Empowering Inclusion: Bridging Gaps for Social Justice
What is social justice?
Social justice is the idea that everyone should have fair and equal access to rights, opportunities and resources, regardless of who they are or where they come from. It focuses on creating a society where people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect and where barriers that cause disadvantage are identified and reduced.
At its core, social justice is about fairness in how society works—in laws, institutions, and everyday systems such as education, healthcare, housing, employment and the justice system.
Key principles of social justice
Social justice is often understood through several connected principles:
- Equality – Everyone has the same basic rights and legal protections.
- Equity – People may need different levels of support to achieve fair outcomes, especially where there is historical or structural disadvantage.
- Inclusion – All individuals and groups are valued, heard and able to participate fully in society.
- Access – Essential services, opportunities and decision-making processes are available to everyone.
- Human dignity – Every person’s worth is recognised and respected.
The Pagan Federation’s Advocacy Service plays an important role in promoting fairness, inclusion and freedom of belief for people who follow Pagan paths. Its work supports individuals and the wider community by helping to ensure that Pagans are treated with dignity, equality and respect in public life.
One of the key benefits of the advocacy service is support for individuals experiencing discrimination, harassment or misunderstanding because of their beliefs. The Pagan Federation provides guidance and assistance to people facing issues such as religious discrimination, hate incidents or barriers to accessing services, helping them understand their rights and explore appropriate routes for resolution. This support is available to the wider Pagan community, not only to members, and is provided free of charge.
The advocacy service also benefits the community by working with institutions and public bodies to improve understanding of Pagan beliefs. The Pagan Federation provides accurate information to organisations such as employers, schools, healthcare providers and local authorities, helping them make informed and inclusive decisions. This contributes to fairer policies and practices and reduces the risk of exclusion or unequal treatment.
With permission from the lady involved, who I shall refer to as the Witch as much of the discrimination was based on witchcraft. World Social Justice Day would seem a good time to share how religion and belief can be used to discriminate, either through malice or ignorance, and why having an advocate is important when seeking justice.
The Witch came to me in the middle of protracted private law proceedings, I first assisted in my role as Advocacy Officer and then later as her lawyer. Her son had been removed from her care and sent to live with the opponent, who we shall call F. Despite the witch’s allegations of abuse and class A drug use, these were never tested and the witch was described as lying, a drug user and having mental health problems. A court order even recited that it ‘had been found that the mother was lying about the abuse’. There had been no finding of fact hearing so how can it have been found?
The witch sacked her previous solicitor and made a complaint to the SRA as there had been data breaches and this solicitor had allowed the drafting of an order that suggested a finding when no such finding had been made.
CAFCASS decided that the witch could only have supervised contact and banned her from taking her son to stone circles.
The first challenge was one of a human rights issue (namely article 9, it is unlawful for the state to interfere with someone’s article 9 rights). The decision to ban her from taking her son to stone circles during supervised contact was overturned when addressed.
The second issue was ensuring the courts understood Paganism. Suggesting the witch had mental health issues because she was interested in crystal healing and followed a Pagan path was entirely discriminatory. After a fairly lengthy battle involving two psychologists and a psychiatrist, it was established that the witch did not have mental health issues.
Finally came the issue of drug use. We persuaded the court that the evidence needed testing. It was unfair to believe one party over the other, based purely on ignorance and discrimination. The testing proved that the witch was being entirely truthful.
Ultimately, the child was returned to the witch’s care however a dangerous decision had been made, based on ignorance and discrimination, by professionals, who should have known better, which exposed the child to a serious risk of harm. Whilst the witch received an apology from the judge, this case served as a stark reminder of how the law fails, how justice isn’t achieved, how discrimination and ignorance can destroy lives and how crucial advocacy services are.
Emma Shinn
Advocacy Officer
Contact Emma here