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Podcast on police and domestic violence publication

Hear VISION Senior Research Fellow, Ruth Weir, in conversation with Jackie Turton, University of Essex, as they discuss their recent publication, Policing Domestic Violence: Risk, Policy, and Practice, with Jules Pretty of The Louder than Words podcast series.

Ruth and Jackie collaborated with two serving police officers, Kate Barrow-Grint and Jacqueline Sebire, to write a book that improves police force understanding of the dynamics of how domestic abuse occurs, how best to respond to and investigate it, and, in the longer term, how to prevent it.

It is a unique collaboration of real-life policing experience blended with the latest academic research and best practice to update some of the theoretical analysis and to highlight areas of good practice like what works and why.

To listen to the podcast please see: The Louder than Words podcast

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

Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

Measuring violence using administrative data collected by specialist domestic and sexual violence and abuse support services

Interpersonal violence, which can include various forms of domestic and sexual violence and abuse (DSVA) is a leading cause of death, particularly among young adults. In the UK, specialist DSVA services provide much-needed support to victim-survivors of these types of violence, and some provide support for perpetrators to change their behaviour. To monitor and support their work, specialist services collect data on violence. This data has the potential to improve understanding of violence but presents unique challenges.

In this review, VISION researchers Dr Annie Bunce, Dr Sophie Carlisle and Dr Estela Capelas Barbosa describe and discuss some of the key challenges facing the data collected by specialist services.

Inconsistencies in data collection arise due to the differing remits and priorities of specialist services, which mean violence and abuse are defined and measured in slightly different ways by these organisations. Particularly, the review highlights the significant variation in outcomes and outcome measurement tools used to evidence the effectiveness of services and interventions.

Specialist support services collect valuable data on many and multiple types of violence, the wide impacts of violence on victim-survivors’ lives, and information about perpetrators. As the data are not collected for research purposes, a considerable amount of work is often required to make the data suitable for statistical analysis. Critically, the piecemeal and insecure funding of specialist services limits their capacity to collect and analyse data.

Together these issues make it challenging to collate data from specialist services and use it to inform measurements of violence.

The researchers recommend the development of a core outcomes framework, exploration of methods for linking specialist services data with other sources of administrative data on violence, and sustainable funding for third sector specialist support services.

For further information please see: Social Sciences | Free Full-Text | The Concept and Measurement of Interpersonal Violence in Specialist Services Data: Inconsistencies, Outcomes and the Challenges of Synthesising Evidence (mdpi.com)

Or contact Dr Annie Bunce at annie.bunce@city.ac.uk

Photograph by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Young People and Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Support and Services in England

Although estimating the prevalence of victimisation among young people is challenging, previous research indicates that around a fifth of young people have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner, half experienced emotional victimisation, and a quarter report some type of unwanted sexual contact. National UK crime surveys consistently find young women to be at greater risk of victimisation than those over 25, and intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA) is one of the leading risks of death globally for younger women (aged 20–24).

In this paper, VISION Director Professor Gene Feder and colleagues from the University of Bristol and University of Central Lancashire, explored young people’s experiences of seeking or receiving institutional help and support in relation to IPVA.

Semi-structured interviews were carried with 18 young people aged 18 to 25, using Life History Calendars. Experiences of range of types of services in relation to intimate partner violence were explored, including support from education; primary and maternity services; third sector organisations; and counselling and support workers.

Participants said that they wanted clearer information to be provided in schools on identifying abuse from a younger age and better signposting and access to specialist services. They described how they benefited from equal power dynamics in relationships with professionals where they were supported to make their own decisions.

The authors found that young people often view adult support services as not for them and more needs to be done to understand effective responses to IPVA among different groups. Professionals in all sectors (including schools) need IPVA trauma-informed training that encourages equal power dynamics, with a clear understanding of and access to referral pathways, to be able to respond better to the specific needs of young people experiencing IPVA.

For further information please see: Young People and Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Institutional Support and Services in England | SpringerLink

Or contact Dr Maria Barnes at maria.barnes@bristol.ac.uk

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Intimate partner violence: Factor in chronic health problems

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is increasingly recognised as a contributing factor for long-term health problems; however, few studies have assessed these health outcomes using consistent and comprehensive IPV measures or representative population-based samples. Health implications of IPV against men is also relatively underexplored. Given the gendered differences in IPV exposure patterns, exploration of gender patterns in men’ and women’s IPV exposure and health outcomes is needed.

We used data from the 2019 New Zealand Family Violence Study, a cross-sectional population-based study of ~2,800 ever-partnered women and men which was conducted across 3 regions of New Zealand.

We found that women’s exposure to any lifetime IPV, as well as specific IPV types (physical, sexual, psychological, controlling behaviors, and economic abuse), was associated with increased likelihood of reporting adverse health outcomes (poor general health, recent pain or discomfort, recent health care consultation, any diagnosed physical and mental health condition). Furthermore, a cumulative pattern was observed that is women who experienced multiple IPV types were more likely to report poorer health outcomes.

Regarding men exposure to IPV, we found that while men’s exposure to IPV was associated with increased likelihood of reporting 4 of the 7 assessed poor health outcomes, specific IPV types were inconsistently associated with poor health outcomes. Experience of a higher number of IPV types among men did not show a clear stepwise association with number of health outcomes. These findings indicate that IPV against men, unlike women, does not consistently contribute to their poor health outcomes at the population level.

In sum, our findings warrant gender-appropriate clinical approaches when IPV is identified. Specifically, health care systems need to be mobilized to address IPV as a priority health issue among women. However, these findings do not warrant routine inquiry for IPV against men in clinical settings, although appropriate care is needed if IPV against men is identified.

For further information please see: Association Between Men’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Self-reported Health Outcomes in New Zealand | Global Health | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network and Association Between Women’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Self-reported Health Outcomes in New Zealand | Intimate Partner Violence | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network

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

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:

Knives are weapons of choice for inflicting fatal violence against women – ‘knife crime’ policies must recognize this

The knife is a relatively mundane, domestic and easily accessible household item. However, at the same time, it is often the weapon of choice for inflicting fatal violence against women in their homes.

In recent years, the knife has become an object of fear and panic in England and Wales when used in public by mostly young men on other young men. Overlooking the use of knives against women in ‘private’ spaces, much media coverage of ‘knife crime’ has centralised it as a problem confined to young Black men in urban environments. This attention has triggered a number of strategies and powers to tackle ‘knife crime’, primarily focusing on expanding stop and search powers, increasing prisons spaces, and launching (discriminatory) public awareness campaigns. However, all of these policy measures fail to tackle the use of knives in private spaces.

Viewed through three lenses of space, gender and materiality, this article analyses the gendered and spatialized aspects of ‘knife crime’ which are very often hidden in public and policy discourses. Situated in this way, the contemporary preoccupation with ‘knife’ crime illustrates the ongoing and deeply held assumptions surrounding debates on public and private violence. We argue that policy must recognise ‘knife crime’ as more than a problem faced only by young men in public, and addressed as a threat to women in private spaces.

For further information and the article, please see: Gendered objects and gendered spaces: The invisibilities of ‘knife’ crime (sagepub.com)