If Obiter has a criticism of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, it’s that it doesn’t have nearly enough solicitors on. So it was a nice surprise to tune in and find out the castaway was Harriet Wistrich – founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice and, among other accolades, Gazette’s Legal Personality of the Year 2019.
Wistrich is best known for her cases involving violence against women, including her successful challenge to a parole board decision to release John Worboys (the ‘black cab rapist’) and actions for women deceived in relationships with undercover policemen. Women, she told presenter Lauren Laverne, are not fairly served by the justice system.
What else? Excellent music choices, Obiter notes, including Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive, Gregory Isaacs’ lovely reggae version of Puff the Magic Dragon, and Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan. In fact, the online discos for friends hosted by Harriet during Covid lockdowns earned her the nickname ‘DJ Hazza’.
Obiter’s not giving away the disc she’d save from the waves, or choice of book, as the episode is worth a listen. But together with good music and what she expects to be ‘perfect sunsets’, her choice of a full wine fridge for her luxury item leads to a question: should Harriet be rescued? Or can we just join her on her island idyll?
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