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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

    Deputy Chief Constable awarded Practitioner in Residence at Violence and Society Centre

      Katy Barrow-Grint, Deputy Chief Constable, Gloucestershire

      City St George’s, UoL, offers a Practitioner in Residence programme at the School for Policy and Global Affairs. It is for mid-level and senior policy practitioners within the UK and provides a platform to grow and explore their practice in partnership with the school.

      Katy Barrow-Grint, Deputy Chief Constable in Gloucestershire and an executive leader in national policing, became aware of the opportunity via her work with VISION Senior Research Fellow, Dr Ruth Weir,  on the VISION adolescent domestic abuse (ADA) research programme. Having recently written a book entitled ‘Policing Domestic Abuse’ with Ruth and others, the research identified a national gap academically and in policing with how ADA is understood.

      Katy’s focus will be on how police constabularies document ADA and developing a better understanding of the impact of the statutory age limitations on the practical work police officers do on the front line.

      Forces do not routinely record ADA as the statutory guidance states that domestic abuse occurs in relationships where both parties are aged 16 or over. As a result, whilst crimes against young people will be recorded and investigated, they are not necessarily classified as domestic abuse, and it may be that child protection, domestic abuse or front-line response teams deal with the case.

      Her project work will seek to understand how forces are recording such incidents, and what type of officer and role is investigating. Katy will work with policing nationally through the National Police Chief‘s Council (NPCC) domestic abuse and child protection portfolios and collate an up-to-date picture across all forces in England and Wales to understand how they are recording and who is investigating ADA.

      Katy is also undertaking specific localised work in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Northumbria, hosting roundtables with Dr Ruth Weir and  practitioners from all relevant agencies to gain a qualitative understanding of the problems staff encounter when dealing with ADA.

      Photograph from Adobe Photo Stock subscription

      VISION-funded research: Surviving Economic Abuse survey initial findings released

        Tackling economic abuse should be part of the solution to meet the new government’s ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. It is important that the government’s measurement approach can understand the range of ways that economic restriction, exploitation and sabotage that victim-survivors experience at scale across the UK.

        Recent survey results from Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) tell a powerful story that highlights experiences of economic abuse across the UK. The full report will be launched by SEA in March 2025, but their early release of key findings include:

        • Economic abuse is often understood to only be about creating dependency through restriction, but it can take many forms e.g., having a partner or ex-partner steal money, refuse to pay bills, or scare their partner into taking out credit. Early analysis suggests that a wider range of behaviours may continue post-separation than previously thought.
        • The data shines a light on the dangerous situation for young women- an area that SEA and VISION are seeking funding to explore further. 18–24-year-olds experienced more economic abuse than any other age group, for example 12% of this sample had been prevented from having log-in information (e.g. passwords, usernames) to key accounts such as online banking, utilities accounts, emails by a partner or ex-partner compared to 4% of all women.
        • Black, Asian and racially minoritised women in the UK may be more than twice as likely to experience economic abuse from a partner or ex-partner than White women, with women with a Black/African/Caribbean or Black British ethnicity particularly at risk.
        • Disabled women in the UK may be nearly twice as likely to experience economic abuse from a partner or ex-partner as non-disabled women

        The VISION consortium was delighted to financially support SEA’s research, A rapid impact survey to monitor the nature and prevalence of economic abuse in the UK, through our Small Projects Fund in spring 2024. Their full report will be widely shared in 2025, including on the VISION website and through our networks.

        Photograph from Adobe Photo Stock subscription

        Migrants’ experiences of violence while in insecure migration status

          Violence is a major public health issue. Moreover, there is evidence that violence is significantly related to social inequality. Existing studies have found links between violence and gender, ethnicity, place of residence and socioeconomic status.

          Although economic globalization impacts trade, goods, and services, the movement of people has been increasingly restricted since the 1990s. The number of people globally who live with insecure migration status is difficult to estimate, but includes people worldwide undertaking irregular journeys and crossing international borders without authorization, people living without the correct immigration documentation, and people in temporary or dependent statuses in destination countries.

          The global movement of people in the context of strict immigration laws and policies places significant numbers of people in insecure migration status worldwide. Insecure status leaves people without recourse to legal, governmental or social protection from violence and abuse.

          This review synthesized qualitative studies that reported how migrants associated physical and physically enforced sexual violence they experienced with their insecure migration status. VISION researchers, Andri Innes, Annie Bunce, Hannah Manzur, and Natalia V. Lewis, generated robust qualitative evidence showing that women experienced sexual violence while in transit or without status in a host state, and that they associated that violence with their insecure migration status. This was the case across the various geographic routes and destination countries.

          They found evidence that women associated intimate partner violence with lacking (legal) access to support because of their insecure migration status. Women connected their unwillingness to leave violent circumstances, and therefore their prolonged or repeated exposure to violence, with a fear of immigration removal produced by their insecure migration status.

          To protect people in insecure migration status from experiencing violence that they associated with their migration status, it’s necessary to ensure that the reporting of violence does not lead to immigration enforcement consequences for the victim.

          To download the paper: Experiences of violence while in insecure migration status: a qualitative evidence synthesis | Globalization and Health | Full Text

          To cite: Innes, A., Bunce, A., Manzur, H. et al. Experiences of violence while in insecure migration status: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Global Health 20, 83 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-024-01085-1

          For further information, please contact Andri at alexandria.innes@city.ac.uk

          Photograph from Adobe Photo Stock subscription

          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

            Empowering voices against ‘honour’-based abuse: A call to action

              There is an urgent need for specialist support for Middle Eastern, North African (MENA) and Afghan women and girls living in the UK, with many facing the particular risk of ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA).  On 18 October, the women’s rights organisation IKWRO held the impactful “Celebrating Courage: Empowering Voices Against Honour-Based Abuse” conference. It was hosted at City St George’s and proudly supported by the Violence and Society Centre (VASC) and VISION consortium.

              The powerful event featured art, presentations, panels, film, and spoken word performances that shed light on the often-overlooked experiences of ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and the urgent need for education and prevention.

              HBA disproportionately affects women and girls, it frequently goes unrecognised and is often conflated with domestic violence. Through this event, IKWRO, VASC and VISION aimed to illuminate the unique aspects of HBA and foster a deeper understanding of its implications.

              A diverse group of speakers, including survivors, advocates, lawyers, and researchers, shared their insights and experiences. This included powerful testimonies from victims/survivors, bravely recounting their experiences of HBA. Their voices resonated throughout the room, creating a sense of solidarity and support, while also providing a safe space for discussion.

              Over 100 people attended. A conference highlight was the strong presence of representatives from police and central government. Their attendance demonstrated a commitment to addressing HBA and offered them and other attendees a unique opportunity to engage directly with key figures at the forefront of the fight against HBA.

              One salient moment during the conference occurred when VISION researcher Dr Ladan Hashemi, during the discussion with the police officers regarding enhancements to law enforcement responses, emphasised that “violence constitutes violence, and abuse constitutes abuse, regardless of an individual’s identity or background. It is essential for law enforcement agencies to acknowledge their obligation to prevent and mitigate HBA in the United Kingdom”.

              The event also featured innovative approaches to communicating the issue of violence through art and spoken word. These forms of expression not only captivated the audience but also fostered a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding HBA. By bringing art into a conference setting, IKWRO, VASC and VISION wanted to highlight the positive impact of creative communication, showcasing the experiences of survivors and the urgent need for change.

              In honour of the International Day of the Girl Child, this event was an important step toward raising awareness about HBA and the specific challenges faced by women and girls in the UK to police, government, specialist services, academic researchers and the general public.  A world free of abuse and violence requires the prevention of HBA, and for IKWRO that starts in their home base of London.

              Key to the event was the organisation and support of VISION’s Knowledge Exchange Manager, Kimberly Cullen, and Dr Hashemi. IKWRO, VISION, and VACS will continue to work collaboratively to elevate the voices of survivors and advocate for meaningful change in the fight against ‘honour’-based abuse.

              Photo caption: IKWRO and VISION. Photograph supplied by IKWRO.

              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

                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

                  Unleashing social media potential to research violence against women and girls in Iran

                    Researching violence against women and girls (VAWG) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presents unique challenges, primarily due to various contextual factors that hinder conventional survey methodologies. These challenges include limited funding, political obstacles, and safety concerns for both researchers and participants. Consequently, traditional survey approaches may prove unfeasible or inadequate in capturing the complex realities of VAWG in these settings.

                    VAWG is a particularly pressing issue in Iran, a Middle Eastern country marked by its patriarchal structure and systematic and pervasive gender discrimination. The patriarchal and legal structure of the country perpetuates gender inequalities and reinforces societal norms that tolerate or even condone violence against women. Yet, understanding the full scope of VAWG in Iran remains hindered by a lack of robust data.

                    In a recently published study, VISION researchers, Ladan Hashemi and Sally McManus, collaborated with counterparts from Bristol University (Nadia Aghtaie) and Iran (Fateme Babakhani) to explore the effectiveness of social media in recruiting victims of violence in Iran, shedding light on their experiences and the potential of social media as a research tool.

                    The findings revealed valuable insights into the manifestation and context of VAWG in Iran. Social media recruitment proved to be effective in reaching a diverse sample of victims and provided crucial insights into the dynamics of violence, the identities of perpetrators, and the settings where violence occurs. Victims often reported experiences from more than one type of perpetrator, spanning both public and domestic spheres. While social media recruitment offers broad reach and a safer environment for data collection, it also presents challenges such as sampling biases which affect the generalisability of findings.

                    For further information please see: Social Sciences | Free Full-Text | Using Social Media to Recruit Seldom-Heard Groups: Reaching Women and Girls with Experience of Violence in Iran (mdpi.com)

                    Or contact Ladan at ladan.hashemi@city.ac.uk  

                    Photo from licensed Adobe Stock library

                    Consultation: Is there a need for a VAWG data dashboard?

                      This consultation has closed.

                      In 2022, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) developed a prototype violence against women and girls (VAWG) dashboard. The tool presents statistics and charts on violence against women and girls in England and Wales, drawing on multiple sources. However, due to re-prioritisation at ONS, maintenance of the dashboard was halted and from 1st April 2024 it will no longer be accessible.

                      The VISION consortium is consulting on whether there is need for a VAWG data dashboard. This consultation is seeking views on:

                      •  Whether the dashboard was useful
                      •  Who used it and why
                      •  If the dashboard was to continue, what aspects should be kept, dropped or added.

                      The Qualtrics consultation link is now closed because the consultation is over.

                      Anyone interested in the idea of a VAWG data dashboard is welcome to respond to the survey, particularly if interested in using one in the future.

                      Answer as many questions as you like. You can provide contact details or complete this anonymously. The findings will be used to draft a report and provide recommendations on whether the dashboard should continue. The report will include a list of the groups and organisations that participated (where details are provided). Individuals will not be named, although quotes may be taken from the text provided. The report may be published, for example on the VISION website.

                      The ONS VAWG dashboard was available online until 31 March 2024. Therefore, if you would like to participate in this consultation, please view the sample screenshots of the tool below.

                      This consultation closed Monday 22 April.

                      For further information, please contact us at VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

                      Sample-screenshots-of-ONS-VAWG-dashboardDownload