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National and international policy on domestic violence has been strongly influenced since 2008 by a series of studies on domestic violence conducted at the University of Bristol, resulting for example in the piloting of a national disclosure scheme. The studies have also had a positive impact on the practical ways in which agencies such as the police respond to domestic violence as well as influencing the development of a European Police handbook on domestic violence. The criminal justice system, practitioners and victims have benefited from the studies' insights into the `attrition' that can occur between the reporting of an act of domestic violence to the police and the final outcome in court. They have also gained from Bristol's work on the profiles of perpetrators and the behavioural differences between male and female perpetrators.
The impact of the research has been firstly, in informing the creation of a new kind of domestic violence court and secondly, in alerting domestic and European policy-makers to the problem of women rough sleepers which was previously effectively "invisible."
Short summary of the case study
The case study emerged from research conducted by the Central Institute for the Study of Public Protection and its predecessors (Policy Research Institute and Regional Research Institute). It informed the development of specialist domestic violence courts in the UK and brought to the attention of European and domestic policy-makers the plight of victims of domestic violence many of whom find themselves compelled to sleep rough, but do so in ways that result in them remaining invisible to the authorities.
Our evaluation of gang member rehabilitation and violence reduction programme in Glasgow has had considerable and enduring policy impact. Scottish Government policy is built on the principals our research espouses. Homicide rates in Scotland are now at a thirty-year low. The Prime Minister and national newspapers cited the initiative as a solution after the London riots and the UK Government incorporated the ethos of this program into their policy and practice. Working jointly with the WHO, we are having impact in South Africa, Jamaica and Lithuania. For example, the Western Cape Province of South Africa has, following our involvement and for the first time, initiated a violence reduction strategy. The most important impact of our work, however, is the change it creates in young people's lives, transforming their prospects from those of a lifetime of intermittent imprisonment to one of useful and meaningful societal involvement and contribution.
Domestic violence is a serious and pernicious problem, affecting one in four women, and a significant number of men. Despite this, in general, legal responses to domestic violence have not been as effective as they could be. Professor Mandy Burton has carried out wide-ranging research for UK government departments and public bodies, including the Home Office, Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) specifically designed to inform legal and policy change on domestic violence. Her work informed the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act in 2004, and was important in helping to develop more than 100 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts across the country.
Stanley's national study of police and children's services responses to children and families experiencing domestic violence has contributed to: a practice shift towards including perpetrators in interventions; piloting in England and Wales of protection orders and relaxing time restrictions on social work assessment as recommended by the Munro Review.
Associated studies include research informing a social marketing campaign for perpetrators of domestic violence and an evaluation of the service developed from that campaign; this initiative was disseminated by the Department of Health. Stanley's research review on children experiencing domestic violence informed the redesign and commissioning of local authority children's services.
Research conducted in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol from 2006 inspired the Government to commission a series of carefully targeted awareness campaigns on sexual coercion and violence in teenage relationships. These campaigns ran between 2010 and 2013 and reached millions of young people. The research has also underpinned developments in government policy as well as a range of practical interventions by agencies in England and Scotland. In addition, the extensive media coverage of the research has substantially increased public awareness of teenage partner violence and related issues.
A series of inter-related research projects, conducted over the last decade by Amanda Robinson, has contributed to significant changes in the services afforded to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Dr. Robinson's research has produced identifiable national and international policy impacts as organizations and governments have used findings from her work to inform their decision-making about the development, implementation and funding of services for these victims of crime. Consequently, service delivery for victims of domestic and sexual violence is becoming more holistic, efficient, and effective, both in the UK and beyond.
Domestic violence is a significant public health issue costing the UK £3.8billion for criminal and civil legal services, healthcare, social services, and housing. King's College London (KCL) research established the high prevalence of being a victim of domestic violence in people with mental disorders, which is under-detected by health professionals. This led to commissioning guidelines in England on identification of domestic violence in those with mental health problems, and care pathways for those who have experienced domestic violence. These recommendations are supported by undergraduate and postgraduate training materials for healthcare professionals based on KCL research and national and international guidance.
A high-profile campaign documenting the influence of public perceptions of gender-based violence in El Salvador led to greater public awareness, demands for change and new national legislation. Research for Oxfam America by Dr Mo Hume played a key role in driving the campaign, Una Vida Diferente, which was organised by a broad-based coalition of international and national NGOs and state organisations.
Impacts of this case study are national, regional and local in government departments and providers of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) services and in lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) specialist services. They include evidencing DVA in same sex relationships as a considerable social problem; identifying and improving understanding about specific vulnerabilities, abusive behaviours and help-seeking behaviours; the development of training across mainstream, DVA and LGBT sectors; the development of existing risk assessment tools to better reflect the experiences of victim/survivors in same sex relationships; and in raising awareness of DVA in same sex relationships in LGBT communities.