One-day conference on Violence Against Women and Girls

Registration is now open for this one-day conference which will focus on research, policy, and practice.

This conference comes at a critical moment in the development of national and local responses to violence against women and girls (VAWG). In September 2021, a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) concluded that there had been significant improvements in the police response to VAWG in the last decade. It also found inconsistencies at force, local partnership and national level, however, and called for ‘an immediate shift upwards of the priority given to the policing response to these offences’.

HMICFRS stated that ‘policing cannot do this alone’ and called for ‘a whole-system response’ to VAWG offences. The Government’s Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy also appeared in 2021. In response, in December 2021, the College of Policing (CoP) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the first Policing VAWG: National Framework for Delivery.

This conference will bring leading researchers together with national policy makers and local practitioners, with a shared commitment to eradicating VAWG, to consider the implications for local multi-agency partnerships. You are warmly invited to join us.

Attendance is free, but registration is required.

Location: The conference venue, the Roundthorn Hotel in Penrith, is 5 minutes from the M6 and within easy access of the A6, A66 and A686. If you wish to book accommodation at the venue, please mention the conference when calling the hotel to receive a discounted room rate.

Conference programme

10:00 – 10:30: Arrival and registration

10:30 – 10:45: Welcome and introduction

Dr Sam Lewis, University of Leeds

10:45 – 11:30: Science, Technology and VAWG Crime Prevention (Title TBC)

Professor Paul Taylor, National Policing Chief Scientific Advisor

11:30 – 12:30:Understanding the Geospatial and Contextual Patterns of Domestic Abuse: Research Report Launch

Dr Sam Lewis and Dr Dan Birks, University of Leeds

12:30 – 1:00: The Impact on the Ground: A Response from Cumbria Constabulary and Partners

Detective Superintendent Sally Blaiklock, Safeguarding Lead for Cumbria Constabulary, and spokesperson for Safer Cumbria

1:00 – 2:00: Lunch and networking

2:00 – 2:45: Elder Abuse / Geographies of Gender-Based Violence (Title TBC)

Dr Hannah Bows, University of Durham

2:45 – 3:30: Understanding victim (dis)engagement in domestic abuse cases – initial findings and implications for policy and practice

Dr Shona Morrison, Dr Anna Hopkins and Dr Holly Taylor-Dunn, the Open University.

3:30 – 4:15: The National Context: The CoP / NPCC Policing VAWG National Framework for Delivery (Title TBC)

Chief Superintendent Sam Millar, Violence Against Women and Girls lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council

4:15 – 4:30: Thanks and close

Register for your free place on the event listing on Eventbrite.