What do Victims-Survivors think about Justice? Dr Emma Williamson​ Associate Professor / Reader​ Centre for Gender and Violence Research​ Presentation designed by: Williamson and Eisenstadt, University of Bristol

Justice, Inequality, and Gender Based Violence Project What do you think your clients/service users think justice is?

Methods Range of research methods: Stage 1 - Review and synthesis of the existing literature; Stage 2 - Quantitative analysis of about 1,500 domestic violence and rape cases in police databases, plus Women’s Aid survey data for about 1,400 survivors and women’s domestic abuse services; Stage 3 - Qualitative analysis of interviews with 251 victims/survivors of gender-based violence and 40 key practitioners to elicit experiences and perceptions of ‘justice’. Stage 4 - Linking and synthesizing literature, quantitative and qualitative findings Marianne Check number of practitioner interviews

12 September 2019 Designed by Nate Eisenstadt (2018)

Sense of self​ Recognise abuse​ Have agency​ Be able to have your say 12 September 2019 Agency-Voice   Sense of self​ Recognise abuse​ Have agency​ Be able to have your say … just to be able to have your say.  […] you should just be allowed to be yourself and say what’s … you know what’s happened (003)       Source: Justice, Inequality and Gender Based Violence project ​ (ESRC grant ES/M010090/1)​

Recognition: Being Believed 12 September 2019 Recognition: Being Believed Whether it’s the justice system or family members or … it’s acknowledgement, it’s acknowledgement you’re not lying.  And it’s knowing that you were telling the truth and having your voice being believed and amplified (140) Justice in its broadest sense linked to family​ Recognition and acknowledgement​ Being believed​ Amplifying the voice of v/s

12 September 2019 Fairness in Process I think justice as I say should be fair, and representation to the community of doing what is right for individuals within that and ensuring that everything is fully investigated. But you can do all the investigation you like – when you’re up against a judge and actually they see that they’re wearing the same watch as the perpetrator and feel a bond there – that can be enough to tip them over into making a different decision (096)

Protection from future harm: Victims 12 September 2019 Protection from future harm: Victims I know that seems really odd but I didn’t really care what happened to him […] I honestly did not care. If they’d sent him to prison or whatever, it was irrelevant to me. I didn’t even go to the sentencing hearing, couldn’t… I wanted to know that he was… the only part I wanted to know was was he allowed anywhere near me (019) 

Protection from future harm: Children 12 September 2019 Protection from future harm: Children I think justice for me is that he wouldn’t be allowed to have anything more to do with the people that he hurt, such as me and our son, you know. And it’s not sort of being spiteful and trying to take him away, I think he shouldn’t be allowed to do what he did, and he shouldn’t be allowed to still have contact with those people (078)

Protection from future harm: Others 12 September 2019 Protection from future harm: Others And I will make sure you don’t do this to another woman (229) And by the way you’re going to a wear a tag and a great big tattoo on your head that says domestic abuser, narcissist. (laughs) So that no other woman ever has to go through what I’ve gone through (096)

12 September 2019 Fairness in outcome I'm really glad he got a prison sentence. The police hadn't lied to me; they'd said all along, "With regards to the rape, it's really difficult." Because even if I'd have done something at the time, like called them at the time, when there would've been more evidence, they said because I'm married to him, or if you're in a relationship with somebody, it makes it a lot more difficult. Because people tend to think of people being raped as it's a stranger up a dark alley. They said only 6% of cases that go to court get convicted like that (271)

Social Transformation 12 September 2019 Social Transformation It’s embarrassing that we live in a society where it’s not taken seriously, and yeah we need to do more work with men in prisons afterwards… responsibility is put back on survivors to sort of sort out this issue, and it’s these women’s issues… when actually it’s men’s issues, cos men are the ones that are causing most of the violence (178)

Recognition of harm done: Perpetrator​ 12 September 2019 Accountability Recognition of harm done: Perpetrator​ Recognition of harm done: Others (family / friends / community / practitioners)​ Punishment / Rehabilitation​ Karma / Divine accountability​ Revenge / Retaliation

12 September 2019 Empowerment So I don’t know in some ways I feel like justice is getting out of my head all of these people who have mistreated me, who are all somehow living inside of me still, you know. It’s like it’s getting some kind of boundary and some kind of ‘no’ against them… and then with that a sense of worth, it’s dignity (120)

12 September 2019 Conclusion It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering (Herman, 1992)

Articles in progress Blogs Rape, inequality and the criminal justice response in England: how the intersection of age and gender impacts on attrition Domestic violence, inequality and the criminal justice system. Defining and enabling ‘justice’ for victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse: the views of practitioners working within Muslim, Jewish and Catholic faiths What does justice mean to black and minority ethnic (BME) victims/survivors of gender-based violence? Why use the Criminal Justice System (CJS)? Comparing CJS responses to rape, domestic violence and abuse and(so-called) honour-based violence Victim/survivor perspectives of procedural justice Agents of an alternative justice: the role of specialist advocates in the victim/survivor’s journey to recovery Unwanted sex with third parties: Intersecting domestic and sexual violence Researching gender based violence: Secondary trauma The value of using police data for gender-based violence research: reflections from the Justice, Inequality and Gender-Based Violence project Justice, Inequalities and Gender Based Violence (GBV): Intersecting recruitment and analysis. Blogs https://policystudies.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2018/04/23/justice-for-victims-of-sexual-abuse-and-harassment-lessons-for-westminster-2/ https://policystudies.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2016/11/17/gender-violence-and-justice-what-does-justice-look-like/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2018/06/how-far-do-faith-communities-facilitate-justice-for-victims-of-domestic-violence/

Impact to date: Judiciary review of family court child contact procedures (2016); Justice Select Committee (2016) on sexual violence and the use of Restorative Justice Home Office review of the use of Protection Orders to protect victims of domestic abuse (2017); Meeting with experts and politicians in the Houses of Parliament to discuss gender discrimination and the operation of Sharia Councils in the UK (2017); Development of the first ever Lebanese national Gender Equality Strategy in 2017 (where the research was flagged as good international practice for research on GBV); Development of the North East VAWG strategy (2017); Parliamentary briefings fed into the UK Government’s landmark Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill (2018); North East CEDAW shadow report consultation (2018); Targeted report for Jewish Women’s Aid (2018); Positive response from participants following updates; Evidence used in the Commissioning process for ISVA’s in force 2.