Someone is reported missing in the UK every 90 seconds which makes up 170,000 people (nearly 98,000 are adults and more than 70,000 are children), according to the charity Missing People, 2023. On 27 January 2023 Nicola Bulley went missing, attracting unprecedented media and public attention in the three weeks until her body was discovered. Armchair detectives, Tik Tok and social media investigators caused numerous problems for the police investigating the case. However, several elements of the police investigation and communication about this case also remain disturbing for women.

Since COVID-19, women and girls’ trust in the Police service has been rocked. With serial prolific predatory male officers such as Wayne Couzens and David Carrick in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), and toxic masculinity revealed in other police areas, the erosion of legitimacy continues. Given this context, disclosing personal details about Nicola Bulley’s vulnerabilities with alcohol and menopause was damaging to her reputation, her family, and to all women. Questions surrounding how and why these details were shared, and checks on whether an assessment was undertaken before these disclosures were made, require further scrutiny.

Lancashire Police was under a duty to protect the human rights of Nicola Bulley under human rights legislation. As a public authority it is required to act in compliance with protected rights in all aspects of its service and a breach of this duty is unlawful under the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act also allows human rights proceedings to be taken against it for acting unlawfully. Accountability of the police for breaches of women’s human rights is legally established in cases such as those brought by victims of the Black Cab Rapist, John Derek Radford (formerly John Worboys) for failures in the police investigation, and the female organisers of the Sarah Everard Vigil challenging police actions prior to the vigil. In this last case the High Court ruled that the MPS had breached the human rights of the organisers to freedom of expression and peacefully protest in failing to consider such factors as the public interest issue of the abduction, rape and murder of a woman by a serving police officer. In doing so the court found the MPS had failed to carry out a required fact-specific, proportionality assessment of the proposed vigil. 

The public disclosures by Lancashire Police damaged Nicola’s reputation unnecessarily, and her family and children will be further victimised by this too. This case also illustrates that victim-blaming attitudes remain in policing. Victim-blaming is closely connected to ideas about the responsibility of victims to keep themselves safe, rather than retaining focus on the case and on perpetrators. The disclosure of issues with alcohol and the menopause could feed into victim-blaming discourses which feed ideas about so-called ‘real victims’, as opposed to those who can be blamed. These misconceptions also feed negatively into the criminal justice system and on justice outcomes negatively, especially for women. We have seen this in the derisory figures of successful prosecution for rape and sexual assault. Misogynistic abuse that the senior investigating officer faced regarding her appearance, hair and dress, as well as her credibility is also damaging and illuminates the criticism all women face when they are in the public realm.

Moving forward, legal action could be taken by Nicola Bulley’s family for breach of her human rights as a victim. In making public disclosures about her alleged struggles with alcoholism and the menopause, the Lancashire Police interfered with Nicola Bulley’s right to respect for her private life in misusing private information. Any interference with this right must be necessary and proportionate, even if employed to pursue a legitimate objective such as the prevention of crime. Further, the right must be secured without discrimination and this invasion of privacy was gender specific. The police could argue it needed to impart the information for an effective investigation and that the public also had the right to the information, but it is difficult to see a public interest in disclosure, not least as it fuelled speculation (rather than curtailing it, as a family statement issued via Lancashire Police the day after its disclosure implied was behind the decision). 

In addition, any examination of competing rights to privacy and freedom of expression requires a delicate balance to be struck and freedom of expression can be restricted in order to protect reputation. 

Another damaging influence of making personal and individual details public is the impact this has for all women. Lessons must be learned from this case. Women may now be less likely to contact the police, or unwilling to provide personal details to them. At a time when this trust needs re-building, these public revelations by the police harm women. Lancashire Police now faces an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct and a review by the College of Policing. Finally, the breach of fundamental rights in disclosing private information and discrimination should form the basis of these investigations.