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Centring otherness with migrant women affected by domestic abuse

    Victims-survivors with insecure immigration status in the UK are subject to complexities that limit their access to safety, support, and justice. While campaigners have been advocating for more equitable pathways for provision and support over the years, migrant women continue to navigate hostile environments characterised by dehumanising language and anti-migrant bureaucratic systems.

    This chapter, written by VISION researcher Dr Olumide Adisa for the book, Otherness in Communication Research: Perspectives in Media, Interpersonal, and Intercultural Communication, reports on how a feminist dialogic approach (characterised by open, inclusive dialogue and a foundational understanding of social, economic, and political equality for women) was used to centre the often ‘silent voices’ of migrant women affected by domestic abuse.

    Feminist dialogical approach acknowledges the complexities that characterise the migrant victim’s journey through the system—the relationship between the self-other, in a peculiar hostile environment which views the other as a ‘threat’. Migrant women continue to endure this othering within agencies as they seek safety and support. For example, some professionals conflating ‘foreignness’ with ‘insecure immigration statuses’, when confronted with difference. This theorisation of self and other lends itself to a social justice-oriented practice.

    Using different art forms (co-produced with migrant women) and purposeful conversations, attendees were able to encounter migrant women as not a distant ‘other’ whom ‘we’ observe and theorise but as equal partners in the creating and reshaping on knowledge systems on safety, support, and justice.

    This chapter draws on quotes from survivors to funnel through a hopeful lingering over otherness that positions migrant women as deserving of consideration and care, and considers empowering aspects about the other that may often be dismissed in professional circles, but nonetheless are important as a protective element of a safety net.

    To download the chapter: Centring Otherness with Migrant Women Affected by Domestic Abuse | SpringerLink

    To cite: Adisa, O. (2025). Centring Otherness with Migrant Women Affected by Domestic Abuse. In: Magalhaes, L. (eds) Otherness in Communication Research. Palgrave Studies in Otherness and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-73788-6_16

    For further information, please contact Olumide at olumide.adisa@city.ac.uk

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    Addressing abuse in teenage relationships

      This VISION Policy Brief highlights emerging findings and policy recommendations from ongoing research and stakeholder engagement into abuse in teenage relationships carried out by the UKPRP VISION consortium.

      Abuse—whether physical, emotional, or sexual—within young people’s relationships is often overlooked in both research and policy. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) finds that young women aged 16 to 19 are more likely to experience domestic abuse than any other age group. Despite this high prevalence, this age group is less likely to be referred to support services. Furthermore, the CSEW does not cover individuals under the age of 16, leaving a major gap in understanding of prevalence.

      Key findings:

      • Lack of consistent terminology and recognition – various terms are used to describe abuse in teenage relationships, including ‘teen dating violence’, ‘adolescent domestic abuse’, ‘teenage relationship abuse’ and ‘youth intimate partner violence’. Both the workshop with young people and the roundtables identified that young people generally do not associate the behaviours they experience with any of these terms and are more likely to use language like ‘toxic relationships’.
      • Very limited UK research on risk and protective factors for under 16s – our rapid review found that in the last 10 years there was only one UK academic study that looked into risk and protective factors for abuse in teenage relationships for those aged under 16.
      • Importance of schools and communities – unlike adult domestic abuse, which is largely experienced in private, abuse experienced in teenage relationships is more likely to occur outside of the home, especially within schools.
      • Very difficult to measure extent of issue – due to the current Home Office definition of domestic abuse there is very limited and consistently recorded administrative data collected on those under 16 who are experiencing abuse.
      • Need to take a more radical review of systems – our discussion highlighted the difficulty of addressing abuse in teenage relationships within the current systems.

      Recommendations for change:

      • Develop a national strategy – prevention and early intervention
      • Explore support for young people – victims and those carrying out harmful behaviours
      • Commission research into under 16s – including those with lived experience and taking a whole systems approach
      • Improve measurement in under 16s
      • Agree terminology and produce an associated education programme

      To download the policy briefing: VISION Policy Brief: Addressing Abuse in Teenage Relationships

      To cite: Weir, Ruth; Barrow-Grint, Katy (2025). VISION Policy Brief: Addressing Abuse in Teenage Relationships. City, University of London. Report. https://doi.org/10.25383/city.26539906.v1

      For further information, please contact: Ruth at ruth.weir@city.ac.uk

      Intimate partner violence impacts affected by relationship status and offence type

        Intimate partner violence and abuse has a detrimental impact on victim-survivors’ health and wellbeing. However, intimate partners include a range of different relationship types, which are rarely differentiated or contrasted in research. In this paper, VISION researchers, Dr Niels Blom and Dr Polina Obolenskaya, investigate with Dr Jessica Phoenix and Merili Pullerits, whether different types of intimate partners commit different types of violence/abuse and whether the injury and wellbeing impact on victim-survivors varies by intimate partner relationship type.

        They estimate models for victim-survivors’ emotional impact and injuries using the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2001–2020). Intimate partner relationships are differentiated into four groups (current versus former partner, and spouses/partners versus boy/girlfriends). Violence and abuse are grouped into physical violence/abuse, sexual violence/abuse, threats, and economic crimes.

        The team found that for both men and women, offences committed by current partners are more likely to involve physical violence/abuse than offences by former partners. Ordered logit models indicate that female victim-survivors of physical violence/abuse or economic crimes experience more severe emotional impacts when the perpetrator is their current or former spouse/partner compared to a current or former boy/girlfriend. Women’s risk of injuries from physical violence and economic offences are higher when committed by current compared to former partners. Few differences are identified for men’s emotional impact and injuries.

        The type of intimate partner relationship is associated with type of violence/abuse experienced, and for women, with the resulting emotional impact and injury. Future research and policies aimed at reducing harms from intimate partner violence and abuse and supporting victim-survivors should therefore consider distinctions in relationships to deliver more targeted interventions.

        To download the paper: Physical and Emotional Impacts of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Distinctions by Relationship Status and Offence Type | Journal of Family Violence

        To cite: Blom, N., Obolenskaya, P., Phoenix, J. and M. Pullerits. Physical and Emotional Impacts of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Distinctions by Relationship Status and Offence Type. J Fam Viol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-024-00786-w

        For further information, please contact Niels at niels.blom@manchester.ac.uk

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        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

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          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.

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              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.

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                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  

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