There are 50 women currently serving life sentences for killing their partners in British jails and the Home Secretar y has been urged

There are 50 women currently serving life sentences for killing their partners in British jails, and the Home Secretar y has been urged to review their cases. Leading the grassroots crusade for legislative reform is Justice for Women, the feminist organisation which mounted the successful appeal campaigns and mobilised nationwide support for both Humphreys and Thornton. Among the now familiar scenes of jubila tion outside the Court of Appeal, in the middle of all the chanting and hugging, whistle-blowing and candle-lighting, Justice for Women are the ones soberly reminding the media that the fight is still half-fought, and that, for every vaunted "victory for British justice",there are a dozen unresolved travesties. Unfunded, under-resourced, and totally uncompromising in its radical ideology, JFW is run from the North London home of founder members Julie Bindel and Harriet Wistrich. It is something of a shock, given the scope of JFW's activities and its ubiquitous media profile, to learn that the day-to-day running of the organisation literally comes down to two women and a dog.

Peggy, a dementedly friendly black mongrel, does her bit for the cause by snarling like Cerberus at the approach of a male footfall. The campaign HQ can double as a safe house for women on the run from abusive men and a scarcely less abusive press (Emma Humphreys was consistently portrayed in the tabloids in terms of her nubility and her nose-ring ). "Perhaps," said Mr Justice Jones, presiding at Emma's trial, "it is the best possible sentence that could be passed upon her in her own interest." * The sentencing of women who kill their abusive partners is this season's legal hot potato.With the highly publicised release of Humphreys in July, and the granting of bail to Sara Thornton in August, public opinion has focused on a criminal justice syste m which often appears to treat women accused of murdering violent men with a summary harshness one step removed from the ducking stool. In court, Emma's plea of manslaughter on grounds of provocation was denied. She was convicted of murder and detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure (there is no time limit on the sentence handed down to juveniles for murder). In prison she made 12 more attemp ts on her own life, and battled with anorexia nervosa.

When they got home, Emma went upstairs and slit her wrists, then panicked and hid the knives under her body. Armitage stripped and lay down beside her, and Emma, knowing that he would want sex, and fearing that he would find the weapons and use them against her, stabbed him once in the stomach He died soonafte rwards. Earlier in the evening, he and Emma had gone to the pub with two other men, and Armitage had proposed a "gang bang". On the night of February 25, 1985, Armitage was in a worse than usual mood. During the six months the couple lived together, Armitage subjected her to continuous emotional and sexual abuse. He didn't mind her earning money as a prostitute, but he was prone to fits of jealous rage. When, in the course of work, Emma was gang-raped and felt unable to continue a sexual relationship with Armitage, he raped her himself Repeatedly.

He had a history of violent assault, and was known to the Vice Squad,but, when he offered affection and shelter in his home, Emma gratefully accepted. Not the most romantic circumstances for a love affair, but Emma wasn't brought up with big ideas of romance. As a child, she regularly witnessed t he violent abuse of her alcoholic mother by her alcoholic step-father. At 12, she tried to kill herself; and at13 she was living on the streets and supporting herself by prostitution and casual work in the porn industry Armitage was no white knight. She will not - or cannot - pronounce his name, but she is absolutely sure of what she has to say:"His death was the biggest cry for help I ever made in my entire life." When Emma first met Armitage, she was 16 and working as a prostitute Armitage, 32, was one of her clients.