Julie Bindel

Julie Bindel
Julie Bindel at 2015 conference in Latvia
Born	(1962-07-20) 20 July 1962 (age 54)
Occupation	Columnist, political commentator, cultural critic
Genre	Advocacy journalism
Subject	Radical feminism, lesbian feminism
Literary movement	Feminism and gay rights movement
Partner	Harriet Wistrich

Julie Bindel (born 20 July 1962) is an English writer, feminist, and co-founder of the law-reform group Justice for Women, which opposes violence against women and helps women who have been prosecuted for killing violent male partners. She is the author of Straight Expectations (2014) and co-author, with Harriet Wistrich, of The Map of My Life: The Story of Emma Humphreys (2003).

Bindel is a visiting researcher at Lincoln University and former assistant director of the Research Centre on Violence, Abuse and Gender Relations at Leeds Metropolitan University. In 2010 she entered The Independent's "Pink List" as 89th of the top 101 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain. She writes regularly for The Guardian.

While focusing on male violence against women, Bindel also writes about gender inequality in general, as well as stalking, religious fundamentalism, lesbian rights, opposition to the sex industry and human trafficking. She refers to herself as a political lesbian feminist.

Bindel cites Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, for her decision to campaign against sexual violence. Sutcliffe was convicted in 1981 of murdering 13 women in the period 1975–1980, when Bindel was a teenager in Leeds. She wrote: "I was angry, like many others, that the police only really seemed to step up the investigation when the first 'non-prostitute' was killed." She was also angered by the police's advice that women stay indoors, although many had jobs that required them to be out after dark. Bindel took part in feminist protests against the killings, including flyering mock-up police notices for men to stay off the streets for the safety of women.

Together with her partner, Harriet Wistrich, a solicitor, Bindel co-founded Justice for Women (JFW) in 1990. JFW is a law-reform group that seeks to change law and policy that discriminates against women in cases involving male violence. The group was set up in response to the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who was convicted of murdering her abusive husband in 1989. JFW has been involved in many miscarriage-of-justice cases since then, including those of Emma Humphreys and Sara Thornton.