Trusting the Evidence



DELIVERING JUSTICE

DCI Vera Stanhope, wearing her battered hat and sturdy wellies, follows her cases with grim determination. She uses her sharp wits, intuition and empathy to solve each crime. But there always comes a point where she needs the hard evidence and demands answers from the team around her – from the pathology lab and from the long-suffering Jac, Joe and Kenny. They don the blue gloves, search the crime scenes, make the phone calls and spend hours poring over camera footage – finding the information that Vera needs to secure a prosecution.

Countless television crime series have made us familiar with the paraphernalia of forensic science, down to the goriest details. We all know and understand the importance of evidence, don’t we? The blue gloves, the white suits, the shoe covers, the endless scrolling through data – we see these every day on screen.

Television may offer us an increasing number of women scientists and investigators, but it is in the real world that women are leading the field. Two  of the best known British forensic scientists are Angela Gallop, a major figure in solving many of the most notorious murder cases of the last 50 years, and Dame Susan Black, who has worked to identify victims and perpetrators in areas of conflict  and who developed an important technique of vein analysis which helps in the identification of child abusers.

The importance of forensic science in the criminal justice system has been growing since the establishment of the first forensic laboratory in 1935. There has been a surge in the popularity of academic courses in forensic science; and techniques such as facial recognition and digital profiling are advancing rapidly. A recent review in Forensic Science International: Synergy explored the many changes that have taken place over the last 25 years, but emphasised that the discipline is: ‘….fundamentally a public service that is essential to the delivery of justice and the preservation of public trust in the Criminal Justice System’. We’ll come back later to this issue of public trust.

TRANSFORMING MEDICINE

Any reference to important contributions to medicine by women will quickly throw up well-known names - Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie, Mary Seacole and Rosalind Franklin, for example, made huge and lasting differences by observing and changing practices or by conducting meticulous scientific research. And, as is so often the case, by digging a little deeper, it’s possible to discover other extraordinary and determined women scientists and practitioners, women like, for example, Anna Wessels Williams. She contributed to developing vaccines and tests for diseases like rabies, meningitis and scarlet fever and in the 1890s was instrumental in the production of an antitoxin for diptheria. More recently, women scientists such as Sarah Gilbert, Katalin Kariko and Kizmekkia Corbett, have been central to the development of Covid19 vaccines

FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY

In the struggle for gender equality, the evidence for the need to fight for a more just and equal world is all around us. The pay gap persists; millions of girls have no access to education; women and girls are disproportionately victims of violence and abuse; women are much more likely to experience poverty, food insecurity and displacement - the list goes on and the pace of change is glacial. Inequality has an impact on every woman. But the voices of women calling for change will continue, and the persistence and determination will continue, supported by incontrovertible evidence.

THERE’S A PROBLEM THOUGH

We know that good evidence can be used to serve justice, prevent disease, tackle inequality issues and help improve the quality of life. Yet that same good evidence is often angrily disputed or replaced by untrue alternatives. Anti-vaccination beliefs are having an insidious effect on health, false information is generated online, humanitarian work is misrepresented, and poisonous conspiracy theories trickle through the media. Why is there a lack of trust in good evidence and how can derision and hostility be challenged?

In the light of these worrying trends, it is interesting to look at the strategies and tactics used by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, ACOG, who are actively challenging the anti-science rhetoric of the Trump administration. They have established a ‘Combating Misinformation Initiative’ and urge their members to engage in individual conversations with their patients. As Steven Fleischman, the president of ACOG says: ‘That is what we still have to hold on to – that idea [of] the trust that we have with our individual patients, which is why we’re telling our members: ‘Have these conversations, make sure you’re educating people. They trust you.’

FINDING OUR OWN EVIDENCE

Here in Milton Keynes we have developed our own Manifesto, campaigning for a ‘Safer, Healthier, Fairer Milton Keynes’ and as part of this we have now published our second evidence paper. This paper contains robust data on the safety, health and equality of women living in our city, information that was not always easy to find, but which makes it clear that there is much work to be done. You can find a link to the paper in the January Update below and we welcome any comments or questions that you may have. 

JANUARY UPDATE ON THE MK FAWCETT CAMPAIGN FOR A SAFER, HEALTHIER, FAIRER MILTON KEYNES

  • The latest Evidence Paper, a compilation of data relating to Milton Keynes and our Safer, Healthier and Fairer manifesto, is now published and can be found HERE.
  • Earlier in January we met with Lisa Antonini, Communications and Engagement Lead for Strategic Development at MK University Hospital for an update on the New Hospitals Programme, including the exciting proposals for the Women and Children’s wards. See:  https://www.mkuh.nhs.uk/mkview/estates-projects/mkuh-nhp
  • Plans are being made for a touring exhibition of examples and photos of the craftivism project which was part of MK’s contribution to mark the Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls on 25th November, the start of the UN 16 Days of Action. 
  • We have been attending and reporting on the stakeholder events arranged by the Bedfordshire, Luton and MK (BLMK) Women’s Health Network to better understand what advances in service provision are being made to address inequality in women’s health. The latest centred on the treatment of migraine. BLMK will shortly be merged with Cambridge, Peterborough and Hertfordshire Integrated Care Board (ICB). We will continue to connect with the Central East ICB. 
  • We will continue to promote the manifesto campaign and encourage people to become more involved with the political process.
  • We have contributed to the planning of the annual Fawcett Society conference, to take place in February.
  • MKF now has a LinkedIn presence as well as being on BlueSky. Please follow us on these platforms as well as at www.fawcettmk.org.uk 





Location: Milton Keynes, UK

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