Kate is a Solicitor and Joint Litigation Lead at the legal charity Centre for Women’s Justice. She specialises in representing clients in strategic litigation against public authorities, relating to violence against women and girls. Prior to joining Centre for Women’s Justice, Kate qualified as a Solicitor Advocate in 2017 with Higher Rights of Audience in the criminal courts. As a newly qualified solicitor she worked at the firm Imran Khan and Partners, where as well as acting for individuals in criminal and civil litigation she represented the interests of core participant groups and families in two judge-led Public Inquiries. Since working for Centre for Women’s Justice, Kate has acted for victims and NGOs in a number of legally significant and high-profile cases, including a number of legal challenges relating to the investigation and prosecution of serious sexual offences.

Baljit Ubhey joined the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a legal trainee in 1992 later qualifying as a prosecutor in London. Baljit has since held many roles including Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS London. In January 2017, Baljit was appointed as the Director of Prosecution Policy & Inclusion, leading a policy team within the CPS’ operations directorate whilst leading on equality and inclusion across the service. In September 2019 Baljit became the Director of the Strategy and Policy Directorate.

In addition to her career with the CPS, Baljit has held a number of external roles such as non-executive director for BARTS and the Royal London Hospital and has worked with a number of charities. Baljit is currently a Non-Executive Director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust and is a member of the National Fire Chief’s Council Culture and Inclusion Challenge and Support panel.

Janet was admitted as a solicitor in 1988. She joined the Merseyside Crown Prosecution Service as a prosecutor in 1992. In 2001 she was promoted to a Legal Manager and managed a number of teams responsible for the prosecution of all types of cases including sexual offences and homicides.

In January 2010 Janet became the District Crown Prosecutor for the newly formed co located rape and serious sexual assault (RASSO) unit in Liverpool and later set up a similar co located unit in Cheshire. She was the Area Rape Coordinator for Merseyside and Cheshire and worked closely with third sector partner agencies and the Police to bring about improvements in witness care and the delivery of early investigative advice to increase the quality of prosecutions.

In March 2013 Janet became Head of the Mersey/Cheshire Complex Casework Unit and managed a team of lawyers and paralegals who dealt with the most serious and complex prosecution work in the Mersey/Cheshire Area. She was promoted to Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in 2017.

In June 2020 she became Deputy Chief Crown prosecutor for North West Area with responsibility for the RaSSO team and Complex Casework Unit. She is the Deputy Chief lead for RaSSO in CPS and has been involved in developing the CPS National Operating Model for Adult Rape.

Lizzie  is Head of Programme Management for Operation Soteria.  She has been involved in the programme since its inception, working with academics and policing to design, develop and deliver the programme.  She leads the programme management across the Joint Unit as well as supporting all 43 forces to apply programme and project management to their implementation of the Rape And Serious Sexual Offences National Operating Model.

Lizzie is seconded into the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) from the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). She is a highly experienced programme manager and consultant, who has worked in public services for over 30 years, predominantly in policing, criminal justice and crime reduction.  Lizzie is particularly interested in collaborative working to deliver social outcomes.

Soteria is the latest of three collaborative programmes Lizzie has led at the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).  Her work at MOPAC has established the Institute for Global City Policing at UCL, enabled the application of research in the PEQF programme and to transform learning and development within policing.  Lizzie has also led successful change in the Met Police where she was Head of Partnerships.

Lizzie has a Masters in Social Work and Social Policy from the University of Manchester and a Diploma in Public Sector Management from the University of London.

Duncan is a National Officer for the FDA, a trade union representing managers and professionals in public service. He supports prosecutors and leaders in the Crown Prosecution Service on a range of workplace issues. In addition to more orthodox trade union collective bargaining and member representation, the FDA speaks for prosecutors and other CPS staff as part of the wider union which acts as a strong, pragmatic voice for civil servants. Public servants can’t always speak up for themselves, so the FDA defends CPS prosecutors in the media and always stands up for the integrity and professionalism of CPS staff. Duncan was heavily involved in supporting the research for the recently published FDA report The Crown Prosecution Service’s role in increasing prosecutions of Rape and Serious Sexual Offences to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls, ensuring the unique insight of FDA members was heard.

Maxime Rowson is the Policy Lead at Rape Crisis England and Wales (RCEW). RCEW is a national charity campaigning and influencing on behalf of victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse. RCEW is also the national umbrella organisation for a network of 38 independent Rape Crisis Centres and the provider of the national 24/7 sexual violence and abuse support line. Maxime is based in the North East and has worked with Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland as a helpline support volunteer for 10 years. She previously worked as the VAWG and Modern Slavery Lead at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, where she led the first pilot of independent legal advice for sexual violence and abuse survivors in England and Wales.  

Ranked in The Legal 500 (2025) and Chambers & Partners (2025) for Crime, Kama Melly KC is widely recognised as one of the foremost advocates in the North East, known for her technical ability and as a powerful advocate. She is in constant demand from both the defence and the prosecution, receiving an increasing number of private instructions. She has a reputation for achieving positive results in cases which others have assessed as hopeless.

For the past 15 of her 27 years as a barrister, Kama has specialised in criminal law. She is known for dealing with serious heavyweight crime including drug conspiracy, murder and fraud, and has considerable experience of cell-site evidence, forensic evidence and abuse-of-process applications. She specialises in sexual offences including historical cases, challenging DNA evidence, child cases, marital rape, and stranger attacks. Her practice includes quasi-crimes such as issues of judicial review, habeas corpus and extradition.

As part of her ‘no stone unturned’ approach Kama has succeeded in preventing prosecutions on several occasions through mounting applications of abuse of process, including in cases of drugs conspiracies and historical sexual offences.

Andy is the Programme Director for the PDS Digital Forensics Programme, which is delivering solutions into policing.  The programme is delivering digital, data and technology into policing and supports the government’s response to tackling rape and serious sexual offences.  Andy is a serving Detective Chief Inspector with Kent Police (seconded to PDS) and has more than twenty years of policing experience.  Andy works actively working with partners across the criminal justice system, and with industry, to improve outcomes for victims and the police service.

Fay has worked with survivors of sexual violence and abuse since 1996, when she was appointed Manager of RoSA (Rape or Sexual Abuse Support) in Rugby. Fay helped to establish The Survivors Trust (TST) in 2003 as a UK and Ireland network of specialist voluntary sector rape and sexual abuse support services. As Chief Executive, Fay attends a wide range of national groups and forums aimed at addressing institutional responses to survivors of child sexual abuse and rape. In 2015, Fay was appointed to the Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which provides feedback and advice to the Inquiry around engagement with survivors and Inquiry research projects.

Since 1999 I have worked for the Rape and Sexual Violence Project (RSVP), Birmingham’s rape crisis charity, where I am CEO. Before that I worked for Victim Support supporting victims of other crimes and for Brook Advisory Centre supporting young people with sexual health. Alongside the fabulous team at RSVP, I am dedicated to making bold, big hearted differences for children and adults subjected to sexual violence and abuse. I am particularly interested in embodied approaches to reduce the impact of trauma.

Outside of work I am a keen ultra-runner. Last year I completed the Race Across Scotland, while also raising money for RSVP. The race was 215 miles, in one go, across the width of Scotland. Many people supported my journey and collectively gave the message to survivors that: “We Believe You.”

Dr Fiona Vera-Gray is an activist, academic, and author working on violence against women and girls. She is the Deputy Director of The Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University. She is the author of three books on public sexual harassment, women’s safety work, and pornography, as well as numerous articles on sexual violence and harassment, online abuse, pornography, and feminist methodologies.

For the past three years she has been working on Pillar 5 of Operation Soteria, a unique action learning project bringing together actors across the criminal justice sector and academics to transform the police response to rape. Most recently she has led a project funded by the College of Policing to understand and improve the police response to non-contact sexual offences.

Jo Lovett is a senior researcher at The Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University working on violence against women and girls.  She is the author of numerous publications on responses to sexual violence and domestic abuse.  For the past four years she has led one of the academic teams within Operation Soteria, a unique action learning project bringing together actors across the criminal justice sector and academics to transform the police response to rape and other sexual offences. Most recently, she has worked on a project funded by the College of Policing to understand and improve the police response to non-contact sexual offences.