could be living in the area without any warning.
A campaign that was successful in changing the law was that ofSarah’s
Law.Sarah’s Law allows people to ask police if a person who has access to a
specific child has convictions for child sex offences.The new law was partly the
result of a successful campaign by Sarah’s mother, Sara Payne.
Sarah’s law was developed by the Home Office alongside Sarah’s mother to
help safeguard children from sex offenders. Since its introduction in 2011, 700
pedophiles have been unmasked by the scheme. Five sex offenders a week are
revealed to worried parents and guardians.
Background: Sara’s campaign focused on changing the law, so that parents would
be able to have access to details of anyone living in their area, who had a
conviction for crimes against children.The campaign for Sarah’s Law followed a
similar campaign in America in the 1990’s to introduce Megan’s Law.This had also
been successful in changing legislation to allow the public knowledge of
convicted sex offenders in their area.
Media Support: Key to Sara’s campaign was support from the News of the World,
a tabloid newspaper.In July 2000, the paper published the names and
photographs of fifty people it claimed had committed child sex offences.It also
pledged to carry on until it had ‘named and shamed’ every paedophile in Britain.
The News of the World publicising the campaign and the resulting actions from
the ‘name and shame’ campaign increased the profile of Sara’s campaign.
Success: The campaign’s success can be seen from the implementation of the
Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, or Sarah’s Law across England and Wales;
a similar scheme operates in Scotland.Police forces, process the application, but
disclosure is not guaranteed.There does not need to be a suspicion to have a
check made on a person.Although anyone can use the scheme, its most common
, users are parents and guardians.
Related Real Life Example: Megan's Law is the name for a federal law, and
informal name for subsequent state laws, in the United States requiring law
enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding
registered sex offenders. Laws were created in response to the murder of Megan
Kanka
