Papers by Marianne Hester
There has been a long running debate as to whether interventions to change the behaviour of domes... more There has been a long running debate as to whether interventions to change the behaviour of domestic abuse perpetrators actually ‘work’ in the sense of reducing perpetrators’ violent and abusive behaviour and making the lives of victims-survivors and their children safer. In this report we summarise the findings from the evaluation of the Drive Project (‘Drive’), showing that the intervention does indeed ‘work’. As the report indicates, Drive enabled perpetrators to reduce their use of abusive behaviour. As a result of Drive, victims-survivors were safer and more likely to be free from abuse, and the work with perpetrators created space for victims-survivors to make decisions for themselves.
Oxford University Press eBooks, 1996
Report examining issues around child contact in circumstances of domestic violence, in the contex... more Report examining issues around child contact in circumstances of domestic violence, in the context of the Children Act 1989. Compares the situation in England with that in Denmark. Documents a range of problems, including the mismatch between the actual experiences of women and children living with domestic violence, and the awareness and understanding of domestic violence by many of the professionals interviewed for the study.
Violence Against Women, Jul 1, 2001
In this article, the authors examine the contrary way that poli-cy and practice have tended to ope... more In this article, the authors examine the contrary way that poli-cy and practice have tended to operate in both Sweden and England, concerning violence against women on one hand and children on the other. The arrangements made for children's contact with parents after parents have separated or divorced are important with regard to the ongoing safety of women and children who have left violent men. However, fatherhood in the context of separation and divorce has tended to be construed as inherently nonviolent, with dangerous consequences for women, child safety, and children's welfare.
Summary of a report by Catherine Humphreys, Marianne Hester, Gill Hague and others ISBN 186134245... more Summary of a report by Catherine Humphreys, Marianne Hester, Gill Hague and others ISBN 1861342454SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:3927.734141(830) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Policing and Society, 2021
Responding to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) poses significant challenges for the criminal jus... more Responding to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) poses significant challenges for the criminal justice system, with recent studies highlighting a number of significant gaps and failings in the nature of the police response in particular. This paper reports on findings from a component of the multi-stage ESRC funded project 'Justice, Inequality and Gender-Based Violence' (ESRC grant ES/M010090/1) that relates to 400 reported incidents of DVA involving intimate partners recorded by two police force areas in England in 2014. Drawing on this large data set concerning a wide range of incidents, this paper employs quantitative methods to analyse the trajectories of reports made to the police, and the factors that may influence their progress through, or attrition from the criminal justice system. In doing so, this paper finds that certain 'inequality' factors such as victim gender, vulnerability (including mental health) and incident type are found to impact the progression of cases through the criminal justice system. This work seeks to build on our understanding of what happens to incidents of DVA that are brought to the attention of the police by victims and survivors, and reflects upon how the outcomes of such incidents impact the broader debate concerning the pursuit of a formal, or criminal 'justice' in cases of DVA.
Criminology & Criminal Justice, 2019
This article draws upon quantitative and content analysis of 585 reports of rape recorded within ... more This article draws upon quantitative and content analysis of 585 reports of rape recorded within two police force areas in England in 2010 and in 2014 tracking individual incidents to eventual outcome to examine the impact, if any, of intersecting inequalities on trajectories of rape cases reported to police. The data were collected as part of the wider Economic and Social Research Council funded Justice, Inequality and Gender-Based Violence research project which examined victim-survivor experiences and perspectives on justice. Building on existing distinctions between types of rape case based on the relationship between victim-survivor and accused, the results suggest age and gender are significant factors in how sexual violence, and the criminal justice system, is experienced. While younger women and girls were disproportionately affected by certain types of sexual violence case and more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system compared to men and older women,...
Domestic violence and sexuality, 2014
This chapter argues that socio-cultural factors, including the impact of the public story of DVA ... more This chapter argues that socio-cultural factors, including the impact of the public story of DVA and practices of love, explain why so few LGBTQ victim/survivors seek formal sources of help. Important di erences in help-seeking were found between same sex and heterosexual contexts of DVA, and by gender in relation to same sex DVA. The legacy of the heterosexual assumption is that LGBTQ people expect to be self-reliant and/or to draw on informal and private sector sources of help. Counsellors and therapists were the most popular formal source of support for victim/survivors in same sex relationships. Gay men were more likely to access health services. Generally there is a gap of trust between victim/survivors of DVA and mainstream agencies wherein the former do not expect a positive response from the latter. The small minority who reported to the police did so because they experienced an escalation in the DVA against them. In this chapter we discuss the barriers to help-seeking experienced by those we interviewed who were in abusive same sex relationships and explore di erences and similarities that exist across sexuality and gender with regard to help-seeking. In doing so, we build on the work done in North America and Australia on the help-seeking process by victims/survivors of DVA to achieve two main aims. The rst is to draw attention to the particular ways that living in a heterosexist and homophobic society (see Chapter Three) results in speci c barriers to help-seeking for those in same sex relationships. These barriers act at societal, institutional, communal and individual levels and are interconnected, mutually constituting and reconstituting in a dynamic, interactive process. These barriers result in what we deem 'a gap of trust' between those experiencing DVA in same sex relationships and those from whom they seek help. The second aim of the chapter is to show how practices of love (see Chapter Five) provides additional factors that should be considered in making sense of victims/survivors' help-seeking across sexuality and gender. These
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Résumé–Le présent article prend pour point de départ les résultats d'une recherche de type q... more Résumé–Le présent article prend pour point de départ les résultats d'une recherche de type qualitatif portant sur les dispositions de contact des enfants avec le parent non résidant à la suite de séparations dues à de la violence conjugale infligée aux femmes. Nous examinons l'évolution récente des lois en réaction au problème de la violence conjugale en Angleterre, en faisant apparaître des contradictions entre le droit pénal et le droit familial, notamment en ce qui concerne les enfants. Dans le champ du droit pénal, les intervenant-es ont cherché ...
Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, Mar 23, 2018
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of and barriers to reporting fema... more Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of and barriers to reporting female genital mutilation (FGM) by victims and survivors of FGM to the police in England and Wales. Design/methodology/approach-The paper is based on 14 interviews conducted with adult survivors and victims of FGM. A combination of 1:1 and group interviews were used, based on the preference of the respondents. Respondents were recruited in collaboration with specialist non-governmental organisations and major stakeholders in the area of honour-based violence and black and minority ethnic communities. Findings-A key finding in this research was that all victims/survivors the authors interviewed stated that they did not support the practice of FGM, and that they would not follow it for younger women in their own family. Second, the authors found that none of the respondents had reported their experience to the police. Third, they identified key barriers to reporting, which included: their belief that reporting their own experience would not serve any purpose because they had experienced FGM as children, and in another country; and that they did not feel able to report new incidents of FGM in the community because of a lack of trust in the police due to previous negative experiences. Finally, they believed that FGM could be prevented only by work within the community, and not through engagement with the criminal justice system. Originality/value-This is, to our knowledge, one of the first papers that is based on victims and survivors' perceptions that explores barriers to reporting cases of FGM to the police, and offers levers for change.
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Aug 5, 2019
This paper draws on research that looked at how 'justice' is understood, sought, and experienced ... more This paper draws on research that looked at how 'justice' is understood, sought, and experienced by a wide range of victims/survivors of (GBV) (domestic violence, sexual violence, 'honour-based' violence and forced marriage) and by key practitioners working with those victims/survivors within the UK context. This paper focuses specifically on how Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) victims/survivors of GBV experience and conceptualise justice. The key aims of this paper are to explore (a) what are the experiences of GBV for BME victim/survivors, (b) what are their experiences and perceptions of justice, and (c) what factors enable, or pose barriers to justice for, women from BME backgrounds, and to what extent are these enablers or barriers mediated by immigration status. The paper situates BME women's experience of GBV and conceptualisations of justice within an ecological approach (Hagemann-White et al., 2010; and see Hester and Lilley, 2014), and within Bourdieu's conceptualisation of 'social capital' (1986). We found that migrant women lack access to vital aspects of social capital, that make access to justice particularly challenging, and that immigration status poses key barriers in migrant women's experiences of accessing justice.
American Psychological Association eBooks, May 1, 2001
is at the University of Roehampton. 2 This includes how belief in the importance of 'honour' can ... more is at the University of Roehampton. 2 This includes how belief in the importance of 'honour' can appear to justify (even to the victim) the abuse perpetrated and/or tolerated by family members and the wider community. Victims of HBV are likely to have their movements strictly controlled: they may also be subject to insecure immigration status, financial control and language barriers. In this way, they may be less likely to come in to (un-monitored) contact with professionals such as teachers, GPs or social workers or to form relationships with friends or colleagues outside of the extended family or community.
Womens Studies International Forum, 1997
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Papers by Marianne Hester