AC 2.1 – Comparing Campaigns for Change
Purpose
Some campaigns for change are Lillian’s Law, Sarah’s Law, Helen’s Law and the #MeToo campaign.
Three of these campaigns had the same purpose - Lillian’s Law, Helen’s Law and Sarah’s law all had
the aim of introducing a new law. Lillian’s Law was based on pre-existing laws surrounding offences
like drink driving. Helen’s Law and Sarah’s Law introduced completely new laws – one that affected
the public and one that affected victims’ families and judges of murder cases. A difference is that the
#MeToo campaign aimed to change social attitudes surrounding and raise awareness of sexual
assault, harassment and abuse.
Starting Point
Three of these campaigns came from similar starting points - Lillian’s Law, Helen’s Law and Sarah’s
Law were all campaigned for as the result of murder or manslaughter. The #MeToo campaign
originated from Tarana Burke’s sharing of her experience of sexual assault on Myspace in 2006. It
came to prominence again in 2017 - after the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, actress
Alyssa Milano posted an open letter on Twitter that encouraged victims of sexual abuse to share
their experiences, using the reply "Me Too." For all each one of these campaigns centred around
female victims, their starting points differ slightly. For example, Sarah’s Law and Helen’s Law started
because of an intentional murder, whilst Lillian’s Law came from an accidental death caused by John
Page drug driving. Sarah’s Law originated from the abduction and murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne
in 2000 by Roy Whiting, known paedophile who was on the Sex Offenders Register for abducting and
indecently assaulting a young girl. Helen’s Law originated from the murder of Helen McCourt, a 22-
year-old insurance clerk. Ian Simms, a local pub landlord, was convicted of her murder, in a rare case
of a murder conviction being obtained without a body being found. The #MeToo movement started
due to the social attitudes surrounding sexual assault and a need felt by activists to change these
and raise awareness - Tarana Burke is just one of many women who have been sexually abused,
assaulted and harassed.
Success and Scope
All four of these campaigns were successful in their aims, but obviously, their successes manifested
themselves in different ways. For example, the Lillian’s Law campaign now means that drivers caught
exceeding the legal limits for eight prescription drugs and eight illegal drugs will be prosecuted.
Police now have drugalysers (e.g. for cannabis and cocaine roadside testing). The campaign also had
the support of constituent MP Garvin Barwell and David Cameron, the Prime Minister at the time; it
was backed by roadside safety charities and health organisations too. As a result of the Sarah’s Law
campaign, the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme was implemented, allowing people to apply to
find out details of those living in their area with convictions of child sex offences. Since its
introduction, a total of 708 parents across England, Scotland and Wales have made use of the
scheme. As for Helen’s Law, in 2018, the Ministry of Justice confirmed it would collaborate with
Marie McCourt, Helen’s mother, to make changes to the current laws. Justice Secretary David Gauke
announced a new law - legal duty on judges to consider "failure to disclose the site of a victim's
remains" when considering parole applications. However, the law did not prevent Ian Simms from
being released, so some question whether the law is serious, or just a gesture towards Marie and
subsequent families. The #MeToo movement was a huge success internationally - millions of stories
were shared and society began to fully understand the seriousness of sexual assault and harassment
across the world. In the USA, 19 states enacted new sexual harassment laws that stand to protect
