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United to End Violence Against Women and Girls: An Online Animated Campaign  

    Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a pressing issue in Iran, a Middle Eastern country marked by its patriarchal structure and systematic and pervasive gender discrimination. Educational programmes addressing this issue are scarce, and cultural barriers often hinder open discussion. The United to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign aims to break this silence through a series of animated videos and images designed to inform public discourse and to empower victims to seek support.

     The United to End Violence Against Women and Girls project was led by VISION researchers Ladan Hashemi and Sally McManus, in collaboration with colleagues from other UK universities including the University of Bristol, Goldsmiths University, Animation Research Centre at the University for the Creative Arts, and Leeds Beckett University. 

    They worked with an animation production team in Iran, a social media advisor, and two advisory groups. The advisory groups were Mehre Shams Afarid, an Iran-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), and IKWRO, a London-based charity providing services to women victims of violence from the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region—to incorporate culturally specific insights.

    Although the project initially focused on Iran, engaging with the UK-based NGO revealed an interest in extending its reach. As a result, English subtitles were added to make the animations accessible to a wider audience. This collaboration helped the content resonate with audiences both in Iran and within the global diaspora community, particularly those from the MENA region.

    The animations are grounded in evidence from a survey of 453 women in Iran, which explored the manifestation of various forms of VAWG in Iran and women’s perspectives on how to eliminate it. The survey was designed by Fatima Babakhani, CEO of Mehre Shams Afarid.

    Key findings from participants’ open-ended responses to the survey showed that, despite structural inequalities and deeply ingrained societal, cultural, and religious norms that perpetuate VAWG, change is possible through education and legal reforms.

    As one survey participant noted: “Unfortunately, many still don’t understand what violence truly is. Raising awareness is the solution.”

    The first four United to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign animations focus on coercive control, economic abuse, technology-facilitated abuse, and active bystander interventions, with two more animations in development.

    With guidance from an Iranian social media advisor, a digital strategy was developed to maximise the campaign’s impact. Instagram was chosen as the primary distribution platform, as it is the most widely used social media platform in Iran, with over 47 million users. The animations are also shared on YouTube to further extend the campaign’s reach.

    Influencers and women’s rights activists with followings from thousands to millions were partnered with to amplify the campaign’s reach. The online campaign officially launched 25th November, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls.

    By leveraging evidence-based content and strategic partnerships, we hope to spark meaningful conversations and drive change across Iran and the diaspora communities from the MENA region.

    Join us in raising awareness and advocating for change. Please follow and share the campaign links on your social media to help spread the message.

    Link to Instagram page

    Link to YouTube channel

    This project was funded by City St George’s, University of London Higher Education Impact Fund (HEIF) Knowledge Exchange and by the UKPRP VISION research consortium.

    For further information, please contact Ladan at ladan.hashemi@city.ac.uk

    VAWG data dashboard consultation highlights usefulness of tool

      The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) developed a prototype violence against women and girls (VAWG) data dashboard in 2022. The webpages presented statistics and charts on violence against women and girls in England and Wales, drawing on multiple sources. However, due to reprioritisation at ONS, maintenance of the dashboard stopped and as of April 2024 it was no longer accessible.

      VISION developed a consultation to ascertain the usefulness of a VAWG data dashboard as a result. The call was open from March to May 2024, and 102 responses were received. Most participants responded in their capacity as individuals (n=61), although 25 stated that they were responding on behalf of an organisation and four on behalf of a group. Some participants both responded as an individual and on behalf of an organisation or group.

      Consultation participants responded as people from across a variety of roles and sectors. The
      most commonly cited were working in research or education (n=40) and in policy or planning
      (n=28), 27 people responded as someone with lived experience and 13 as members of the
      public. The remainder comprised those in service provision (n=17), a campaign role (n=10) or
      some other capacity (8).

      Consultation results

      Many participants had heard of the data dashboard before the VISION consultation (n=51), although 28 reported that they had not. Of those who had heard of the dashboard before, most had made use of it (n=39).

      Most participants reported that having a dashboard that brought together data on violence
      and abuse would help them either ‘somewhat’ (n=12) or ‘a lot’ (n=39).

      Participants were asked what they found to be useful about the data dashboard:

      • Data discovery
      • Finding data and finding it faster
      • Breakdowns and local profiles
      • Comparisons
      • Authoritative context
      • Source material

      Participants were asked for their thoughts on the limitations or what was missing from the dashboard:

      • Wider coverage in relation to topics (health, disability, suicide, law, family courts, policy), types of violence and abuse (homicide, forced marriage, sexual violence), and particular groups (men, perpetrators)
      • Deeper context in terms of much more nuanced contextual discussion of what the data means, ‘data without context is misleading’
      • Critical interrogation such as the highlight of methodological limitations
      • Interactive functionality with more scope for further breakdowns by local authority areas and police forces for example
      • Improved search function
      • Positive action such as a ‘section about work being done to support victims/reduce cases’
      • Human stories meaning to go beyond numbers and to tell the human stories that underpin them

      Recommendations

      Through this consultation, approximately 100 people told VISION that a VAWG data dashboard is
      something that they valued having and wish to have again. These included people with lived
      experience of violence and abuse, people working in health, justice, specialist and other
      services, researchers and academics across disciplines, and members of the wider public.

      A violence and abuse data dashboard is needed because it has:

      • Symbolic value: indicating that violence against women and girls matters to the
        Government, and
      • Practical value: as a functional and easy to use tool facilitating access to high
        quality data spanning a range of types of violence, groups, areas and years.

      In April 2024, ONS’ prototype VAWG data dashboard was withdrawn due to reprioritisation of
      resources within that organisation. Since then, a new Government has come into office with a
      stated mission to halve violence against women and girls within the decade. How progress towards this commitment is monitored will be essential to its success. General population health and crime surveys, alongside other data sources, will be key and that includes a revitalised, fit for purpose VAWG data dashboard. To instill trust and collective investment in this goal, a public platform for transparent monitoring is needed and the dashboard could be an effective, useful tool.

      Next steps

      VISION is a cross-sectoral consortium of academics and government and service partners
      working with UK data on violence and abuse. We are aware that further development and relaunching of a data dashboard will require a collaborative effort from relevant departments of
      state, data providers (not least ONS) and external funding. Drawing on our work in this area
      we aim to coordinate this effort, with three initial objectives:

      • Resource: Identify partners and funding source(s)
      • Define: Agree clear definitions to best capture and monitor subgroup and temporal
        trends in VAWG and violent crime in the population
      • Design and test a revised violence and abuse data dashboard with people from
        across sectors

      To download the report:

      Consultation: Is there a need for a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) data dashboard

      Or for further information, please contact Sally at sally.mcmanus@city.ac.uk

      Photo licensed by Adobe Stock online images

      How much violence is there?

        This VISION Policy Brief proposes improvements to the definitions and measurement of violence using the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), in order to more fully capture different aspects of violent crime, including violence against women and girls (VAWG). The briefing is aimed at researchers, national statistics offices, and others involved in violence research and policy. It draws on a paper recently published in The British Journal of Criminology, Definition and measurement of violence in the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

        Key findings:

        • The current definition of violent crime excludes key types: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) headline measure of ‘violent crime’ currently excludes sexual violence, robberies, threats of violence, and many incidents of violence where criminal damage was also involved.
        • A broader definition would better capture scale, harm and inequalities: We use a broader measure of violence that includes these currently excluded forms of violence. This broader measure not only reveals a higher prevalence of victimisation in the population as a whole, it also reveals hidden inequalities. Women are more likely than men to experience sexual violence and threats of violence: excluding these from current estimates leads to rates of violence in women, especially domestic violence, being underestimated. The proportion of people physically and emotionally harmed by violence is also better estimated using this broader definition, particularly affecting estimates for women.

        Recommendation for change:

        • National statistics on violence in England and Wales should show violence estimates using a broader definition of violence alongside violent crime statistics to give a more comprehensive overview of violence and its societal impact.

        To download the policy briefing, please see below. To download the paper upon which the policy recommendation is based, please see: Definition and Measurement of Violence in the Crime Survey for England and Wales: Implications for the Amount and Gendering of Violence | The British Journal of Criminology | Oxford Academic

        The citation for the paper: Davies, E., Obolenskaya, P., Francis, B., Blom, N., Phoenix, J., Pullerits, M., and Walby, S. (2024), Definition and Measurement of Violence in the Crime Survey for England and Wales: Implications for the Amount and Gendering of Violence, The British Journal of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae050

        VISION Policy Briefing for downloading:

        Violence Measurement_VISION Policy BriefingDownload

        Violence in the workplace in the United Kingdom

          Our latest research examines two nationally representative datasets, The Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) and the UK Household Panel Survey (UKHLS), to examine variance in the prevalence of workplace violence by industrial sector and occupational group.

          The authors, Dr Vanessa Gash and Dr Niels Blom, found 28% of commercial businesses reported criminal victimisation on their premises in the past year, including 8% reporting violent victimisation (namely assaults, robberies, and threats).

          Using individual-level data, the report also found 8% of employees had been threatened, insulted or physically attacked at work in the past year, and a similar percentage have felt unsafe at work, with public sector workers most at risk.

          The authors call for enhanced recognition of the problem of workplace violence for a significant proportion of workers in multiple different sectors, alongside improved policies to minimise workplace violence going forward.

          Figure 1. Prevalence of Violence and Fear of Violence in the Workplace by Sector, UKHLS data 2020-2021, weighted estimates

          The report can be downloaded here: VISION Policy Report – Violence in the workplace in the UK: Business and individual-level exposure

          Acknowledgements:

          The report benefited from input and insights from the Home Office, who provided us with access to the Commercial Victimisation Survey used here.

          Photograph licensed by Adobe Stock

          The benefits system: source of support or hindrance to victims of violence?

            Previous VISION research showed how 4% of domestic violence victims lose their job as a result of abuse and that half of unemployed women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lives.

            A report just published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) further confirms high levels of trauma and mental distress among people not in employment and approaching benefits services for support. The report focuses on those in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) aimed at people with an impairment or health condition that affects how much work they do.

            VISION researcher Sally McManus, with colleagues Claire Lapham and Ann Conolly from the National Centre for Social Research, analysed the government’s main mental health study. They found that nearly one in three (30%) ESA recipients screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder. This was more than twice the rate for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants (12%), and ten times that of employed people (3%). The analyses show that the claimant population experienced high levels of stress, in which self-confidence was low and anxiety high. Compared to those in employment, few ESA claimants owned their home and many faced serious debt arrears.

            Sally presented findings from this study as oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee’s Inquiry into Safeguarding Vulnerable Claimants, including domestic violence victims. She drew attention to calls from Women’s Aid for reform they highlight is needed to make the benefits system the lifeline survivors need, rather than a source of re-traumatisation and further harm.

            Women’s Aid recommendations include implementing a named domestic abuse lead in every Jobcentre Plus and ensuring staff receive regular, specialist domestic abuse training, so that work coaches and other frontline staff are better able to recognise claimants experiencing domestic abuse. Specialist domestic abuse services need to be properly funded to support and advocate for survivors in making their claims to DWP. Extending the domestic violence easement to up to a year would also help, alongside exempting those who are moving to or from refuges from repayment of Jobcentre Plus advances.

            The report can be downloaded from the DWP website: A health, social and economic profile of ESA recipients: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 – GOV.UK

            To cite:

            Claire Lapham, Anne Conolly, Sally McManus (2024): A health, social and economic profile of ESA recipients: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 DWP ad hoc research report no.79.

            Photograph licensed by Adobe Stock

            Report launch: A transformative justice framework to address adolescent relationship abuse

              This event is in the past.

              Despite a general awareness of the prevalence of harm young people are experiencing in their relationships, there is little data and evidence supporting the prevention of and responses to such harm through the adoption of a survivor centred transformative justice approach.

              Talia Kensit, founder and former CEO of Youth Realities, explored adolescent domestic abuse as a Fellow with the Churchill Fellowship, a UK charity which supports individual UK citizens to follow their passion for change, through learning from the world and bringing that knowledge back to the UK.

              Her travels and research resulted in Prevention, Intervention and Healing: Addressing Adolescent Relationship Abuse, a framework of best practice upheld by the theory of transformative justice. It is Talia’s recommendation that in order to address the epidemic of harm experienced by young people in their intimate relationships, we must implement polices and practice through prevention, intervention and healing.

              The Violence & Society Centre at City St George’s, UoL, and the UK Prevention Research Partnership VISION consortium are pleased to host Talia’s Churchill report launch on Wednesday 6 November from 4 – 6 pm at City St George’s, UoL, Clerkenwell campus.

              Talia will also be joined by:

              •  Ruth Weir, City St George’s, UoL, Taking a collaborative approach to understanding more about abuse in teenage relationships
              • Christine Barter, University of Central Lancashire, Qualitative findings looking at the nature and impact of IPVA in young people’s relationships
              • Jeff Temple, University of Texas, Dating violence prevention program: implementation and effectiveness

              Seating, drinks and nibbles will be provided.

              To register for the event: Select tickets – Report launch: A transformative justice framework to address adolescent relationship abuse – City St George’s , University of London, Clerkenwell campus (tickettailor.com)

              For questions about the event: violenceandsociety@city.ac.uk

              All those registering will receive an email by 30 October from the Violence and Society Centre with the room and building number where the launch will be held on our Clerkenwell campus.

              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

                Differentiating risk: The association between relationship type and risk of repeat victimization of domestic abuse

                  Much of the literature on domestic abuse focuses on those in intimate partner relationships or ex-partners, however, in the UK the Home Office definition also includes those in familial relationships. The Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence Risk Assessment assumes homogeneous risk factors across all relationships.

                  This paper, Differentiating risk: The association between relationship type and risk of repeat victimization of domestic abuse, therefore examines the risk factors for repeat victimization of domestic abuse by relationship type between the victim and perpetrator in a UK police force.

                  Using police-recorded domestic abuse incident and crime data, a logistic regression model found that the most similar repeat victimization risk profiles for 14,519 victims were amongst partners and ex-partners, with both relationships demonstrating the greatest degree of gender asymmetry, compared with other familial relationships. Physical violence was the strongest predictor of repeat victimization and was a statistically significant predictor for ex-partners, partners, and all familial relationships. Coercive behaviour was also a significant predictor for all relationships apart from partners, but not at the same magnitude as physical abuse.

                  Recognizing the difference in risk by relationship type may assist the police in deciding the most appropriate response and interventions to reduce the risk of further harm. 

                   For further information please see: https://academic.oup.com/policing/article/doi/10.1093/police/paae024/7641219?login=false

                  Or contact Ruth at ruth.weir@city.ac.uk  

                  Photo from licensed Adobe Stock library

                  Prevalence of physical violence against people in insecure migration status 

                    VISION researchers from the Systematic Review working group (Andri Innes, Sophie Carlisle, Hannah Manzur, Elizabeth Cook, Jessica Corsi and Natalia Lewis) have published a systematic review and meta-analysis in PLOS One, estimating prevalence of physical violence against people in insecure migration status. This is the first review of its type, synthesizing global data on violence against migrants in all types of insecure status. 

                    The review finds that around 1 in 3 migrants in insecure status experience physical violence. Violence included physical interpersonal, community and state violence. Insecure status was conceptualised encompassing undocumented status, lapsed statuses, asylum seeking and other pending applications, and any status that embeds a form of insecurity by tying status to a particular relationship (such as spousal or employer-employee). Studies were only included in the review if the violence happened while the victim was in insecure status. 

                    The VISION team reviewed academic literature published between January 2000 and May 2023, across social and health sciences. The study was global in scope, although data was limited by the English language search.  

                    Key Findings 

                    More than one in four migrants in insecure status disclosed intimate partner violence specifically. Spousal visas embed a particular risk of violence because the visa status is connected to an intimate partner relationship, creating an important power disparity. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference in prevalence of violence by gender across the dataset. Prevalence also did not differ meaningfully across geographic region, perpetrator, status type or time frame.  

                    The most significant findings included that violence exposure is not meaningfully different for people in undocumented status than in other types of insecure status. Physical violence is a concern across all types of insecure migration status types. 

                    The findings were limited because of high levels of heterogeneity in the data. It was also difficult to consider intersectional identity characteristics such as age, race or ethnicity, nationality, religion, marital status, socio-economic status, education level or motivation for migration because these were not standardised across included studies. This suggests that further and specified research is needed in this area. 

                    The review is open access and is available to read in full here. 

                    If you have any comments or feedback for the authors, please contact Andri at alexandria.innes@city.ac.uk  

                    Photo from licensed Adobe Stock library

                    VISION Policy Series: The impact of intimate partner violence on job loss and time off work in the UK

                      Key research findings

                      The latest research by VISION colleagues, Vanessa Gash and Niels Blom at City, finds serious negative effects of intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA) on labour market outcomes, with 3.6% of those who experienced intimate partner violence losing their jobs because of the abuse. Furthermore, 1 in 10 of those who experienced intimate partner violence took a period of leave from work, with 1 in 4 of those who took leave needing to take a month or more off work.

                      Based on a large statistically representative sample for England and Wales, this research is one of the first to examine different types of IPVA, with five categories distinguished in the analysis.

                      The report examines differences between those who experienced; (1) physical abuse, (2) sexual abuse, (3) stalking, (4) coercive or controlling behaviour, as well as those who were (5) threatened with abuse by a current or former intimate partner. There were strong differences in prevalence of IPVA by sex, with women disproportionately exposed to threats (34% compared to 15% for men) and to sexual violence (7% compared to 3% for men). Additionally, compared to men, women were more likely to report multiple types of violence and abuse.

                      Job loss is associated with all five forms of IPVA, and the risks were highest for those who experienced: stalking, sexual violence as well as physical threats by an intimate partner. The research also includes qualitative findings from those with lived experience of IPVA and abuse. Participants noted an ongoing stigmatisation of victims of abuse, which had serious impacts on disclosure. Victim-survivors noted their fear of being declared ‘unfit for work’ and of becoming a ’marked person’ should they disclose their abuse to relevant managers.

                      Policy implications

                      • Though IPVA was found to have significant effects on victims’ experiences at work, those with lived experience noted a reluctance to disclose IPVA to relevant managers.
                      • Employers may therefore want to consider enhanced IPVA and DA support systems for employees in the workplace.
                      • While we can expect enhanced support to improve job retention and productivity, we currently lack the appropriate data to directly examine these effects

                      For further information please download the full report below and / or contact Dr Vanessa Gash at vanessa.gash.1@city.ac.uk.

                      Short-report-Labour-market-consequences-of-IPVADownload

                      About the authors

                      Dr Vanessa Gash is a Reader in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at City and a member of the UKPRP VISION team based at the Violence & Society Centre.

                      Dr Niels Blom is a Research Fellow at the Violence & Society Centre and a member of the UKPRP VISION team.