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Implications of changing domestic abuse measurement on the Crime Survey for England & Wales

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is making a major decision this month on the future of Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) Domestic abuse measurement and monitoring.

    Last year, ONS ran an experiment where half of the CSEW sample got the domestic abuse module used since 2005, and the other half got a new module that is not comparable with the previous one. ONS intend to move over entirely to the new module in the next data collection (2025/26).

    Loss of the existing module has major implications: it is world-leading, uses globally comparable items, and with trend data going back to 2005. Without consistently administered core items from that module, it will no longer be possible to:

    • Produce long-term trends over time in domestic abuse for England and Wales.
    • Group a decade of survey years together to have enough cases to robustly examine domestic abuse in particular regions, minoritised groups, and by other protected characteristics for many years. This is essential for understanding inequalities in violence and subsequent service contact, and whether these are changing.

    The new module is problematic for many reasons:

    • Is not a standardised measure, has undergone little validation or psychometric testing, and is not comparable with anything used previously or in any other country or study.  
    • It separates data collection between former and current partner based on relationship status at the time of the interview, not at the time of abuse. This distinction creates confusion for interpretation of analysis and may be misinterpreted. The distinction is also problematic for classification of casual and other relationship types.
    • The overhaul of the module was intended to align measurement with the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 definition, but it appears that domestic abuse as recognised by that Act cannot be identified by this module.

    We urgently recommend that before losing this world-leading time series and relying on an untested, not comparable, and flawed new approach to DA measurement in England and Wales, that ONS:

    1. Pause: continue the split-sample data collection for one more year.
    2. Test the new approach: fully compare data collected using the new and old modules data so the validity and utility of the new measures can be evaluated appropriately, and its impact on inequalities assessed.
    3. Publish these results publicly: and fully consult once stakeholders understand all the implications of having data collected in each way before the decision to roll out new data collection is finalised.
    4. With this information, then compare all options: such as maintaining some of the existing questions alongside adding new coercive control items. This straightforward approach would ensure the utility of the survey for national trends (in both England and Wales) and analysis of inequalities and minoritised groups, while also improving the measurement of coercive control.

    We urge others who feel similarly to contact ONS at CrimeStatistics@ons.gov.uk  or contact us at VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk if you would like to discuss.

    Note that ONS is planning a raft of further changes with similar implications for trends and analysis of minoritised groups, including:

    • Removal of the sexual victimisation module from next data collection (2025/26), with redevelopment at some future date.
    • Removal and redevelopment of the nature of partner abuse questions, which cover DA survivors service use and police contact and are essential to understanding whether some groups are underserved by services.

    These will further undermine continuity of data for trends and the ability to analyse minoritised groups or by protected characteristics.

    For researchers interested in combining CSEW waves to enable robust analysis of inequalities by protected characteristics and for minoritised groups, VISION researcher Niels Blom has published syntax: https://vision.city.ac.uk/news/new-possibilities-created-by-crime-survey-wave-integration/.

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    A health perspective to the war in Israel and Palestine

      Gene Feder, VISION Director and Professor of Primary Care at the University of Bristol, has written an opinion piece with colleagues commenting on events in Israel and Gaza from a public health and primary care perspective. Responding to the war in Israel and Palestine was published in December in the online edition of the British Journal of General Practice.

      Gene and his colleagues are GPs working to further the development of family medicine in the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically in the West Bank, but with links to family medicine in Gaza through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and through Medical Aid for Palestinians. They also have friends and family in Israel and Palestine.

      They have three responses to the current crisis as informed by their work as GPs and connection to Palestinian primary care:

      1. A plea for the protection of health care and health professionals amid the war
      2. A plea for the preservation of public health amid war
      3. A recognition that in the aftermath of October 7th and the invasion of Gaza, the widespread direct and vicarious trauma in Israeli and Palestinian populations will result in permanent physical and emotional damage: the former in the shape of orthopaedic, neurological, and gynaecological (as a result of rape) harm, the latter in the form of widespread anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder which will also cascade down the generations.

      Given VISION’s commitment to developing evidence on violence prevention, we will be organising roundtable meetings bringing together researchers focusing on post-conflict violence reduction. This is an opportunity for dialogue, perhaps leading to new perspectives and research including systematic assessment of sustainable post-conflict interventions as well as further joint activities.

      For further information on the opinion piece, please see: Responding to the war in Israel and Palestine

      Photograph by Emad El Byed on Unsplash

      Community mental health through a complex systems lens

        Researchers tend to evaluate the mental health effects of national trends and policies or of individual-level treatments and interventions. In The Lancet Public Health, VISION members Dr Olumide Adisa and Sally McManus argue that researchers also need to take account of what is happening at the local level.

        Complex systems can be challenging both to action and evaluation. But it also offers a new way of thinking about real-life problems as experienced by diverse populations within local ecosystems. Olumide and Sally comment on a study by Tanith Rose and colleagues which shows that local economic and procurement strategies are a part of this complex system with implications for community health. Rose and colleagues show how local systems that are people-centred, redirect wealth back into the local economy, and give control and benefits to local people and institutions have the potential to improve health and reducing inequalities in a relatively short time.

        A decade ago, statutory duties for public health moved from the National Health Service to local authorities, local authorities subsequently saw their budgets reduced. Finding ways to transition to a wellbeing economy through transforming local systems therefore needs multiple local partners, including employers, health and care institutions, specialist and police services, and public and not-for-profit organisations.  

        The VISION consortium is developing ways to apply complex systems thinking to reducing violence and health inequalities, taking an intersectional and intersectoral approach that includes activities at the local level.

        For further information please see: Community mental health through a complex systems lens – The Lancet Public Health

        For more information, contact VISION lead on complex systems approach, Dr Olumide Adisa, o.adisa@uos.ac.uk

        Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash