What happens when a woman who gives voice to the voiceless becomes the target of the very system she criticises? Farah Damji's story challenges everything we believe about justice, compassion, and human dignity in modern Britain.
Farah—a mother, editor, writer, and fierce advocate for women in prison—founded The View magazine in 2020 to amplify the stories of women caught in the criminal justice system. Now she finds herself fighting not only stage three breast cancer but also appealing a six-year sentence handed down in what her legal team describes as a profoundly flawed trial.
The details are harrowing. After a 13-hour cancer surgery, Farah was shackled to prison guards around the clock for 23 days—while showering, using the toilet, even during wound dressing with her breasts exposed. She missed 22 vital hospital appointments because Sodexo ltd which runs HMOP Bronzefield and CNWL NHS Foundation Trust failed to take her to hospital and never managed to put in place a proper CarePlan so she can commence chemotherapy and radiotherapy due to negligence and malicious misconduct by prison director, Charlotte Wilson and acting deputy director, Angie Dench. The prison couldn't arrange escorts, claiming they did not have 2 female escort staff available, so Sharon Milliken refused to sign off the prison escort risk assessment, dropping her survival prognosis to just 20%. Despite her surgeon pleading for her release to access treatment and also 30,000 cash bail put out by her family, judges at Wood green Crown court denied bail four times.
Her application for leave to appeal both convictions and sentence, including disclosure failures, judicial misconduct, and the weaponization of stalking laws against a woman.
Sign the petition to stop the torture of women with cancer at HMP Bronzefield: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-torture-of-women-with-cancer-at-hmp-bronzefield
Sign the petition to demand the removal of Judge Joanna Greenberg to safeguard women and girls: https://www.change.org/p/demand-the-removal-of-judge-joanna-greenberg-to-safeguard-women-and-girls
Credits
Producers: Nico Rivosecchi & Charlotte Janes
Editor: Nico Rivosecchi
Soundtrack: Particles (Revo Main Version) by [Coma-Media]
Download Issue 14 of The View Magazine to read the full article here: https://theviewmag.org.uk/product/the-view-issue-14/
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