Archives

Upcoming webinar – Left behind: People without support after experiencing violence

 

Thursday 4 June 2026, 13:00  – 14:30, online

Join VISION for a free webinar exploring groups who can be overlooked by health services, policing, and specialist support systems after experiencing violence.

Register here: TicketTailor – 4 June VISION webinar 

Many people affected by violence do not receive the help they need, for a variety of reasons. At VISION, we’ve analysed data sources such as the Crime Survey for England and Wales to better understand these gaps. In some cases, individuals do not seek medical care from hospitals or GPs for violence-related injuries, while others choose not to report incidents to the police. There are also those indirectly affected—such as people whose loved ones have experienced serious assault—who frequently go unsupported. In addition, a significant but less visible group includes victims of intimate partner violence and serious sexual assault in England and Wales who do not disclose their experiences, particularly to specialist services.

This research offers fresh insights into the risk factors, lived experiences, inequalities, and consequences of violence among those who neither seek nor receive support—the left behind.

After the short presentations, there will be a ’roundtable’ discussion with all present to look deeper into each presentation and talk about the barriers and opportunities. We want to better identify these missing populations and underst and their behaviours for not seeking help and conversely for those that are looking for support but the services aren’t necessarily there.

We welcome anyone working in government, police, healthcare, academia, specialist services, education and the community and voluntary sector interested in and / or working in violence prevention and support for those affected.

Programme

Discussant: Professor Ravi Thiara, VISION co-Investigator, University of Warwick

Healthcare inequalities following violence: analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2010-2024, Dr Anastasia Fadeeva, VISION Research Fellow, City St George’s University of London

  • Although healthcare is key to supporting victims of physical violence, some do not receive it despite injuries. The present research used the Crime Survey for England and Wales (combined waves 2010-2024) to identify which victims of physical violence were less likely to receive healthcare. Despite the presence of injuries, in almost a half of the incidents, victims receive no healthcare. We examined individual and violence-related factors that were associated with not receiving healthcare following violence victimisation. 

Indirect victims of violence: Mental health and the close relatives of serious assault victims in England, Professor Sally McManus, VISION co-Deputy Director, City St George’s University of London and Dr Elizabeth Cook, VISION co-Investigator, City St George’s University of London

  • Violence does not just harm direct victims; its effects ripple out through families. Drawing on a representative survey of adults in England, this study found that one in twenty adults were closely related to a victim of serious assault, and that these relatives carry a disproportionate burden of poor mental health. Even after accounting for their own histories of violence, adversity, and disadvantage, close family members face significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and feeling unsafe: evidence that policy must recognise, and victim services be resourced to respond to, the needs of families too. 

Reporting of violence victimisation to the police in England and Wales, Dr Polina Obolenskaya, VISION Research Fellow, City St George’s University of London and Dr Annie Bunce, VISION Research Fellow, City St George’s University of London

  • Who reports violence to the police, and under what circumstances, remains a critical but under‑examined question in England and Wales. Although national victimisation surveys consistently show that more than half of violent incidents never come to the attention of police, existing research is fragmented, often focused on single forms of violence (e.g., intimate partner or sexual violence), based on small studies or non-UK contexts. By mapping multiple routes through which violence does or does not come to the attention of the criminal justice system, this research advances an understanding of the “justice gap” and offers evidence with implications for policy, prevention, and victim‑survivor support. 

Disclosure of Intimate Partner Abuse and Sexual Violence to Formal Agencies and Specialist Services: Comparing Inequality Patterns, Victim Profiles, and Harms by Disclosure, Dr Hannah Manzur, VISION Research Fellow, City St George’s University of London and Dr Annie Bunce

  • Our study examines the hidden population of victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and serious sexual assault (SSA) in England and Wales who report non-disclosure of their victimisation, particularly to specialised services. Whilst evidence-building largely relies on victim-survivors’ disclosure through help-seeking pathways and interventions, the experiences and inequality patterns for victim-survivors outside of these pathways are significantly missing from evidence and support provision. In particular, specialised services support some of the most marginalised and invisible victims of violence, yet barriers to disclosure and resource limitations pose significant challenges for both data collection and support access for these groups. The nationally representative Crime Survey for England and Wales offers a unique opportunity to analyse data on IPV and SSA victim-survivors who have not contacted specialised services or disclosed to any other formal agency (inc. The police and health services). Using pooled data (2004-2019) on past-year IPV and lifetime SSA, we compare inequality patterns (by gender, ethnicity, and migrant-status) and victim profiles (including risk-factors, victimisation characteristics, and harms) of victim-survivors based on disclosure (CSEW only, formal agency, or specialised services). Here, we reveal new insights into the risk-factors, experiences, inequalities, and impacts of violence against otherwise hidden violence victims, particularly those excluded from specialised services support.

Join us at this free webinar on 4 June, 13:00 – 14:30. To book your place please register here: TicketTailor – 4 June VISION webinar 

Photograph provided via Adobe Stock subscription

Upcoming webinar – Responding to violence in later life: Evidence, priorities, and opportunities

 

Thursday 14 May 2026, 13:00  – 14:30, online

The VISION research consortium invites you to a free webinar looking at violence and abuse experienced by those in their later years. What is the current evidence of exposure and health outcomes? What should the violence prevention research and policy priorities be for an aging population? And what are the opportunities to improve our knowledge about this issue?

The event will include:

Patterns of violence and discrimination exposure across the life course and their associations with health in later life, Dr Anastasia Fadeeva, VISION Research Fellow, City St George’s, University of London

  • Dr Fadeeva will share results from her study which used data from wave 11 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which included information about Life History events, such as multiple types of violence and discrimination over the life course. Distinct patterns of violence and discrimination experiences were identified using the Latent Class analysis, followed by analysis of the associations between the profiles of violence experiences and health outcomes.

Listening to Older Survivors: Informing Support and Interventions for Domestic Abuse in Later Life, Dr Vasiliki Orgeta, Associate Professor, University College London

  • Dr Orgeta will present quantitative and qualitative research on psychological trauma and abuse in older women. She will explore their experiences and the perspectives of professionals supporting them, highlighting barriers such as stigma, isolation, and lack of recognition. The findings are informing a psychological advocacy intervention for older women, funded by the NIHR and led by UCL, designed to provide tailored, long-term support that promotes safety, autonomy, and wellbeing.

Later life adversities and their relationship with health outcomes: evidence from Wales, Dr Kat  Ford, Research Fellow, Bangor University and Professor Karen Hughes, Bangor University

Supporting older survivors of Sexual Violence- barriers and good practice, Amanda Warburton, Independent Researcher

  • Amanda will present findings from her MA in Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse dissertation study which gathered the views of professionals who have supported older survivors of acute sexual Violence. The presentation will cover barriers to seeking support and highlight good practice to enable older survivors on their journey to recovery. 

This webinar will be of interest to stakeholders involved in violence prevention research, policy and practice who work with older people and / or are interested in lifecourse violence and abuse prevention.

Join us at this free webinar on 14 May, 13:00 – 14:30. To book your place and receive the Teams link, please email VISION_Management_Team@citystgeorges.ac.uk

Photograph provided by Age Without Limits image library

Webinar: Exploring Domestic Homicide Review commissioning

 

Exploring Domestic Homicide Review commissioning

This event is in the past.

Tuesday 24 March 2026, 13:00  – 14:30, online

Durham University’s Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse invites you to an online webinar looking at Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) commissioning.

The project team, Dr Elizabeth Cook (VISION Co-Investigator, City St George’s UoL), Dr James Rowlands (Durham University), and Dr Althea Cribb (Durham University) will share findings from a British Academy / Leverhulme Small Grant funded research project into review notification and commissioning decision-making and identify implications for practice and policy. 

The event will include:

This webinar will be of interest to stakeholders involved in reviews, including practitioners, commissioners, senior managers, policy makers, and researchers. Those affected by domestic homicides and abuse-related deaths, including family, are also welcome to join, as are family advocates. 

Join us at this free online webinar on the 24th March between 1300 and 1430 to hear about the findings findings from this project. 

To book your place, click here.

Webinar: Risk of sexual violence along migration routes and the implications for current asylum policy in the UK and Europe

 

Sexual violence along migration routes: A systematic review and synthesis

Thursday 29 January 2026, 2  – 3 pm, online

Email VISION_Management_Team@citystgeorges.ac.uk to register for the Teams link

This event is in the past.

VISION Co-Investigator, Dr Alexandria (Andri) Innes and PhD student Merili Pullerits will outline how sexual violence is a pervasive and structurally embedded feature of undocumented migration journeys. It is often associated with economic status, and economic need or destitution and often expected along the routes. Some migrants who plan to travel without documents take action to prevent unwanted pregnancy before travelling, or seek protection by travelling in mixed sex groups or in couples of convenience. 

This review found that some routes situate sexual violence in an intense climate of violence and brutality, and at times sexual violence victimisation is considered to be the only available way to prevent deportation or death. Many irregular migration journeys take place in hostile landscapes where guides such as smugglers and traffickers are the only means of transport, and refusing sexual contact would result in abandonment and death. 

The worst forms of sexual violence are brutal and indiscriminate, involve forced witnessing, and forced sex act perpetration on other migrants. It is used against men, women, trans and non-binary migrants, but there are important gendered differences in the portray of sexual violence and the expectation of sexual violence before and during a migration journey. 

Finally, Andri and Merili will highlight how sexual violence along migration routes are executed by various types of perpetrators, including organised and systematic perpetration by state agents such as border guards and police, and by smuggling and trafficking gangs. It is also carried out by opportunists who are often migrants travelling the irregular route, or are people who reside along the route and take advantage of the vulnerable populations transiting through.

There is very little, if any, form of accountability for perpetrators and very little protection from violence available to migrants. There is also no protection offered by receiving countries to prevent removal directly into contact with perpetrators along migration routes in locations that are often considered ‘safe third countries.’ 

To register and receive the Teams link, please contact VISION_Management_Team@citystgeorges.ac.uk

 

 

Webinar: Using animation to campaign against VAWG

This event is in the past.

As part of VISION’s campaign to support the 2025 United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, “End Digital Violence Against Women and Girls”, we invite you to a lunchtime webinar on Monday, 8 December.

We will showcase a series of animations created to raise awareness about digital violence including technology-facilitated abuse and sextortion (image-based abuse).

The webinar will explore research behind the animations and how animation can be used as a creative, accessible tool to engage audiences, share lived experiences, and promote safer digital spaces for all.

Feel free to bring your lunch and join us!

8 December 2025, 12:00 – 13:00, online 

To register for the event and receive the Teams link, please email: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

For further information on the animation project, funded by VISION, City St George’s University of London and University of Bristol, please see the VISION blog: United to End Violence Against Women and Girls: An Online Animated Campaign

 

Webinar: Exploring Natural Language Processing in violence prevention data

This event is in the past.

Do you work with text data in the field of violence prevention?

Are you interested in exploring how Natural Language Processing (NLP) can be used as an analytical tool?

Research Fellow Darren Cook from the UKPRP VISION Consortium and the Violence & Society Centre at City, St George’s, University of London will demonstrate how NLP techniques can be applied to domestic violence and abuse data in an upcoming webinar on 13 November 2025 from 10 – 10:50 am.

What is NLP?

Natural Language Processing (NLP) focuses on the interaction between computers and human language, such as interpreting and categorising free text from police or medical notes. This approach enables machines to understand, interpret, and generate human language in meaningful and useful ways. It allows computers to analyse and process text data, capturing not only the content but also the intent and emotion behind the words.

13 November 2025, 10 – 10:50 am, online only 

To register for the event and receive the Teams link, please email: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

 

VISION/VASC Webinar Series: Understanding Economic Abuse

 

Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs

This event is in the past.

We are pleased to announce our next webinar for the VISION and Violence & Society Centre (VASC) Webinar Series on Tuesday, 28 October, 11.00 – 11.50.

Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs is a leading international voice on economic abuse and author of Understanding and Responding to Economic Abuse.

She also founded Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) in 2017 following her Churchill Fellowship to the US and Australia to learn about best practice in responding to financial abuse. After seeing the innovative responses to economic abuse in these countries, Nicola was determined to ensure that women in the UK had access to the same support. Throughout her leadership, SEA has pioneered innovative practice, policy and legislative approaches to economic abuse in the UK.

After seven successful years, Nicola Sharp-Jeffs stepped down as CEO in May 2024 and now works as an expert advisor and consultant to organisations working to build women’s economic safety and secure economic justice.

In this webinar, Nicola will share her expertise and insight about economic abuse. She will highlight the need to develop effective responses, and the imperative that all women, everywhere, should have equal access to and control over the economic resources they need to live the life they want.

Please join the VISION research consortium and the Violence and Society Centre at City St George’s University of London to hear more about Nicola’s research and practical experience to raise awareness and implement effective measures to reduce and prevent economic abuse.

To register for the event and receive the Teams link, please email: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

The purpose of the VISION/VASC webinar series is to provide a platform for academia, government and the voluntary and community sector that work to reduce and prevent violence to present their work / research to a wider audience. This is a multidisciplinary platform and we welcome speakers from across a variety of fields such as health, crime, policing, ethnicity, migration, sociology, social work, primary care, front line services, etc. If interested in presenting at a future Series webinar, please contact: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

This webinar series is sponsored by the UK Prevention and Research Partnership consortium, Violence, Health and Society (VISION; MR-V049879) and the Violence and Society Centre at City St George’s, University of London.

 

VISION hybrid seminar: An overview of systematic reviews on violence 

This event is in the past.

Join us for a hybrid seminar at City St George’s on 10 September exploring two VISION systematic reviews: one on experiences of violence among people in insecure migration status and the other on the effectiveness of UK domestic and sexual violence and abuse support services and interventions.

The interdisciplinary UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Violence, Health and Society (VISION) consortium brings together evidence on violence prevention from across health, social, crime and other sectors. A key method for producing comprehensive evidence syntheses is the systematic review.

In this seminar, we bring together two very different systematic reviews of evidence on violence:

  • The first presentation, by Alexandria Innes and Hannah Manzur, is global and examines the nature and prevalence of violence among people in different types of insecure migration status.
  • The second presentation, by Annie Bunce and Sophie Carlisle, focuses on the UK and summarises what we do and don’t know about the effectiveness of domestic and sexual violence support services and interventions. 

For further information, please also see the VISION Policy Briefings stemming from the research:

  1. Insecure migration status increases risk of multiple forms of violence
  2. Measuring the effectiveness of UK support services and interventions for domestic and sexual violence and abuse

Register in person or online here: Ticket Tailor – VISION Hybrid Seminar – 10 Sept 2025

  • In person: Rhind Building, St John Street, London, EC1R 0JD followed by an afternoon tea in the Violence & Society Centre. 
  • Online: A Microsoft Teams link will be emailed the morning of the seminar

For further information, please contact VISION_Management_Team@citystgeorges.ac.uk

VISION/VASC Webinar Series: The intersection of a gendered economy and violence prevention

Mary-Ann Stephenson

This event is in the past.

We are pleased to announce our next webinar for the VISION and Violence & Society Centre (VASC) Webinar Series on Tuesday, 17 June, 11.00 – 11.50.

Mary-Ann Stephenson is the Director of Women’s Budget Group (WBG), a feminist think tank that works in research, advocacy and training to realise a gender equal economy in the UK. As an influential link between academia, the community and voluntary sector, and through their activities of government building and exchanging evidence, data, knowledge, and capacity, WBG’s work often interlinks with violence-prevention research and policy.

Examples include their 2019 report, Benefits or barriers? Making social security work for survivors of violence and abuse across the UK’s four nations, written with Surviving Economic Abuse and End Violence Against Women Coalition. Findings highlighted that the social security systems across the UK failed survivors of violence and abuse when they needed help most.

In 2024, WBG published Funding for violence against women and girls services: Briefing for a new government. Recommendations included:

  • A commitment to long-term grant funding for specialist women’s services, including ringfenced funding for services led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women, Deaf and disabled women and LGBT+ survivors.
  • More specialist training for police dealing with VAWG cases.
  • Reform social security (including uprating benefits and scrapping the benefits cap and two-child limit) to ensure women’s economic independence and their ability to leave abusive relationships.

In this webinar, Mary-Ann will highlight WBG’s programme of work demonstrating that a gender equal economy and the embedding of gender equality policymaking are necessary in the reduction of violence against women.

Please join the VISION research consortium and the Violence and Society Centre at City St George’s University of London for what will be a fascinating exploration of economic inequality through a gendered lens.

To register for the event and receive the Teams link, please contact: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

The purpose of the VISION/VASC webinar series is to provide a platform for academia, government and the voluntary and community sector that work to reduce and prevent violence to present their work / research to a wider audience. This is a multidisciplinary platform and we welcome speakers from across a variety of fields such as health, crime, policing, ethnicity, migration, sociology, social work, primary care, front line services, etc. If interested in presenting at a future Series webinar, please contact: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

This webinar series is sponsored by the UK Prevention and Research Partnership consortium, Violence, Health and Society (VISION; MR-V049879) and the Violence and Society Centre at City St George’s, University of London.

Upcoming event: Economic abuse – new research to inform prevention  

This event is in the past.

Join us for an in person seminar on 6 May exploring the picture of economic abuse in the UK and the systems that enable it followed by a morning tea

Economic abuse is a legally recognised form of domestic abuse that often occurs within the context of intimate partner violence. Control over an individual or family’s money and the things that can be bought can have long-lasting and damaging effects. New research is crucial to building the knowledge base and contributing to the burgeoning scholarship.

Join the Violence & Society Centre and the UKPRP VISION research consortium on Tuesday 6 May from 10 am – noon in Rhind Building at City St George’s, University of London, for a seminar highlighting: 

  • the nature and impact of economic abuse in the UK; 
  • the perpetuation of this abuse through family-owned companies; and 
  • the misuse of financial products, services and technologies provided by banks in order to harm intimate partners 

Dr Vanessa Gash will chair the seminar and introduce our guest presenters with expertise in researching economic abuse: 

  • Rosa Wilson Garwood, Surviving Economic Abuse 
  • Dr Vivien Chen, Monash University 
  • Dr Belén Barros Pena, City St Georges 

Agenda 

  • 10:00 – 10:10      Welcome from the Chair, Dr Vanessa Gash, City St George’s
  • 10:10 – 10:30      Understanding the nature and impact of economic abuse in the UK, Rosa Wilson Garwood, Surviving Economic Abuse 
  • 10:30 – 10:50       Hidden risks of economic abuse through company directorships, Dr Vivien Chen, Monash University (Australia) 
  • 10:50 – 11:10       Addressing fintech-facilitated economic abuse through participatory design methods, Dr Belén Barros Pena, City St George’s  
  • 11:10 – 11:30      Panel Q & A facilitated by Vanessa Gash 
  • 11:30 – Noon      Tea / networking in the Violence & Society Centre 

The seminar will be in Rhind Building, St John Street, London, EC1R 0JD, and end with a panel discussion and Q&A followed by a morning tea in the Violence & Society Centre.  

Please register here: Economic abuse seminar

For further information, please contact VISION_Management_Team@citystgeorges.ac.uk