About
In Her Name
In Her Name is an independent, Canadian podcast about the laws created in response to intimate partner violence, written in the names of women who lost their lives.
Through interviews, research, and survivor-centred storytelling, we examine how these laws work and how tragedy shapes the policies meant to prevent it.
Listen to season one of In Her Name: Clare's Law, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
Season two coming soon!
What is
Clare's Law?
Imagine for a moment.
You're in a new relationship.
And it's going great.
Until it's not.
You start noticing red flags.
They’re controlling.
They gaslight you.
They try to isolate you from friends and family.
Maybe you heard something about this person’s past. They brush it off, saying their ex is ‘just crazy.’
But something still feels wrong, and you’re concerned for your safety.
If your partner has repeat charges for assaulting former partners, would you want to know?
Would learning about their past behaviour help you to make informed decisions for your safety?
What would you do if I said you have the right to know this information? Even the right to ask for it?
You can go ask the police for it.
But only in 4 provinces. Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
This is Clare's Law, an intimate partner violence prevention tool originally from the United Kingdom, meant to stop violence before it happens.
The goal of Clare's Law is to prevent further cycles of violence by proactively informing people who may be at risk of violence by a current or former partner.
Clare's Law allows individuals of all genders to apply for a disclosure of information through the police, to learn if their current or former partner has a history of violence, under the Right to Ask.
If police have reason to believe that someone is at-risk for intimate partner violence, they can proactively inform them under the Right to Know.
Every person who applies for Clare’s Law is offered a connection to support services and safety planning (PATHS 2025, Orders of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, June 1st, 2020).
Clare's Law is named after Clare Woods, a young woman and mother who lost her life to femicide by an abusive and violent ex-partner.
Clare's Law has since been adopted in other countries, including Scotland, New Zealand, Southern Australia, Northern Ireland, Malta, Spain, and Canada (Hadjimatheou, 2024).
To learn more about how Clare's Law works from the people who know it best, listen to season one of In Her Name: Understanding Clare's Law.
Creator
SUNNY STRANKS
(SHE/HER)
Host & Producer
Sunny is a certified Child and Youth Care Practitioner, radio host, research assistant, freelance writer and social justice advocate. Sunny holds a Bachelor's degree in Child and Youth Care and a Master's degree in Human Rights and Social Justice. In Her Name is Sunny's thesis project and culmination of nearly 2 years of research and interviews. In Her Name was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
