{"id":812142,"date":"2026-10-24T06:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/812142\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T06:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:08:19","slug":"abuse-victims-arrested-by-uk-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/812142\/","title":{"rendered":"Abuse victims arrested by UK police"},"content":{"rendered":"

openDemocracy\u2019s senior investigative reporter Sian Norris was digging into the state of prisons in England and Wales when she made a shocking discovery: potentially thousands of women with criminal records, or in prison, are actually domestic abuse victims sentenced for offences committed under coercion from their abusers.<\/p>\n

Sian\u2019s findings, based on months spent combing through prison data and filing dozens of Freedom of Information requests, form the basis for the explosive investigation that leads our newsletter this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe link between domestic abuse and women\u2019s offending has often gone ignored within the criminal justice system,\u201d Sian writes. Or, to quote one of the women she interviewed: \u201cI didn\u2019t realise he was controlling until it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the lull of the summer, we head into a packed political season, both here in the UK, and around the world. Will Brazil be the latest country to fall under the sway of an authoritarian strong man beholden to the US?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll find out this Sunday when the country\u2019s incumbent centre-left president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva faces off against Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro, a Trump ally and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, now imprisoned for his role in an attempted coup after losing the 2022 election. \u201cBrazil\u2019s presidential election has become a proxy war for the \u2018Donroe Doctrine\u2019,\u201d Pedro Bastos writes in an incisive analysis of just what is at stake.<\/p>\n

The next election could come any time, and we are determined to expose the flow of dark money in politics before then. To do so, we need to recruit 500 new monthly donors by the end of 2026. We’re a third of the way there \u2013 but still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n

Will you help us fight those funding the politics of hate, with a monthly donation today?<\/p>\n


\n Become a regular supporter
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Israel goes to the polls with incumbent Binyamin Netanyahu trailing retired General Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot has been portrayed as a liberal figure in sections of the press, but Israel\u2019s polity and institutions of state may have shifted too far to the right to make a material difference to the continuing oppression of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

A new security policy paper published by an influential Israeli think tank finds \u201cthat Israel must pursue permanent war, with no room for any long-term peace settlement,\u201d Paul Rogers notes, concluding that \u201cIsrael has altered, like a building that is losing its foundations.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are making good progress, but are still some way off our goal of hitting 500 new regular donors by the end of the year. Regular donations make it easier for us to plan and support impactful months-long investigations, allowing our reporters to focus on what really matters \u2013 like the tragedy of victims of domestic abuse ending up in prison \u2013 and keep the public interest journalism available to everyone, rather than sequestered behind a paywall.<\/p>\n

If you aren\u2019t in a position to contribute (everything is so expensive right now!), we would love it if you could forward this email to someone who might. Thank you as always for reading our work.<\/p>\n

Have a great weekend<\/p>\n

Aman Sethi, Editor-in-chief<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

They were victims of domestic abuse. They ended up under arrest<\/p>\n

Exclusive: hundreds of domestic abuse victims arrested for crimes committed under coercion or duress, but figures are tip of the iceberg<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Can Trump\u2019s \u2018Donroe Doctrine\u2019 sway Brazil\u2019s election?<\/p>\n

White House seeks Bolsonaro win to ensure access to oil and microchips \u2013 and isolate American continent from China<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How the Trumpian Project 2025 is spreading in Latin America<\/p>\n

From Chile to Peru, far-right leaders are adopting Project 2025 policies to dismantle democracy and social rights<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside the Israeli military mindset driving endless war<\/p>\n

For Israel\u2019s generals, peace is merely a bargaining chip \u2013 an outlook that will outlast whoever wins next week\u2019s election<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Something is changing in Spain \u2013 and tenants are leading the way<\/p>\n

One woman\u2019s tragic fight to save her home sparked a nationwide challenge to the idea that we should settle for survival<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Weekly Poll<\/p>\n

How does your opinion compare to the rest of our readership? Take our new look weekly poll and find out. Have thoughts about the topic? Send us an email<\/a><\/p>\n

Are you stockpiling food and water, as the UK government’s new advisory suggests?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week’s poll resultsDo you avoid using Amazon services?\"\"<\/p>\n

openDemocracy receives so many carefully considered messages about our work that it seems a shame to keep them to ourselves. <\/p>\n

These comments are edited for clarity, accuracy and length, and are not a reflection of openDemocracy’s editorial position.<\/p>\n

I have long, long admired Margaret Owen and been proud to stand with her on platforms for freedom and equality ,especially \u00a0true equality for women and those of all faiths and none. And indeed it was Ed Milliband who asserted publicly that the law proscribing Palestine Action had scarcely been intended to imprison grannies. I leave it that since it would hardly help any cause should I stray into violating the tourniquet readily to hand by indicating my view of those laws.<\/p>\n

MalcolmFowler | At 94, Margaret Owen was proud to be arrested for Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Adlai Stevenson shows missiles to UN Security Council | WikimediaThis week in history<\/p>\n

The Cuban Missile Crisis \u2022 16\u201328 October 1962<\/p>\n

For 13 days in October 1962, the United States and Soviet Union came closer to nuclear war than at any other time. The crisis was ultimately resolved through secret diplomacy, including a commitment by the US to remove missiles from Turkey. What is less told is how it looked from Cuba, a small country whose fate was negotiated without its involvement, a sobering lesson in great-power politics.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fidel Castro’s legacy: Cuban conversations<\/p>\n

From the archive: first published in February 2008. “What comes after Fidel” is a well-worn topic of op-eds, but the focus should be on an assessment of the character \u2013 a combination of the institutional, political, and personal \u2013 of the Cuban revolutionary experience as a whole.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"openDemocracy<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Creative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"openDemocracy\u2019s senior investigative reporter Sian Norris was digging into the state of prisons in England and Wales when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-812142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}