Dr Dame Katy Denise: My exclusive interview with the feminist icon

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit juliebindel.substack.com

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit juliebindel.substack.com

Emine Ibrahim’s verbatim speech, given at a Green Party-led London council chamber last week Chair, Cabinet Members, I want to speak tonight about the importance of protecting single-sex provision for women and girls experiencing violence and abuse. For me, this isn’t an abstract policy debate. It is personal. I came to Haringey as a little girl in 1986 with my mum and my sister, fleeing domestic violence. Before specialist domestic-abuse provision existed in anything like the form we recognise today, we were placed in hotels — notably in Holborn and St Pancras. We were there alongside other women and girls, sharing facilities in circumstances where privacy and security were extremely limited. I remember women and girls having to stand guard at bathroom doors for one another, simply to protect our collective dignity. Domestic violence provision has come a very long way since then. We should be proud of that progress — and determined not to lose it. Single-sex provision isn’t an incidental feature of VAWG services. For many women it is an essential part of feeling safe enough to disclose what has happened to them, to rebuild trust and to begin recovering from trauma. Women don’t arrive at rape-crisis centres or domestic-abuse services because everything is going well. They seek those services at perhaps the greatest hour of need and vulnerability in their lives. At that moment, the responsibility of the service must be to meet the needs of the woman seeking help. Requiring a traumatised woman, as a condition of accessing desperately needed support, to be inclusive of or affirm another vulnerable person’s identity places an additional burden upon her at precisely the moment when she should be asking nothing more complicated than: am I safe here? I believe that is an abuse of power. This does not mean that other vulnerable people should be left without support. They should receive appropriate, properly funded and compassionate services too. But one vulnerable person’s needs should not be met by overriding the boundaries and needs of another. Haringey should therefore not move away from commissioning single-sex services simply because they are single-sex. Where the law permits single-sex provision, the Council should commission it confidently, protect it and promote it — not merely as an exemption to be tolerated, but as a legitimate pathway to trauma recovery. We have travelled a long way from women and girls standing guard outside hotel bathrooms to preserve one another’s dignity. Please don’t allow us to drift backwards. Cllr Tehseen Khan’s actions during the meeting hinted at a close alignment with trans activists. Following the session, where Emine presented a petition advocating for single-sex provision in the borough, the protesters became increasingly aggressive. Consequently, Emine required a security escort to exit the building safely. The Dyke Project are deranged gender warriors. They formed in response to me and Kathleen Stock setting up the Lesbian Project. Lies from Cllr Tehseen Khan. What a prize wazzock.

Linda, with her four children, celebrating the Millennium Cat is the eldest of four children born to Linda and Glyn Razzell. “Mum had mental health problems, so the immediate assumption was that she had run away, and left the children. But we all knew he was violent”, she says. “He had been acquitted twice of attacking her… me, and then my brother and sister had witnessed it.” In March 2002, just weeks before she disappeared, Razzell had been acquitted of the unlawful wounding of Linda. It was the second time he had been found not guilty of violence towards her. Razzell was jailed for life in November 2003. He had claimed that Linda, from whom he was estranged, had disappeared, walking away and leaving their four children. A week earlier, the Family Court had frozen his bank account, because he was refusing to pay child maintenance. The prosecution case was that his motivation was primarily financial; he wanted to access his money without having to go to court. On March 19th, 2002, Razzell borrowed a car from a friend, then drove across Swindon to abduct Linda from an alleyway on her route to work. He then murdered her and disposed of her body. He was arrested eight days after her disappearance. There were significant inconsistencies in his story, and police accused him of disposing of evidence. He applied twice for leave to appeal, in 2004 and 2005, but was refused both times. He then went to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, (CCRC), which also refused. Never having shown remorse or admitted guilt, he was refused parole three years in a row. The first attempt was in 2021, when he became the first prisoner to be denied parole under Helen’s Law. This legal principle is named after Helen Court, a 22-year-old insurance clerk murdered in 1988 by Ian Simms. Like Linda, her body has never been found. The Prisoners (Disclosure of Information about Victims) Act 2020 requires a parole board to weigh a convicted murderer’s refusal to the location of their remains. In January this year, the parole board approved his release, claiming he was no longer a risk. But four months after the Parole Board’s ruling, the High Court overturned the decision to release Razzell. Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she was “not persuaded that the risk has diminished to such a level that offender management is capable of keeping the public safe if the defendant is released”. It was the first time that the High Court had overturned a Parole Board ruling after a referral from the Secretary of State for Justice. Following the decision, Cat said her father was “actively choosing to be controlling and abusive from within prison”. Listen to my interview with Cat, in which she speaks about her mother’s disappearance when Cat was just 14, and how not knowing where her mother’s body is has affected her and her siblings. Razzell has never admitted his crimes, and shows no remorse.

Dame Katy Denise I am sharing this post from last year, for those that may have missed it. Dame Katy is a national treasure, and deserved to be heard, loud and clear! “A triumphant tale of transformation from a highly esteemed philanthropist, coworker, boss, and my personal hero” Lambrini Lil, AKA JK Rowling (who has, to date, sold fewer books than Dame Katy) Thank you to Joe Fattorini - he knows why!