Great to be partnering with @wearsidewin.bsky.social Domestic Abuse Services to deliver the event as part of the ESRC #FestivalofSocialScience 2/2

Check out the information below with more details, and the deadline is 30th September👇 3/3

We are inviting abstracts that specifically address domestic/family violence death reviews, and are keen to hear from a wide range of perspectives, from conceptual and theoretical work, ethics and methodology, widening participation, and the future of these kinds of initiatives. 2/3

Our focus is on dialogues that shape ethical decision-making and reflect on the complexities of researching violence and abuse. In a nice bit of timing, its publication comes just before the 2025 European Conference on Domestic Violence hashtag#ECDV, the conference where we first met two years ago.

My chapter ‘Domestic Abuse-Related Death Reviews in England and Wales: Implications for Femicide Prevention’ thinks through reviews’ contribution to femicide measurement & prevention, arguing for more thinking about how they are established & run, their doing, and the change we want to see.

Let’s hope the upcoming VAWG strategy maximises the start that the previous Conservative government made on review reform, which was a start but didn’t go anywhere near far enough.

Although, I’d note the framing of this as about Labour. Since it was implemented, the review system has mostly been overseen by a Home Office led by a Conservative politician. So, the reality is that these problems have been building for some time, and mostly not under Labour’s watch.

They shared why specialist, tailored responses to domestic abuse are so important, and their hopes for a safer, more inclusive future.

Read more below ↓
drivepartnership.org.uk/publication/...

@womencentre.bsky.social

Thank you, too, for the opportunity to talk about my new book and to discuss my findings with colleagues on the call. Find out more about my book - The Potential and Peril of Reviewing Domestic Abuse Related Deaths - below👇. www.routledge.com/The-Potentia...

Ultimately, we know that reviews can make a difference, from telling a victim's story to promoting accountability and driving change. What is urgently required now is a commitment to get them right and, in doing so, without, as this BBC story shows, causing more harm to families. 6/6

Yet, a year after the consultation on the revised statutory guidance, we are still waiting for news from the Home Office, & I am far from convinced that the reform plans we have seen go far enough, either in terms of the Home Office’s role or ensuring that local areas are properly supported. 5/6

So, it's good to see the response from Jess Phillips about more “effective and timely” reviews, including highlighting changes to the Quality Assurance (QA) process. But it’s still not clear how & if these changes will work & there remain numerous other challenges with the review system. 4/6

But the concerns raised by the families here are a heartbreaking call to action. What's most frustrating about these concerns is that they are not new. The challenges with the review system are well known, with plentiful evidence of what is & is not working. 3/6

Inevitably, reviews are a challenging & complex process, particularly if we want to engage all stakeholders (including family) well, keep victims central, & generate meaningful learning. The reality is, the original 6-month timeline was always unrealistic, something my research has also shown. 2/6