Description

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A tangled history of feminism’s complicity and resistance

Every week it seems there is a fresh scandal involving abhorrent, racist, misogynist behaviour by police officers. Yet these are the very people women are supposed to approach for help when faced with violence. And many feminists, hoping to use the criminal justice system to protect women, fight for stronger laws and longer sentences for those who harm them.

Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? traces the history of British feminism’s alliances and struggles with the law and its enforcers. Drawing on the legacy of Black British feminism, Leah Cowan reminds us of the vibrant and creative alternatives envisioned by those who have long known the truth: the police aren’t feminist, and the law does not keep women safe.

About the Author

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Leah Cowan is a writer and editor. She is the former Politics Editor at gal-dem, an online magazine and media platform run by women and non-binary people of colour. Leah also works at Project 17, an advice centre for migrant families who have No Recourse to Public Funds and are facing homelessness and destitution. Leah has written for publications including Vice UK, Huck, DOPE magazine, and the Guardian and in 2018 delivered a TEDxTalk presenting an intersectional analysis of emotional labour. Leah speaks and lectures, including for UN Women, in the House of Commons, at the Trades Union Congress, and at Queen Mary University of London. Her first book, BORDER NATION, breaking down the borders of migration, was published in 2021.

Praise For…

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"An urgent call to dismantle carceral feminism rooted in a powerful historical analysis that centers the lived experiences and movements of those left out of mainstream feminism."
—Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing

"Leah Cowan exposes the historical links between carceral feminism and policing with eloquent persuasion. Immaculately researched, her critique centres Black Feminism, while inviting us to dream of a world free of truncheons and jail cells"
—Stella Dadzie, author of A Kick in the Belly

"Confidently expounds the fundamental antagonism between the armed wing of the state and gender freedom for all. Here is a beautiful voice, guaranteed to recruit many"
—Sophie Lewis, author of Abolish the Family

"Cowan pulls no punches here. For those feminists who consider policing a useful weapon in the struggle, expect a thorough account of complicity in state violence that will have you questioning what you’ve long taken for granted. A revelatory and humbling read for anyone who holds out some extant belief that the police are, or could ever be, our comrades"
—Juno Mac, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes

"This unflinching history of mainstream British feminism's entanglements with the police deserves to be read by all feminists. Cowan tackles crucial questions, from why some suffrage campaigners eventually became fascists, to why some feminists demanded more police power after Sarah Everard was murdered by a serving police officer. She also explores the still-marginalised history of working class, women of colour feminist organising which has sought transformation instead of control. This is essential reading to help us out of the quagmire in which gains for some women are still achieved at the expense of others."
—Alison Phipps, author of Me, Not You: the trouble with mainstream feminism

"Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? is the book we've been waiting for. Leah combines forensic research with a rare and generous clarity of thought. I learned so much about the history of policing and the pioneering attempts to build something different and better in the future. This should be required reading, especially for white women."
—Emily Kenway, author of Who Cares

"Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? illuminates the arguments taking place among radicals and liberals in a key flashpoint in feminist struggle: policing. Drawing on vivid accounts from the front lines of resistance to policing, Cowan provides clarity and vision in tackling one of the most urgent issues of our time."
—Adam Elliott-Cooper, author of Black Resistance to British Policing

"There has always been an ideological struggle between feminisms from below, and feminisms of the status quo. While the former is about freeing us all, the latter only seeks to free some of us. Leah's vital intervention comes at a crucial time, where violence against women is once again being weaponised to legitimise violence against racialised others. Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? provides an essential antidote, and points us towards a real feminist revolution."
—Shanice Octavia McBean, co-author of Abolition Revolution

"Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? meticulously deconstructs much feminist common sense about safety, opening the way to brilliant abolitionist horizons that might genuinely give the word meaning."
—Gracie Mae Bradley, co-author of Against Borders

"Leah writes urgently, persuasively and with a laser-like focus, using her expertise to carve open the limitations of carceral feminism in a British context, making it legible to those newly encountering it. 'Timely' barely does justice to the necessity of this book right now."
—Paula Akpan, author of When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors

"Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? is a brilliant and much-needed book, which offers vital analysis of how British feminism became entangled in policing and why we urgently need a different approach. Tracing the complex history of feminist alliances with law enforcement and providing powerful insights into the pitfalls of carceral feminism, this remarkable book offers important lessons for anyone seeking to end gender, racial, and economic violence. A beautifully written, carefully researched, and highly engaging read that interweaves historical analysis with cogent political insights, Leah Cowan builds a crucial vision for feminism that addresses gender-based violence without relying on harmful alliances with police. This is the book we all need to untangle ourselves from the traps of carceral politics and to envision a feminism that truly serves us all."
—Sarah Lamble, Professor of Criminology and Queer Theory, Birkbeck