SBS has been granted Core Participant (CP) status in the Covid-19 Inquiry to highlight the high and disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black, minoritised and migrant women.
We had made a joint application for CP status with Solace Women’s Aid (SWA), Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS) and others, but only SBS and SWA were accepted. Initially, both organisations were refused funding for legal representation, but only SBS won their appeal. However, at a preliminary hearing in March 2023, we supported further submissions by SWA for funding and the Chair agreed to reconsider the matter. See SBS’s submission here.
SBS is being represented by the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and Garden Court Chambers, who had been working pro bono until funding was granted. The substantive hearings will be in the autumn for Module 2, prior to which we will be gathering evidence for our submissions. However, we have already provided witness statements or completed questionnaires for Module 1, which looks at the government’s preparedness for the pandemic, and Module 2, which examines the impact.
