#82 FiLiA meets: Laura Richards
Laura Richards BSc, MSc. MBPsS is an award winning and world-renowned criminal behavioural analyst, investigator and advocate. On this podcast, Laura joins Gemma Aitchison in conversation about her current vital campaign to protect women and girls from male violence and abuse: that serial stalkers and domestic violence offenders will be included on a Serial Perpetrator Register. Laura explains why “A cultural shift is urgently needed, one where we prioritise and focus on the perpetrator, ask questions about their offending behaviour, collect and share intelligence about their offending behaviour, assess and manage their behaviour, seek to hold them to account and close their behaviour down.”
Listener Actions
1. Read more about the cases on Laura’s blog and sign the petition for law reform.
2. Use this template letter to write to your MP and Police and Crime Commissioner and demand serial domestic violence offenders and stalkers are included on the Violent and Sexual Offenders Register and managed via the Multi-agency Public Protection Panel just like sex offenders. See this briefing for further information.
3. Public Bill Committee for the Domestic Abuse Bill is calling for written evidence. Please write and ask that serial domestic abuse and stalkers are included on the Violent and Sexual Offenders Register and managed via MAPPA. The deadline closes at 5pm on June 25, 2020.
About Laura
Laura Richards BSc, MSc. MBPsS is an award winning and world-renowned criminal behavioural analyst, investigator and advocate. Laura worked for a decade at New Scotland Yard as Head of the Homicide Prevention Unit, Head of the Violent Crime Intelligence and Analysis Unit and Head of the Sexual Offences Section.
Laura founded Paladin, National Stalking Advocacy Service following the success of the stalking law reform campaign and more recently Laura spearheaded the Domestic Violence Law Reform campaign in England and Wales, which resulted in the offence of coercive control being introduced in 2015. Laura has won numerous awards for her campaigning, advocacy and analytical work to better protect victims.
Laura is author of the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour Based Abuse Risk Model and Oxford University Press book Policing Domestic Violence.
Laura is executive producer of Jennifer 42, consulting producer of Dirty John, the Dirty Truth, co-creator and executive producer of “The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey” on CBS and The Case of Caylee Anthony, Oxygen and host of the Netflix series Killer in the Family.
Laura is co-creator and co-host of the award-winning podcast Real Crime Profile and has a golden doodle puppy called Beatrice #SavageLittleBeast.
Find out more on the websites:
You can follow Laura and her work on:
Twitter: @laurarichards99 & @realcrimeprofil
Instagram: laurarichards999 & realcrimeprofile
Facebook: Laura Richards & Real Crime Profile
This podcast was edited by wonderful FiLiA volunteer Suzi Sevgi