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Policing Domestic Abuse hybrid seminar

Wednesday 1 March 2023, 10:30 am – Noon, in person and online

Hybrid event – Policing Domestic Abuse | Faculty of Law (ox.ac.uk)

Dr Ruth Weir, Senior Research Fellow with the UKPRP VISION consortium, will be presenting with her colleagues, Chief Superintendent Katy Barrow-Grint (Thames Valley Police), Professor Jackie Turton (University of Essex) and Dr Jackie Sebire (Institute of Criminology), on their book, Policing Domestic Abuse.

The book is dedicated to improving the practice of the policing of domestic abuse. Its objective is to help inform those working in policing about the dynamics of how domestic abuse occurs, how best to respond to and investigate it, and in the longer term how to prevent it. An effective investigation and the prosecution of offenders are considered, as well as an evaluation of the success of current treatment options. Policing domestic abuse can only be dealt with through an effective partnership response. The responsibilities of each agency and the statutory processes in place when policy is not adhered will also be outlined. The aim is to help shed light on the challenges of policing domestic violence and the links between academic research and best practice.

Half of unemployed women have experienced intimate partner violence

This analysis forms part of a new briefing co-produced with Agenda Alliance. Agenda Alliance exists to make a difference to the lives of women and girls who are at the sharpest end of inequality. They are an alliance of over 100 member organisations – from large, national bodies to smaller, specialist organisations – working in collaboration to influence public policy and practice to respond appropriately to women and girls with multiple, complex unmet needs: https://www.agendaalliance.org/

The briefing casts light on a crucial but neglected topic, showing that when a woman presents to services in suicidal distress it is likely that she’s a victim of domestic abuse, and that likelihood rises for people living in poverty, especially those who are unemployed or unable to work due to sickness or disability. Professionals working in Jobcentres, housing associations and other welfare services have frequent contact with women facing financial stress and debt. It’s vital that welfare professionals, as well as those working in health and social care, recognise the very high rates of domestic abuse experienced by such women, and are aware of the extent to which their distress can manifest in self-harm and suicidality. They should be trained to ask people if they are safe and supported to act accordingly.

Please see Underexamined and Underreported Briefing (agendaalliance.org) for further information.
This report was co-produced in collaboration with the generous input of many experts from across multiple sectors, people with lived experience, and with:

Understanding neighbourhood level predictors of domestic abuse and their variation over space

Reducing domestic abuse has become a priority for both local and national governments in the UK, with its substantial human, social, and economic costs. It is an interdisciplinary issue, but to date there has been no research in the UK that has focused on neighbourhood-level predictors of domestic abuse and their variation across space.

This article uses geographically weighted regression to model the predictors of police-reported domestic abuse in Essex. Readily available structural and cultural variables were found to predict the domestic abuse rate and the repeat victimisation rate at the lower super output area level and the model coefficients were all found to be non-stationary, indicating varying relationships across space. This research not only has important implications for victims’ well being, but also enables policy makers to gain a better understanding of the geography of victimisation, allowing targeted policy interventions and efficiently allocated resources.

For further information and the article, please see Using geographically weighted regression to explore neighborhood‐level predictors of domestic abuse in the UK – Weir – 2019 – Transactions in GIS – Wiley Online Library

Photo caption: Andrii Yalanskyi /Shutterstock.com

Book launch for new publication aimed at improving police responses to domestic abuse

How to respond and investigate domestic violence

On 15 November 2022, City, University of London hosted a book launch for Policing Domestic Violence, written by Katy Barrow Grint, Thames Valley Police; Dr Jacqueline Sebire, Cambridge University; Professor Jackie Turton, University of Essex; and Dr Ruth Weir, City, University of London. The event, held in The Pavilion, was attended by local police forces including the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police as well as academics researching domestic violence. The keynote speakers were Louisa Rolfe, OBE, Assistant Commissioner of the Met, and Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner.

The book, Policing Domestic Violence, is dedicated to improving the practice of the policing of domestic abuse. Its objective is to help inform those working in policing about the dynamics of how domestic abuse occurs, how best to respond to and investigate it, and in the longer term how to prevent it. Divided into thematic areas, the book uses recent research findings to update some of the theoretical analysis and to highlight areas of good practice: ‘what works and why’. An effective investigation and the prosecution of offenders are considered, as well as an evaluation of the success of current treatment options. Policing domestic abuse can only be dealt with through an effective partnership response. The responsibilities of each agency and the statutory processes in place when policy is not adhered to are outlined.

Written with the student and budding practitioner in mind, this book is filled with case studies, current research, reports, and media examples, as well as a variety of reflective questions and a glossary of key terms, to help shed light on the challenges of policing domestic violence and the links between academic research and best practice.

Photo caption: from left to right – Dr Ruth Weir, City University; Dr Jackie Turton, University of Essex; Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner; Louisa Rolfe, OBE, Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police; and Katy Barrow Grint, Thames Valley Police

Protection or paternalism? When ethics committees review domestic violence research

In health-care settings, asking about trauma is recognised as good practice. Yet in research studies, whether to address trauma and how is contested.

Some studies prioritise inclusive samples and questions about lived experience. Others avoid potentially retraumatising topics and exclude people considered too vulnerable to participate. While ethical review and safeguarding is essential, at what point does protection become paternalism, and who gets to decide where that line is drawn? Just as harm to participants is unethical, might exclusion from research – at times – also be unethical and a form of epistemic harm?

For further information and the article, please see: Risk, responsibility, and choice in research ethics – The Lancet Psychiatry

Photo credit: fizkes / Shutterstock.com

Presentations available from the 1st VISION Annual Conference

The September 2022 Annual Conference marked the first year of the UKPRP Violence, Health and Society consortium. Participants, including the VISION researchers, Third Sector organisations, government, and academics, reflected on the first year and looked forward to the next four years. VISION presentations covered the entire research project: Health & Health Services, Crime & Justice, Data Integration, and Ethnicity & Intersectionality. These presentations provided highlights of completed research and thoughts on next steps. For further information, please see the slide show directly below or feel free to download the file underneath the slide show.

VISION-Annual-Conference-Presentations-2022-1 Download

Photo credit: Sincerely Media / Unsplash.com