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A Lived Experience perspective of the 2025 VISION annual conference

by Justin Coleman, Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network

The UK Prevention Research Partnership VISION consortium’s 4th annual conference on violence prevention was a truly impactful day. As part of the Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network Lived Experience Advisory Group (VAMHN LEAG), representing a lived experience perspective, I found the discussions both thought-provoking and essential. The event skilfully blended academic rigor, professional expertise, and, crucially, profound lived and learned experience, prompting vital questions about how we truly move forward in creating a more inclusive and effective violence prevention landscape.

The Imperative of Inclusive Practice: Who Are We Really Serving?

A key takeaway was the urgent need for radical inclusivity. While Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) was rightly highlighted and the clear and marked volume and % percentage numbers are stark, I question if we’re inadvertently creating gaps for other survivors. As a male survivor of abuse, as a child, I wonder if our messaging and funding focus heavily on one demographic, how do we ensure male survivors, LGBTQ+ individuals, and marginalised communities (young and older) feel seen and supported? True trauma-informed practice, to me, means moving beyond “what’s wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?” for everyone who is impacted by all forms of violence and abuse. No matter who you are, this simply shouldn’t happen to anyone.

Data, lived experience, and investment: Are we looking at the full picture?

The power of data in policy was clear, but it also raised concerns. Are investment strategies relying on outdated statistics? If resource allocation isn’t based on continuously updated, comprehensive data, are we truly capturing the evolving landscape of violence and the needs of all survivors today? Quantitative data alone can miss nuanced realities that lived experience and ethnographic insights provide. We need a dynamic balance where current lived realities inform and refresh our understanding, ensuring our leadership is deeply connected to ‘our’ diverse lived experiences.

Redefining safety and dignity: Beyond the checklist

The concept of “safety” in support spaces commented on at the conference resonated deeply. Can we ever guarantee “safety,” or should we strive for environments that are continually “safer” and more “supported”? This shift moves us beyond ticking a box to an ongoing commitment. The most impactful word was “dignity.” Shouldn’t ensuring dignity be a fundamental aim at every stage of a survivor’s journey, enabling genuine opportunity for healing and empowerment?

Breaking silos: The path to unified prevention

Effective violence prevention demands a cross-government, cross-sector approach. We need to collaborate beyond our immediate professional bubbles, integrating insights from areas like the criminal justice system to inform victim services. While “whole-family” approaches were discussed, I questioned if we can expand this to truly embrace “whole-community” approaches, ensuring LGBTQ+ individuals, isolated people, and every member of society has an equitable voice and space in prevention, responsibility, and repair.

Moving forward: A collective responsibility

This conference was a crucial step, bringing vital voices to the table. The co-produced animation with VAMHN and SafeLives, available on the City St George’s University of London YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/z6LbYDGfBZw?si=3-tJYXDqLfM16pE-, is an excellent resource for understanding lived experience engagement. To truly mobilise an effective cross-government response, we must continue to ask:

  • Are our investment decisions agile enough to respond to current data and the evolving needs of all survivors?
  • Does promoting the financial cost of crime and low conviction rates discourage reporting?
  • How can we ensure every violence prevention initiative is genuinely trauma-informed and inclusive, making all children, male, LGBTQ+, and all marginalised survivors feel equally seen, heard, and supported? What is the cost of not being inclusive?
  • Are we creating enough opportunities for genuine connection and partnership across diverse stakeholders at events like this, rather than just delivering information?
  • Are we bravely embracing “safer” and “dignity” as guiding principles, continuously improving how we support survivors?
  • Are we actively breaking down silos to build robust and equitable prevention and support systems?

The future of violence prevention depends on challenging existing paradigms, embracing inclusivity, advocating for trauma-informed practice and care, and working together from all perspectives with updated knowledge and a shared commitment to a safer journey towards dignity for all. This VISION conference stimulated valuable questions and directions, strengthening my determination to build connectivity, dignity, and safer spaces for survivors.

To read the latest Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network newsletter: June VAMHN newsletter

Photograph licensed under Adobe Stock subscription

VISION gender-based violence research findings presented at European conference

The European Network on Gender and Violence (ENGV) is an interdisciplinary, international network supporting exchange and collaboration among researchers, scholars, and professionals. Each year, the ENGV hosts a conference that provides a forum for current research related to gender-based violence (GBV). The annual event provides an excellent opportunity for many of the VISION researchers to present their findings and to engage and connect with others.

This year, the ENGV conference was held at Vilnius University, Lithuania, from June 26-28. Eleven VISION / VASC colleagues attended and shared their GBV research in either a presentation or a poster. VISION GBV topics included measurement, intersectionality, migration and forced sex and marriage.

Presentations:

  • Niels Blom and Vanessa Gash, The effects of intimate partner violence and abuse on job loss and time off work
  • Ruth Weir and Sally McManus, Findings from the interdisciplinary VISION consortium: Measuring violence to reduce its impact
  • Jana Kriechbaum, Normative Borders: The paradox around insecure-migrant women experiencing intimate partner violence in post-Brexit Britain
  • Hannah Manzur, Inequality Dimensions of Violence: Disparities and Disproportionalities in Victimisation and Fear by Gender, Ethnicity and Migrant-status
  • Ladan Hashemi and Sally McManus, The Multifaceted Nature of VAWG in LMI Countries: The Case of Forced Sex and Forced Marriage in Iran

Posters

We are also thrilled to announce that the 2026 ENGV annual conference will be held at City St George’s 24-26 June at the Clerkenwell campus. Planning will begin in spring 2025 with a Call for Proposals announced in the summer. Check the VISION website for details next year or email us at VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk to be added to the ENGV 2026 email group distribution list to receive updates.

Photograph: (left to right) Annie Bunce and Polina Obolenskaya in front of their poster at the ENGV conference 2024.

Commercial determinants of violence highlighted at World Safety Conference by Prof Mark Bellis

This September, on behalf of the VISION research consortium and Liverpool John Moores University, Professor Mark Bellis gave the plenary violence prevention address to World Safety Conference in in New Delhi, India.

World Safety 2024 is the World Health Organization’s biennial global conference on injury prevention and safety promotion, covering all aspects of violence and unintentional injury.

Mark’s plenary dealt with the commercial determinants of violence based on a paper published earlier this year with his VISION colleagues, Professor Sally McManus and Dr Olumide Adisa, and others.

In his presentation, Mark outlined how, as well as governments, public sector organisations and charities, commercial organisations also have a major part to play in the prevention of violence. The plenary considered commercial influence on violence through political, scientific, marketing supply/waste chain, labour & employment financial and reputational management practices. For some industries such as the arms and alcohol industries their relationships the causes of violence are already relatively well understood. However, mining, financial, social media, clothing and other manufacturing industries are also contributors to a growing violence problem.

The plenary presentation addressed commercial impacts on child maltreatment, sexual and domestic violence, youth violence and elder abuse. It also explored how companies can, and should, move from being part of the violence problem to leaders in implementing solutions. 

Learning across statutory reviews

This VISION policy briefing summarises themes arising from the symposium, Learning across statutory review practices: origins, ambitions and future directions, held as part of the 2024 VISION Annual Conference on 11 June.

The symposium was led by Dr Elizabeth Cook, City, UoL, and Dr James Rowlands, University of Westminster.

The following panellists introduced several of the statutory reviews and shared their thoughts on lessons learnt and the future:

  • Dr Bethan Davies, Cardiff University: Wales Single Unified Safeguarding Review (SUSR)
  • Professor Emeritus Jonathan Dickens, University of East Anglia: Child safeguarding
  • Frank Mullane, Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA): Ambitions for learning and change across systems
  • Professor Emeritus Michael Preston-Shoot, University of Bedfordshire: Adult safeguarding
  • Sumanta Roy, Imkaan: Domestic Homicide Reviews

After the series of presentations, as part of breakout roundtable discussions, conference attendees were invited to explore how different statutory reviews are conducted and practised, their ambitions, and challenges for the future.

This briefing is for practitioners and managers who participate in or lead statutory reviews. The briefing will also be of interest to policy makers and senior leaders from local and national government who commission or oversee statutory review processes.

The policy is available in the public domain, Learning across statutory review practices: Origins, ambitions, and future directions (figshare.com).

For further information, please contact Lizzie at elizabeth.cook@city.ac.uk.

Celebrating courage: Empowering voices against honour-based abuse

This event is in the past. For further information on ‘honour’-based abuse and how the event went, please see our blog, Empowering voices against ‘honour’-based abuse: A call to action – City Vision.

Join IKWRO and the UKPRP VISION consortium for an enlightening and impactful event dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of ‘honour’-based abuse.

We are proud to partner with women’s rights organisation, IKWRO, and host their upcoming event, Celebrating courage: Empowering voices against honour-based abuse, Friday 18 October 2024 at City, UoL.

IKWRO works to safeguard and empower women and girls against ‘honour-based’ abuse across the UK. Their mission is to advance Middle Eastern, North African, and Afghan women’s and girls’ rights, tackle discrimination and violence against women and girls, and empower women and girls to access their rights and entitlements in the UK. 

In honour of the International Day of the Girl Child, this in-person event is dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of “honour”-based abuse, which is predominantly suffered by women and girls.

Professionals, students, survivors, and anyone interested in understanding and combating honour-based abuse are welcome. This is an opportunity to learn from experts, connect with others in the field, and contribute to a meaningful dialogue on this important issue.

Event Highlights

  • Panel Discussions with a Q&A Session: An open forum for attendees to engage with our speakers and ask questions about honour-based abuse and how to tackle it effectively.
  • Experts in the field will discuss the nuances of honour-based abuse, its identification, and the challenges in differentiating it from domestic violence.
  • Survivors and advocates will share their personal stories and discuss support systems and empowerment strategies.

Event Details

Presentations from the 2024 VISION Annual Conference

The presentations from the 3rd VISION annual conference are now available for downloading.

The event was held at Kings College London, Strand campus, on 11 June. The theme was Violence prevention in research and policy: Bridging silos. Keynote speakers, Dr Claudia Garcia-Moreno (World Health Organisation) and Professor Katrin Hohl (City, UoL) considered the changes needed for effective violence prevention from the perspectives of health and justice. Three symposiums highlighted interdisciplinary research from the VISION consortium and partners on:

– Violence against older people: Challenges in research and policy;

– Learning across statutory review practices: Origins, ambitions and future directions; and

– Responding to experiences and expressions of interpersonal violence in the workplace

Approximately 80 academics, central and local government officials, practitioners, and voluntary and community sector organisations attended from a range of health and crime / justice disciplines.

All the slides that could be shared are available below. Please feel free to download.

Photo caption: Symposium 3, ‘Responding to experiences and expressions of interpersonal violence in the workplace’. From left to right: Chair, Dr Olumide Adisa (University of Suffolk) and Panellists Dr Vanessa Gash (City, UoL), Dr Alison Gregory (Alison Gregory Consulting), Catherine Buglass (Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse) and Dr Niels Blom (City, UoL)

Professor Gene Feder, VISION Director – Welcome – 1 download

Welcome_VISION-Annual-Conference-2024Download

Keynote Speaker, Dr Claudia Garcia-Moreno – Violence against women: From research to policy and action – 1 download

Keynote-Speaker-2_Research-to-policy-and-action_2Download

Symposium 1 – Violence against older people: Challenges in research and policy – 4 downloads (Hourglass, Office for National Statistics, Public Health Wales & VISION)

Symposium-1_Older-people-and-violence_HourglassDownload
Symposium-1_Older-people-and-violence_ONSDownload
Symposium-1_Older-people-and-violence_PHWDownload
Symposium-1_Older-people-and-violence_VISIONDownload

Symposium 2 – Learning across statutory review practices: Origins, ambitions and future directions – 1 download

Symposium-2_Statutory-Review-Practice_AllDownload

Symposium 3 – Responding to experiences and expressions of interpersonal violence in the workplace – 3 downloads (Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse, and 2 from VISION)

Symposium-3_Violence-and-the-workplace_VISIONDownload
Symposium-3_Violence-and-the-workplace_EIDADownload
Symposium-3_Violence-and-the-workplace_VISION-2Download

Event: Zero tolerance to female genital mutilation

This event is in the past.

The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is 6 February every year. The United Nations Assembly designated the day with the aim to amplify and direct the efforts on the elimination of this practice.

In support to highlight the day and the horrific practice of FGM, IKWRO, a London-based human rights organisation for Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan women and girls living in the UK, is hosting Zero tolerance to female genital mutilation on 5 February 2024, 2 – 5 pm, in London at Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA.

The event brings together experts and survivors to shed light on the challenges and gaps in safeguarding women and girls globally in the context of FGM:

  • Payzee Mahmod, Campaign Manager at IKWRO
  • Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Executive Director of FORWARD, an African diaspora women’s rights organisation in the UK
  • Mama Sylla, an FGM survivor and chairwoman of La FRATERNITE UK, a London-based registered charity
  • Shamsa Araweelo, an FGM survivor and social activist
  • Janet Fyle, Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Professional Policy Advisor and a Cardiff University School of Policy Law accredited Expert Witness
  • Jaswant Kaur Narwal, Chief Crown Prosecutor
  • Aisha K. Gill, Ph.D., CBE is Professor of Criminology at University of Bristol
  • Detective Superintendent Alex Castle, Metropolitan Police and Lead Responsible Officer for Harmful Practices and co-chair of the London Harmful Practice Working Group

Speakers and attendees will engage in discussions about the pressing issues surrounding FGM such as the challenges and barriers to disclosure, reporting and prosecution and explore ways to bridge the existing gaps through policy changes, community involvement and institutional improvements.

For further information on the free event and to register, please see: Zero Tolerance to FGM Conference

Or please contact VISION Senior Research Fellow, Dr Ladan Hashemi at: ladan.hashemi@city.ac.uk

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

VISION Research Fellows presenting at Crime Surveys User Conference 2024

This event is in the past.

VISION researchers Dr Polina Obolenskaya, Dr Elouise Davies and Dr Niels Blom will present at the Crime Surveys User Conference 2024 on 6 February 2024 in Islington, London.

The event brings data producers and data users together to share updates on the development of the surveys and to showcase research that is being carried out using the data. It is organised by the UK Data Service in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics, Scottish Government and the Home Office.

Polina, Elouise and Niels will each discuss the findings of their recent research using the Crime Survey for England and Wales:

  • Polina – The rise, fall and stall of violence in England and Wales: How have risks of violence changed for groups in the population?
  • Elouise – When there’s more than one assailant: Understanding variation in victims’ needs
  • Niels – New Crime Survey for England and Wales integration code: Impact for investigating
    rare events such as different intimate partner perpetrator types

For further information on the conference, please see: Crime Surveys User Conference 2024.

For further information on their research, please contact Polina, Elouise or Niels at: polina.obolenskaya@city.ac.uk; e.davies4@lancaster.ac.uk; or niels.blom@city.ac.uk

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

VISION Adolescent Domestic Abuse conference

This event is in the past.

If registered, please enter through the main entrance in the University Building, across from Northampton Square, a green space with a gazebo. There is also a silver sculpture in front of University Building.

Only those that registered will be able to enter the conference room.

To register please see: VISION and VASC Adolescent Domestic Abuse conference

The UK Prevention Research Partnership Violence, Health & Society (VISION) consortium and the Violence and Society Centre at City, University of London, are pleased to announce the Adolescent Domestic Abuse conference.

Thursday 18th April 2024, 10:00 – 17:00 followed by a reception 
Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre (Tait Bldg), City, University of London, EC1B 0HB 

Adolescent domestic abuse, which includes physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse that occurs between young people who are, or were, dating, is often overlooked in research, policy and practice. The current definition of domestic abuse leaves those aged under 16 in teenage relationships falling into the gap between child protection procedures and adult-focused domestic abuse policy. 

The conference brings together academics, practitioners, and policy makers to share existing research, policy and practice.

Registration is required and free. This is an in person conference only and catering will be provided. If you cannot attend but would like the slides, please contact the email listed below.

The programme: 

  • 9:30 – 10:00 Registration & refreshments 
  • 10:00 – 10:20 Welcome & setting the scene, Dr Ruth Weir, Violence and Society Centre, City, University of London and Katy Barrow-Grint, Assistant Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police
  • 10:20 – 10:40 Introductory Speaker, Louisa Rolfe OBE, Metropolitan Police and National Police Chief Council lead for Domestic Abuse
  • 10:40 – 11:00 Rapid evidence review on domestic abuse in teenage relationships, Flavia Lamarre, and Dr Ruth Weir, City, University of London
  • 11:00 – 11:30 Learning from the lived experience, SafeLives Changemakers
  • 11:30 – 12:00 Researching abuse within teenage relationships: A critique of a decade’s work and what we could do better, Professor Christine Barter, Co-Director of the Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm, University of Central Lancashire 
  • 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
  • 13:00 – 14:20 Panel 1: Teenage relationships and abuse: What the research says, chaired by Professor Sally McManus, Director of the Violence and Society Centre and Deputy Director of the VISION research project
  • Panel 1: Step up, Speak Out: Amplifying young people’s voices in understanding and responding to adolescent domestic abuse, Janelle Rabe, Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse, Durham University
  • Panel 1: ‘In practice it can be so much harder’: Young people’s approaches and experiences of supporting friends experiencing domestic abuse, Jen Daw and Sally Steadman South, SafeLives
  • Panel 1: Healthy relationships: children and young people attitudes and influences, Hannah Williams and Sarah Davidge, Women’s Aid
  • Panel 1: Intimate partner femicide against young women, Dr Shilan Caman, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  • 14:20 – 14:35 Break
  • 14:35 – 15:35 Panel 2: Sexual violence in teenage relationships, chaired by Katy Barrow-Grint, Thames Valley Police
  • Panel 2: “Always the rule that you can’t say no”: Adolescent women’s experiences of sexual violence in dating relationships – Dr Kirsty McGregor, Loughborough University 
  • Panel 2: Empowering Youth: Addressing Online Pornography and Adolescent Domestic Abuse – Insights from the CONSENT Project – Berta Vall, Elena Lloberas and Jaume Grané, Blanquerna, Barcelona, Spain and The European Network for Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence, Berlin, Germany
  • Panel 2: Image-Based Sexual Abuse as a Facet of Domestic Abuse in Young People’s Relationships – Dr Alishya Dhir, Durham University
  • 15:35 – 15:50 Break
  • 15:50 – 16:50 Panel 3: Specialist services and local government, chaired by Dr Olumide Adisa, University of Suffolk
  • Panel 3: The role and value of Early Intervention Workers in supporting children and young people aged 11–18 in a domestic abuse service context – Elaha Walizadeh and Leonor Capelier, Refuge 
  • Panel 3: Prevention, Identification, Intervention and Protection: Learning on teenage domestic abuse from a multi-agency model in the London Borough of Islington – Aisling Barker, Islington Borough Council
  • Panel 3: Tackling adolescent domestic abuse in Lambeth – Rose Parker, Erika Pavely, Ariana Markowitz, and Siofra Peeren, Lambeth Health Inequalities Research and Evaluation Network 
  • 16:50 – 17:00 Closing remarks and next steps
  • 17.00 – onwards Drinks reception, Conference attendees are invited to a drinks reception in the Oliver Thompson foyer

The abstracts

The abstracts and information on the poster presentations and stands are below for downloading.

ADA-abstracts-allDownload

For further information and any questions, please contact VISION at VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Presentations from 2nd VISION annual conference now available

We are pleased to provide the presentations from our 2nd annual conference held 21 September 2023 at Mary Ward House in London. 

The theme was Responding to violence across the life course. Sessions included presentations on childhood and teenage years; working life, poverty & economic impacts; older years; and social inclusion in policy and research. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on violence and complex systems.

Seventy-seven academics, central and local government officials, practitioners, and voluntary and community sector organisations attended from a range of health and crime / justice disciplines.

Please feel free to download the presentations below. Each session is one download.

Photo caption: Dr Ladan Hashemi, Senior Research Fellow at VISION, answers a question after her presentation, ‘Adverse Childhood Experiences and Childhood Obesity:​ Exploring Potential Mediating and Moderating Factors​’

Download the Welcome slides

VISION-Annual-Conference-2023_Welcome-1Download

Download the slides from Session 1 – Childhood and teenage years

VISION-Annual-Conference-2023_Session-1-Childhood-and-teenage-yearsDownload

Download the slides from Session 2 – Social inclusion in policy & research

VISION-Annual-Conference-2023_Session-2-Social-inclusion-in-policy-and-researchDownload

Download the slides from Session 3 – Working life, poverty and economic impacts

VISION-Annual-Conference-2023_Session-3-Working-life-and-economic-impactsDownload

Download the slides from Session 4 – Older people

VISION-Annual-Conference-2023_Session-4-Older-people