Research project
Changing the Narrative of Domestic Abuse: An Educational Programme for Secondary School Students
- Start date: 1 November 2024
- End date: 28 February 2026
- Funding: ESRC Impact Acceleration Account and ESRC Creating Opportunities Through Local Innovation Fellowship (COLIF)
- Value: £15,000 (IAA); £15,000 (COLIF)
- Partners and collaborators: West Yorkshire Police, Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds Domestic Violence Service Voices Project, +Choices
- Primary investigator: Dr Rebecca Shaw
‘Changing the Narrative of Domestic Abuse’ is an educational intervention resource designed by Dr Rebecca Shaw in partnership with Leeds City Council Healthy Schools Team; Safer Leeds; West Yorkshire Police; West Yorkshire Combined Authority Women & Girls/Policing & Crime Team; West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership; Leeds Domestic Violence Service Voices Project; +Choices (perpetrator programme); and secondary school teachers. Through collaboration as a multi-agency working group, and in consultation with people with lived experience of domestic abuse, the partnership has developed a creative, evidence based programme of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSE) lessons on domestic abuse aimed at secondary school students from Year 7 to Year 11.
The overarching objective of this programme of lessons is to address, and work to change, harmful narratives surrounding domestic abuse. This educational intervention is based on underpinning research conducted by Shaw; the findings of which revealed that education of children was key in order to change harmful narratives of domestic abuse. These narratives often repeat stereotypical characterisations of victims and perpetrators; reinforce misunderstandings of the nature of domestic abuse; and are entrenched within both individuals and institutions. Such narratives are pervasive within our society, reductive and, as a result, can normalise abuse. These harmful narratives, and the perception of domestic abuse they communicate, serve as a significant barrier to prevention activities and delivering long-term cultural and societal change for domestic abuse, which sits within Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
As such, the aims of this educational programme are:
- To provide age-appropriate discussion and critical reflection to help identify and challenge harmful gender stereotypes, biases and misconceptions about domestic abuse.
- To enable students to gain a better understanding of domestic abuse in all its forms, not solely physical violence, but also behaviour that amounts to emotional, psychological, sexual, financial and coercive control (as per the definition of domestic abuse in s.1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021).
- To educate students on how to become active and appropriate bystanders, and the ability to identify harmful patterns of behaviour within their own relationships and beyond.
- To equip students with the knowledge and confidence to improve their understanding and awareness of domestic abuse, and their role in contributing to societal and cultural change.
- To reframe how domestic abuse is taught and understood in secondary schools.
The programme meets statutory RSE guidance for teaching domestic abuse, and equips schools with the practical tools and structured content to do so effectively. It provides a comprehensive, easily adaptable set of lessons for any classroom and for any teacher teaching the RSE curriculum, recognising that there are differences in curriculum delivery across schools.
Publications and outputs
Underpinning research:
https://vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/domestic-abuse-service-providers-and-their-stories/
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/article/991135