Justice & Violence Studies @ Exeter Network: PhD Research-in-Progress Seminar

Please join us for our research-in-progress seminar with two PhD students at the University of Exeter. 

Ellie Hepworth: 

Ellie is completing her PhD in the department of Public Health and Sports Sciences at the University of Exeter. The focus of her research is public health approaches to identifying and preventing intimate partner violence/abuse in older age. To explore this topic, she is currently undertaking a systematic review and meta-ethnography, and a primary qualitative study, both of which consider the experiences of older victims/survivors of intimate partner violence/abuse, and the practitioners who support them.

Older victims/survivors, particularly those aged 70+, have rarely been the focus of UK Intimate Partner Violence/Abuse (IPV/A) research or interventions, contributing to a limited academic understanding of their experiences and their underrepresentation in support services. This research aims address this gap by exploring IPV/A in those aged 70+ through the lens of safety. It aims (1) to describe what safety means for UK victims/survivors of IPV/A aged 70+; and (2) to explain the processes through which UK victims/survivors of IPV/A aged 70+ negotiate safety. This research is ongoing and is currently in the data collection stage. Semi-structured interviews are being undertaken with older victims/survivors and the practitioners who support them. As the analysis progresses, it is intended that the research findings will contribute provide insight into the phenomenon of safety in later life, and inform the development of age-appropriate support and interventions.

This presentation will focus on her primary qualitative study, working title “Intimate partner violence/abuse in older age: a qualitative exploration of safety”.

Kirsty Cann: 

Kirsty is currently in her third year as a PhD Researcher, focusing on Gender-based violence within secondary education.  Her research builds upon her Master's project which employed a mixed methods approach to examine the prevalence and culture of GBV among children in school. Drawing on her extensive experience as a secondary school teacher, Kirsty brings considerable knowledge and understanding of the issues in school from multiple perspectives, including policy, practice and student experience.   

Her presentation is will discuss Gender-based Violence in Secondary School. Teaching in a secondary school in England is both a privilege and a challenge. It places educators close to the lived realities of young people, where gender-based violence (GBV) is often normalised. This research is motivated by a desire to highlight the prevalence of GBV in secondary school, predominantly perpetrated on girls and gender-diverse individuals, and to demonstrate how these experiences are normalised. It seeks to demonstrate how this normalisation of GBV reinforces sexist attitudes and behaviours which adversely impact students' life chances. 

The aim is to provide robust evidence of the extent of GBV in school, and to examine the culture in which it operates by employing a mixed-methods approach. An online questionnaire was administered to all students in the school, aged 7-18, who have obtained parental opt-in consent as well as provided their own informed consent. To enable a better understanding of students’ lived experiences, one to one interviews followed on, giving students a chance to tell their own story, and be heard. 

This session will be chaired by Dr Charlie Bishop. Charlie's research interests lie in the areas of feminist legal theory and gender-based violence, with a specific focus on intimate partner violence and coercive control and the intersections between family law, criminal justice, and feminist legal theory. 

To join online, please click Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 392 382 118 452 24

Passcode: 6qm39Hr7