Tag: justice for gaia

Manifesto

The Justice for Gaia manifesto, which puts forwards demands around policing, mental health and social support, was created because lives like Gaia’s are still being risked and lost because of outdated policies, devastating funding cuts and a toxic culture of misogyny within many of our public services.  

The manifesto emerged from what we learned during the inquest into Gaia’s death, as well as talks with leading womens’ rights organisations, mental health experts and disability rights campaigners about what needs to change to save lives like Gaia’s. We are demanding that survivors get the support they deserve and that their voices are heard so we can all live in safer and fairer communities. 

1

Dorset Police: Failing Survivors


Dorset Police has one of the worst rape conviction rates in the country. Over the past 10 years, the number of sex offenses reported to them has doubled but the number of charges they bring has halved. Sex offenses are the most commonly reported form of criminal offense in Dorset but the force still has no specialist rape unit.

In 2020 they only pressed charges in 28 of the 782 rape reports they received and according to data obtained via a Freedom of Information request from Justice for Gaia, of 2058 sexual offences recorded by the Dorset Police 2019-2020, only 46 resulted in criminal charges.

We keep a log of relevant stories as they appear in the press. You can scroll through here and click the link to access the full story.

In Brief

Click here to access an interactive map of sexual and violent crime in the Dorset area. These are the most frequently reported crimes in many Dorset towns. 

In Detail

Content Note: contains descriptions of assault and sexual violence *

Dorset policeman guilty of gross misconduct after relationship with abuse victim

A Dorset policeman has been found guilty of gross misconduct after “abusing his position of trust” to form “relationship” with domestic abuse victim he met through his duty as a police officer. He also admitted sending confidential information to people outside of the force

Dorset Police 999 call over rapist’s behaviour before attack

Dorset Police were found to have no case to answer having been warned about a dangerous predator just hours before he raped a woman in a public street in Poole. No officers attended despite a concern for welfare report having been submitted. A description of the man and woman had been obtained and an incident log created but it was closed a short time later by a supervisor.

Dozens of Dorset Police employees working despite domestic abuse allegations

Dozens of employees are still working at Dorset Police despite being accused of domestic abuse, figures reveal.

The statistics, obtained in an investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and ITV, reveal more than 1,300 police officers and staff across the UK were reported for domestic abuse between January 2018 and September last year. This included 30 police officers or staff members from Dorset Police. Two officers or staff members received some form of disciplinary action as a result of the allegations against them.

Dorset Police 999 call over rapist’s behaviour before attack

In April 2022, Dorset Police were found to have no case to answer having been warned about a dangerous predator just hours before he raped a woman in a public street in Poole and no officers attended despite a concern for welfare report having been submitted.

A description of the man and woman was obtained and an incident log was created but closed a short time later by a supervisor. The 999 call was made by a witnesses who had been approached by Kyoybasha a short time earlier on the morning of September 5 last year.

She dismissed his advances before he switched his attention to the victim, who was aged in her 30s. After he “pestered, badgered and followed” the lone female for an hour and 45 minutes, Kyoybasha raped her outside a building near Pottery Junction in Poole.

Dorset Police officer touched female colleagues inappropriately

In January 2022, another Dorset police officer was found guilty of gross misconduct for sexually harassing female colleagues and “would have been dismissed by the force had he not already resigned.” An internal investigation established that between 2019 and 2021 he had made a large number of harassing comments of a sexual nature to female colleagues around the force directly in person and via messages, and sexually assaulted multiple women.

Dorset Police civil servant jailed for grooming underage girls online

A FORMER civil servant who worked for the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner has been jailed for repeatedly engaging in sexual communications with two underage ‘girls’.

Jason Rory Samuel Mumford, aged 47, thought he was messaging a 12-year-old girl named ‘Toby’ and a 13-year-old girl named ‘Paris’ – sending them videos of himself performing sexual acts and also inviting them to perform lewd acts on themselves.

Dorset Police superintendent found guilty of gross misconduct after claiming thousands of pounds of false expenses

In November 2021, a Dorset superintendent was found guilty of gross misconduct after claiming thousands of pounds of false expenses. Not a gender-based violence issue but still it doesn’t inspire much confidence, does it?

Dorset Police office to face gross misconduct charge related to Sarah Everard investigation

October 2021 – The officer posted details of an interview given by Couzens before he pled guilty to the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, which the police watchdog says may “have brought discredit on the police service and potentially interfered with the course of justice.”

Dorset Police officer jailed after strangling a woman to death 

October 2020 – The trial heard the injuries would have resulted from significant force to the neck for a minimum 10 to 30 seconds and possibly longer. As a “trained and experienced” road traffic police officer, Brehmer would have known Parry was seriously injured yet did nothing to help her, the judge said. He could not have thought, as he said in his police interview, she was “simply taking a breath”, the judge added. “You must have known that her body had gone limp after your assault on her. Before you walked to the car park entrance you must have seen how she was hanging half out of the car.”

Parry had “fought hard” against Brehmer, “if only for a short while”. Brehmer had stabbed himself three times with a penknife. The judge said he had sought at the scene to blame Parry for stabbing him, lying to police and others at the time. “These lies were in my view particularly serious,” the judge added, given Brehmer’s job. 

Dorset Police inspector Billy Bulloch guilty of gross misconduct

May 2020 – AN INSPECTOR carried out a “fundamental betrayal” to the public and policing when he abused his position as an officer to engage in sexual activity with members of the public and Dorset Police.

Hairdresser, 44, who was killed by her ex in her salon was ‘let down’ by police who took her phone and left her an easy target, coroner says

February 2020 – “The family of hairdresser Katrina O’Hara today slammed the police for their ‘serious failings’ that allowed her violent ex-boyfriend to murder her. Ms O’Hara’s three children said they will ‘always feel let down’ by police who they suggested had brushed their mother’s fears about Stuart Thomas ‘under the carpet’.” 

Married police detective, 41, is sacked after sexually assaulting unwilling female colleague in her own home and having ‘inappropriate contact’ with her

February 2020 – The most serious allegation involved the officer turning up at the woman’s flat unannounced where he sexually assaulted her. After being let in he grabbed hold of the woman, kissed her and then lifted her up onto the breakfast bar. He then removed her top and bra, touched her breasts and ‘dry humped’ her. The woman feared the detective would rape her.

Two Dorset Police officers found guilty of gross misconduct 

January 2020 – When the officers arrived they discovered the woman was at the address with a man who was prevented from contacting her and from being at the address by the conditions of a non-molestation order. The man was liable to be arrested if found in breach of the order.

The officers spoke with the woman and the man at the address and made the decision not to arrest forming the view that there was no risk to the woman. The police log report following the officer’s attendance at the address was updated by PC White with false and inaccurate information. It recorded that the man was not present at the address.

13 Dorset Police staff arrested between 2015 and 2019 

August 2019 – A study by Newsquest’s data investigations unit found that 13 officers or members of staff were arrested in Dorset between May 2015 and 2019. Rape, burglary and assault are among the crimes employees were apprehended over, the investigation found. However, of 13 arrests, nine cases (69 per cent) were dropped and the employee faced no criminal or disciplinary action.

Sharon Perrett murder: Police ‘stopped calling abuse victim’

June 2019 – Police stopped trying to call an abuse victim shortly before she was murdered by her partner because her phone was off, an inquiry has found. Sharon Perrett, 37, was beaten to death by Daniel O’Malley-Keyes at her home in Christchurch, Dorset, in August.

Thousands of police officers and staff ‘not properly vetted’

February 2019 – BBC 5 Live Investigates spoke to Yvonne, not her real name, who was a long-term victim of domestic violence. After her husband attacked both her and her daughter during an incident in 2013, she called 999. When Dorset Police came to her home, one of the attending officers began to groom Yvonne. “He said a beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be treated like this. He started texting me, complimenting me, he was very persuasive,” she told the BBC.

Yvonne and the Dorset PC had a sexual relationship over the next six months, but she says she felt taken advantage of and used. She ended the affair, but says the officer would continue to come to her home unannounced, wearing his police uniform.

“I felt threatened. He said if anyone found out, the court case (for her husband’s domestic violence) would have to start all over again.”

Sacked police officer Allan Smith who sent threatening messages to woman is jailed

July 2015 – A disgraced police officer who sent sent frightening and threatening messages to a woman he harassed, as well as disclosing protected police information, has been jailed.

Allan Christopher Smith, aged 54, of Bovington, admitted multiple incidents of putting a person in fear of violence by harassment, disclosing information without lawful authority and obtaining information without lawful authority.

Criticism for Dorset Police over way it investigates some offences 

December 2014 – Due to a backlog of cases in the Safeguarding Referral Unit, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)’s PEEL Report raised concerns that “potentially vulnerable victims were either waiting an unacceptable time for services or missed altogether”, and because the force’s definition of vulnerability was too narrow.

0

BREAKING NEWS: search officer “disciplined” as we call for wider change and mark 4 years 🌹🕯️🌹


🌹 Take action here
🌹 Catch up on the latest here

November 2021 marks 4 years since we lost Gaia. When we spoke out on 25th (World Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) about systemic failures in how the justice system engages with survivors, Dorset Police announced the “disciplining” of a Dorset Police officer involved in the search for Gaia, saying he had been given a “final written warning.”

The family was devastated to learn that these proceedings had taken place behind closed doors, denying us the right to be present, make eye contact, try and understand how things could have gone so wrong and perhaps to speak about the consequences, which left us with a lifetime of grief over an unspeakable loss that will never heal. We feel very let down. It’s another example of Dorset Police saying one thing and doing another.

#16days #16DaysOfActivism #16daysofActivism2021 #16DaysOfActivismAgainstGenderBasedViolence #OrangeTheWorld #JusticeForGaia #JusticeForAllOfUs

0

Press release: Anniversary Of Gaia Pope’s Disappearance Marked By Call For Connor Hayes Witnesses & Survivors To Come Forward To The Centre For Women’s Justice

  • The Centre for Women’s Justice invites confidential testimony from witnesses and survivors of prolific sex offender Connor Hayes. 
  • Hayes, from Bournemouth, was repeatedly imprisoned and re-released for separate sex offences after Gaia’s rape allegation against him was dropped by Dorset Police. 
  • Dorset Police has one of the UK’s worst prosecution rates for sexual offences, charging cases in just 46 of the 2058 recorded 2019-2020.

The Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) has issued a call for anyone who was victimised by or witness to crimes committed by sex offender Connor Hayes to come forward. This marks the fourth anniversary of the disappearance and death of teenager Gaia Pope, who made an allegation of rape against Hayes in December 2015. The case was quickly dropped by Dorset Police however Hayes, from Bournemouth, was subsequently imprisoned, released and imprisoned again for separate sex offences. 

Hayes made threats against Gaia’s life and repeated attempts to contact her. Gaia’s family say that the trauma this caused alongside the police failure to prosecute her case and fears other women and girls were at risk, was a crucial factor in the teenager’s health challenges, disappearance and death. 

Despite an explosion in sexual offence reporting, nationally less than 1 in 60 rape cases lead to criminal charges. Even in this context, Dorset Police has one of the worst charging rates in the UK. According to data obtained via a Freedom of Information request (1) from Justice for Gaia, of 2058 sexual offences recorded by the force 2019-2020, only 46 led to charges. 

CWJ therefore joins Justice for Gaia in raising concerns around Dorset Police’s record on sexual offences and gender-based violence. Last year a Dorset Police officer strangled a woman to death and 2015-2019 13 other officers were arrested for crimes including rape and assault, while another Dorset Police officer now faces gross misconduct charges related to the investigation into Sarah Everard’s murder. The force is also one of 17 where concerns have been raised about their failure to establish a rape and serious sexual offences unit. 

A full inquest into Gaia’s death will begin in Dorset in April 2022. Senior Dorset Coroner Rachael Griffin has said: “It is arguable that acts or omissions by Dorset Police may have been or were contributory to Gaia’s death. I am satisfied there has been an arguable breach of the obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

CWJ, a legal charity that holds the state accountable for violence against women and girls, are supporting the Justice for Gaia campaign and invites anyone who has been a victim or can provide useful evidence about Connor Hayes’ sexual offending to come forward. Please email us at info@centreforwomensjustice.org.uk providing reference to Connor Hayes. 

Harriet Wistrich, co-founder, Centre for Women’s Justice, says: “The process of reporting rape and supporting a police investigation can be extremely traumatic. Most women who report do so to prevent harm to others. When police fail, this can be devastating. I have no doubt Gaia’s deterioration in mental health was at least in part caused by her learning of the extent of police failures that allowed Hayes to continue to offend. CWJ are happy to assist the Justice for Gaia campaign in their search for justice and to raise awareness of the impact of criminal justice failings in the investigation of rape.”

Marienna Pope-Weidemann, Gaia’s cousin, says: “Like millions of women across the UK we have lost faith in the police so we are deeply grateful to the Centre for Women’s Justice for providing a safe alternative for people to come forward. Now is the time to speak out against abusers and police failures. If you have any information about Connor Hayes’ crimes, please speak up. There is no justice that can bring our darling Gaia back to us but we will not sit back while a whole generation is failed by those meant to protect us. It’s time to make a change.” 

(1) Freedom of Information request data is available upon request.

0

Press Release: Independent Medical Experts called at today’s Pre-Inquest Review

  • Pre-Inquest Review Hearing on the disappearance and death of Dorset teenager Gaia Pope was held today at Bournemouth Town Hall.
  • Gaia’s family believe she died due to failings by police and mental health services following an incident of rape. 
  • The Coroner has confirmed that she will now instruct two independent medical experts to provide opinions on Gaia’s care ahead of the full inquest in April 2022.

Wednesday 19 May: inquest proceedings into the death of 19-year-old Gaia Pope from Swanage resumed today with a Pre-Inquest Review hearing at Bournemouth Town Hall. Senior coroner for Dorset Rachael Griffin has confirmed that she will now be instructing two independent medical experts to provide opinions regarding the adequacy of the epilepsy care Gaia received as well as another expert to comment on the sufficiency of this care in light of Gaia’s mental health difficulties.

It was also confirmed that the family will be allowed to show the jury an innovative video multimedia ‘pen portrait’ of Gaia at the inquest which is due to run for three months from 24 April 2022.

Gaia approached Dorset Police in December 2015 to report she had been raped by a known sex offender. Dorset Police dropped Gaia’s case, which preceded a decline in her mental and physical health (Gaia suffered from epilepsy and post-traumatic stress.) Following several hospitalisations Gaia disappeared on 7 November 2017 and following an enormous police search and community effort to find her, after eleven days her body was recovered by which point she had died of hypothermia.

Her family say vital questions about Gaia’s death – and the adequacy of local support services – remain unanswered. With 82 reports per conviction in 2018, Dorset Police has one of the worst conviction rates for rape in the UK. The county also has a significantly higher rates of suicides and A&E admissions due to self harm compared to the national average and the family were devastated to learn in September 2020 that Gaia was sexually harassed by another patient while under section at St Anne’s Hospital, after which no safeguarding referral was made.

Natasha Pope, Gaia’s mum, says: “This long drawn out process is difficult for us to bear but we are confident that progress is being made. We want to make sure our tragic loss leads to positive change for others in our community. To this end Gaia has already become a formidable force. Only a glimmer of light is required to break through the darkness.”

Marienna Pope-Weidemann, Gaia’s cousin, says: “As a survivor Gaia was denied justice from the police and support from the NHS. What connects these things is a culture, one that says if the effects of ill health or abuse make it harder for us to stand up for ourselves then our rights don’t matter. There are far too many bereaved families in this country who know this to be true. We want justice for all of them. We want to live in a world where hospitals take care of us and the police protect us. It’s not much to ask.”

Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women’s Justice which is supporting the family, says: “The road to justice for Gaia is proving to be a long and difficult one, but her family and friends remain determined, as do their many allies. After Sarah Everard, women’s confidence in the police is at an all time low and many will be following Gaia’s story as a measure of what justice the state can offer survivors – and what needs to change to save lives like Gaia’s.”

Lucy McKay, on behalf of the charity INQUEST, says: “This hearing comes a time of increased public concern around gendered violence and the police response to missing people, following the murder of Sarah Everard and a number of high profile cases. The scrutiny the inquest process provides in examining the death of Gaia Pope is vital. Not only to ensure the family can access the truth about what happened, and hopefully get some justice and accountability, but also in the public interest to ensure changes are made to protect lives in future.”

Due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, attendance at the hearing today was limited. Members of the public are invited to show support online instead using the hashtag #JusticeForGaia. 

***

Please respect the privacy of Gaia’s family and friends at this time and ensure all press enquiries go through the stated channels. You can follow the family’s Justice for Gaia campaign on Facebook, Instagram and twitter @JusticeForGaia and find out more via their website. 

1

Our statement outside court 🌹⚖️🌹 (Sep 2020)

At Gaia’s pre-inquest review hearing on 15 September 2020 we took two more important steps towards #JusticeForGaia and it’s the most we’ve been able to say so far about what happened to her. Here, Gaia’s twin sister Maya speaks alongside her cousin Marienna.

“We are determined to do all in our power to make sure your family never has to stand where we stand today, fighting for justice for someone who’s been taken from you and who can never be replaced.”

Huge thanks to our amazing legal team for all their hard work, also INQUEST, Rape Crisis and Centre for Women’s Justice as well as all the friends who came today or found a way to show support online. (Please keep it coming, it keeps us going…)

0

Press release: we confirm the identity of sex offender Gaia accused of rape and call for other victims to come forwards

If you think you may have been a victim of Connor Hayes, you are invited to contact the family’s solicitor, Sarah Kellas, who can be reached via the civil rights law firm Birnberg Pierce on 02079110166.

For emotional support, the family recommend survivors call the Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999.

  • Connor Hayes, from Bournemouth, has been imprisoned, released and imprisoned again for separate sex offences since Gaia’s case was dropped by Dorset Police.
  • Gaia’s family say the Post-Traumatic Stress caused by this rape was “the crucial factor” in the 19 year old’s mental health challenges, disappearance and death.
  • Dorset Police has the worst conviction rate for rape in the UK, with 82 reports per conviction last year.
  • The inquest into Gaia’s death is on pause pending conclusions from two IOPC investigations: one into how Dorset Police handled her disappearance, another into their investigation of her rape allegation.

21 November: Gaia made an allegation of rape against Connor Hayes in December 2015, just over a year after her family say the rape occurred. Gaia then reported to Dorset Police, who said they had insufficient evidence to prosecute and discouraged the teenager from appealing their decision using the Victim’s Right of Review.

In a supporting statement, Gaia’s family say:

“We want to call on other survivors of abuse by Connor Hayes and his associates to come forward, either to Dorset Police or to our incredible solicitor, Sarah Kellas from the civil rights law firm Birnberg Pierce. 

Two years since Gaia she was taken from us, there are still countless unanswered questions, but what we do know is this. We know that Gaia reported she was drugged and raped by Connor Hayes. We know that she was denied justice and that this denial of justice, coupled with a denial of adequate mental health support, led to her death. We know that because of this, it is unlikely Gaia’s case can ever be prosecuted. 

But our idea of justice isn’t just about Gaia, it’s not even about Connor Hayes, it’s about about supporting survivors like Gaia the way they need and deserve to be supported. We want to do our part to keep women and girls safe in our community. We want those who may feel too let down by the system to report to the police to have somewhere else to go. We want support for survivors to improve in the South West and nationwide. We want rape taken seriously and the women who report it heard. We don’t want anyone else to go through the trauma Gaia had to go through or the devastating loss we live with every day.”

Katie Russell, national spokesperson for Rape Crisis England & Wales says:

“Gaia’s story is a devastating reflection of how our criminal justice system and society too often fail victims and survivors of rape, sexual abuse and all forms of sexual violence. Her family’s tireless efforts to seek justice for her and others who’ve been subjected to these traumatic crimes is an inspiration.

We agree with them completely that those who’ve experienced sexual violence and abuse need and deserve social justice, in the form of properly resourced, specialist and independent support, counselling and advocacy services, as well as a properly functioning criminal justice system. This must be an urgent priority for the next government.”

Today, Gaia’s twin sister Maya and her older sister Clara Pope-Sutherland, alongside Gaia’s cousin Marienna Pope-Weidemann, gave interviews with BBC South Today and ITV Meridian. They called for others who may have been victimised by Connor Hayes, to come forward.

Though Gaia’s rape case was dropped by police, Hayes was later sentenced to two years in prison in December 2016, after admitting to taking an indecent moving image of a child, possession of indecent images of a child and paying for the sexual services of a child. Gaia’s family say Gaia was aware he would most likely serve just half that sentence and be due for release in the early part of 2018, a prospect which terrified her because she said Hayes had threatened to kill her and her family if she reported criminal wrongdoing on his part to the police.

Some time after Gaia’s death in November 2017, Hayes was released early, then imprisoned for a second time. This time, he was sentenced to 21 months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of causing or inciting a child aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch a sexual act. On this occaision, he was sentenced alongside William Wright, the third man in his family to be convicted for similar offences. Connor Hayes was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and a previous Sexual Harm Prevention Order was extended to 2028 and amended to exclude him contacting girls aged under 16. The terms of this order are not known to the family.

Family members involved in the Justice for Gaia campaign say they have have good reason, beyond Gaia’s own testimony, to believe that many other women and girls may have been victimised by Hayes and/or his associates. The family says it will never release further information out of respect for the victims’ right to privacy.

Monday 18 November marked two years since Gaia was found dead following an 11 day disappearance and mass public search. During the anniversary of her disappearance (7-18 November) supporters and members of the public have lit candles in Gaia’s memory, some shared on social media with the hashtag #JusticeForGaia.

If you think you may have been a victim of Connor Hayes, you are invited to contact the family’s solicitor, Sarah Kellas, who can be reached via the civil rights law firm Birnberg Pierce on 02079110166.

For emotional support, the family recommend survivors call the Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999.

The family also extend their deepest thanks to INQUEST, their legal team at Birnberg Peirce, civil society allies, friends, supporters and local community for their unwavering support.

0

Press Release: family appeal for information on anniversary of Gaia’s disappearance

Released 7th November via the INQUEST website

On the anniversary of her disappearance, Gaia’s family appeals to members of the public to come forward with any relevant information. The family is also convening an art project in her memory and to highlight the crisis in service provision for rape survivors and young people with mental ill health.

The inquest into Gaia’s death has been postponed until March 2018 while the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) probe Dorset Police’s response, both to her disappearance in November 2017 and her prior rape case. The family welcomed both investigations and look forward to the outcome.

Natasha Pope, Gaia’s mother, says: “This year has been more painful than words can say. Sometimes I can’t believe I have survived it, but with my every breath I love and demand justice for my daughter. Since the Me Too, we have seen a rising movement for the rights of women and girls. Change is coming.”

Marienna Pope-Weidemann, Gaia’s cousin, says: “When she was missing, it was the support and dedication from the public that kept us going. You gave us hope that we would find Gaia. A year after her death, we must call on you again to help us find justice for her. We can’t do this without you. If you know anything that might aid the investigation into Gaia’s rape case or the missing persons investigation and help us learn the truth, please come forward; not just for Gaia’s sake, but for the sake of anyone else who might be at risk.”

Harriet Wistrich, award-winning civil rights lawyer and co-founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice who is representing the family, says: “Nothing will dull the pain for those who loved her on the  first anniversary of Gaia’s death, but the Justice for Gaia campaign represents their hope that something good can come from this, shining a light on failures by the police and demanding better from the police in the investigation of crimes of sexual violence.”

Deborah Coles, director of INQUEST, says: “Already one year on from Gaia’s disappearance, it is important that her family see a prompt and robust investigation. There has never been greater disquiet about victims of sexual violence being failed by statutory agencies. There is a clear link between the trauma of rape and mental ill health. The longer the delay in identifying any systemic failings, the greater the risk of more young women like Gaia dying.”

Emily Fields of Sisters Uncut says: “Gaia’s story shows the devastating impact that being poorly treated by the criminal justice system can have after sexual violence. Survivors need support not suspicion. That’s why we’re fighting data gathering policies that further traumatise those reporting abuse.”

Gaia’s family have organised #ArtForGaia, a creative project in Gaia’s memory, which is being followed by BBC News. With the inquest postponed, they say the project is a chance to show that Gaia won’t be forgotten – however long it takes – and create a forum for others affected by sexual violence and mental health issues to share their experiences through creative work. In addition, the family are appealing for artwork from Gaia’s friends and anyone who was involved in the search for her as well as the wider public.

People are being invited to photograph their work, submit it via the website and share it on twitter with the hashtag #ArtForGaia. Find out more at www.justiceforgaia.com/artforgaia

0

Gaia deserved a chance to see the world, to fall in love. That was taken from her – and we want justice, writes Gaia’s cousin Marienna for the Guardian. 

Today is the 365th day I’ve woken up with a hole in my chest where my heart used to be. The 11 days my cousin Gaia Pope was missing before her body was found felt like an out-of-body experience. We somehow lost the need to eat and sleep; nothing in the world mattered except bringing her home safe.

The community-led effort to find her was a grassroots miracle, filled with enough love and power to obscure that cold feeling in my gut and the whisper that said what we all already knew: she would never have left us.

The press often call her “tragic Gaia Pope”, which I hate not just because it does her no justice but also because her death was not tragedy; it was travesty.

Gaia was my cousin, but I loved her like a sister from the moment I first held her as a baby in my arms when I was seven years old. As a woman, she was let down by the services we all trust will be there for us in our hour of need. She fell through the cracks in the system and she died there.

First, she was let down by Dorset police when they chose not to prosecute for an alleged rape that took place when she was just 16. She is not alone in this: the prosecution and conviction rates for rape are worse now than they were 40 years ago.

The stigma and indignities she was subjected to as a survivor, along with the failure of the police to make her feel safe, drove her deep into post-traumatic stress. She received only a few weeks of crisis counselling from local mental health services, even though we, her family, felt that she needed a lot more. Meanwhile, her mother was being forced to leave her to work every night, just to keep a roof over their heads.

She is not alone in this, either: contrary to government rhetoric, mental health services have been decimated by austerity, none more than youth services. They receive just 7% of mental health funding even though 75% of mental health issues start young, and provision in Dorset, where my family is from, is particularly poor.

Eventually, her declining mental and physical health drove her first out of college and then work. Now it was the turn of the welfare system to relentlessly interrogate her trauma and undermine her sense of self-respect. She was forced to fight a lengthy battle for the personal independence payments (PIP) to which she was entitled.

Again, this isn’t just Gaia’s story: the PIP system has since been ruled “blatantly discriminatory” towards people with mental health issues and a great many people have died waiting for, fighting for or having given up on the support they deserve.

On 7 November last year, triggered, we believe, by an incident of sexual harassment online, Gaia passed the point of her endurance. With no phone, no cash, no coat and daylight fading, she simply disappeared. This was the last opportunity for the state to intervene and save her life. We begged them from the first moment to search for her along the coastal paths we had walked since childhood. “If she was out there, we’d have found her,” one police officer told me. It took 11 days for them to find her body there. By then it was too late.

One year on we know very little more than that. The postmortem said she was killed by hypothermia. I say it was a death by indifference. Gaia was a child soldier in a war that has cost more than 120,000 lives in Britain alone since 2010. She was fighting to survive and growing up poor in the age of austerity and that is a bloody, hard fight. She battled bravely for her rights but also for those around her; she never once let go of her humanity, her creativity, her determination to see the best in others. I am so profoundly proud of her for that.

Gaia deserved better. All of us do. She deserved the chance to fulfil her potential and give back to her community all the courage and compassion she had to offer. It’s not just her loved ones who have been robbed of someone precious, and our local community knows that.

Gaia deserved a chance to see the world, to fall in love, to have a family of her own. All that was taken from her – from us – and I want justice for that. But I also want justice for those left behind: the one in five women and girls who have endured sexual violence in this country; the 70% of young people with mental health challenges not receiving proper support; the countless families up and down the country who have been sacrificed on the altar of austerity; the lives not yet lost, precious, worth fighting for.

The world is a darker place without Gaia, but she still lights our way. We honour her memory when we fight for justice for her and for the better world that she believed in. In that sense, with support from and as part of a much wider movement for social justice, she will triumph yet.

0

One Year On…

We can’t believe it, but tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of Gaia’s disappearance. Her twin sister Maya has spoken on camera for the first time in an incredibly courageous interview for the BBC, which you can watch here.

In this extended radio interview, Clara and Maya speak about their grief, their hopes for the campaign and why Gaia would want justice for us all. We are so proud of them and we know Gaia is too.

0

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑