Unit 1 A* Criminology essay 5
Compare four or more campaigns for change. You should make reference to your own
planned campaign
There are many campaigns that try to achieve different things and fight for certain causes. Examples
of campaigns for change are: Sarah’s Law (SL), Unlock, Dignity in dying (DID), No knives better lives
(NKBL). Sarah’s law was started in 2000 by a mother when her 8-year-old daughter, was abducted
and murdered by an already convicted paedophile who lived in the area. Unlock was started in 1998
by a group of former prisoners, who made bank accounts for prisoners for when they were released.
Dignity in dying was founded in 1935 by Kellick Millard to substitute slow and painful death, for a quick
painless one. No Knives Better Lives introduced in 2009, as a response to the high incidence of knife
crime and the concerning number of young people charged with handling an offensive weapon.
Aims of a campaign for change are what it hopes to achieve, campaign aims fall into the following
categories: change in policy, change in law, change in priorities of agencies, change in funding,
change in awareness, and change in attitude. Sarah’s Law had the aim of a change in law. To make it
legal for parents, guardians and carers to be entitled to ask the police whether another person has a
record against them for child sexual offences. Her aim was to protect children, and she wanted to
raise awareness that those with convictions of crimes against children, could be living in the area
without the knowledge of parents. Alternatively, unlock campaigns to bring about a change in policy.
To help people with a criminal conviction, and provides a voice and support for them as they face
disadvantages because of their criminal record. They want to help ex-offenders move on with their
lives and promote a fairer and more inclusive society. This campaign was directly to help the victim
with their future life compared to Sarah’s law which was to protect the victim. The dignity in dying
campaign aims to change the law, and give the option of assisted dying to terminally ill, mentally
competent adults. Assisted dying is illegal in the UK and can result in 14 years in jail, so they want to
change this, allowing an individual to choose where they die, who is present and their treatment
options, leading to a good quality end of life care. No knives better lives aims to change the priorities
of agencies. Its personal aim is to deter young people from carrying knives, and raise awareness of
the consequences. It focuses on schools and colleges as it aims to turn educational institutions into
agencies to work with those at risk of being involved in knife crime. And it tries to help potential victims
by protecting them from being drawn into knife crime.
I have decided to create my own campaign for change, directed at domestic abuse. Because this
crime goes unreported due to fear, as a victim worries that there will be reprisals from the offender if
they report it, and shame, as an individual feels embarrassed of their situation especially if people
didn’t report the relationship. A lack of reporting results in the crime being underreported; meaning
that the extent of the crime is unknown. Therefore, actions wont be took to stop it and support the
victims, as efforts go into more reported crime. By it being unreported it causes a ripple effect
therefore other victims feel more isolated and won’t report either, demonstrating why my campaign is
needed. My campaign is called At Risk and aims to change awareness, ans change the priorities of
agencies. The personal aims are decreasing the number of domestic violence victims, by helping
them get out of their situation and preventing individuals from becoming a victims. It will help victims
speak up about their danger, and access lifesaving support, breaking their isolation. And raise
awareness of the first signs of domestic violence before individuals become trapped and in danger,
preventing their being more victims and educating those who need it most. It will benefit current
victims and assist them in leaving the abusive relationship quickly, and safely. I will work with
universities mainly as my target audience is 18–24-year-old woman who are the primary victim for
domestic violence, so are most at risk and need to understand the first signs of it and how to get
help,and it will tackle the problem head on. The target audience is younger so I will choose the media
that applies most to them. Woman of colour experience intimate partner violence more than white
women but it goes unreported more, so my campaign will reach those not seen as victims to help
them. Benefiting the campaign by helping it achieve the set aims.
There are both similarities and differences between these campaigns. SL, Unlock, and DID all aim to
make a change directly within the government, with SL and DID being more similar in wanting a
change in law, with Unlock wanting a change in policy. Despite different personal aims due to
individuality of each campaign, the purposes are similar. All the campaigns want to bring about
