From The Reading Chronicle (UK), about the British moderate-conservative lawyer and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice: "'I've had a woman turn up on my doorstep with two bags full of
clothes, three children and a black eye — she does not want to talk, she
just wants to be looked after.'
Helen Grant is more prepared than most to deal with situations that
many would baulk at. Growing up on a council estate [aka the projects] in Carlisle with her
mother and grandmother, she suffered daily taunts from bullies who
targeted her because she 'looked different'.
Today, she is the first black female Conservative MP [Member of Parliament] and also the
first justice and victims' minister — but childhood memories are never
far from her thoughts, and her first encounter with domestic violence [after her mother set up a women's refuge in their town]
still stands out as a turning point."
The article continues about MP Grant: "For Helen, 51, the road out of Carlisle was law, and she did a degree
at Hull University before studying at the College of Law in Guildford.
After qualifying as a solicitor, she set up her own firm in 1996, Grants
Solicitors, where she specialised in domestic violence and abuse. She said: 'I saw first hand the lack of victim support and it was
predominantly women and children that would come to me needing help, so
politics seemed like a natural progression after that.'"
Britain: Lack Of Victim Support Led 1st Black Conservative Female Parliamentarian Into Politics
