Pioneering Research Centre Dedicated to Ending Violence and Abuse

Durham University’s Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse (CRiVA) has research impact at its core and is committed to working towards ending violence and abuse across society

Housed within the University’s Department of Sociology and Durham Law School, it consists of around 80 Durham staff and researchers across the university, plus over 500 community members globally. They work on projects dedicated to improving knowledge about violence and abuse and professional and societal responses to it.

The centre is home to cutting-edge research into a range of aspects of violence and abuse, including work on image-based sexual abuse, domestic abuse, spiking, child sexual abuse and cyber abuse. Many of the projects are multidisciplinary, drawing on experts from a range of subject areas such as criminology, law, business and psychology.

CRiVA is led by Durham University Criminology Professor Nicole Westmarland whose research interests include domestic violence, spiking, police responses to domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Forensic marking

Reducing violent crime and increasing trust and confidence in policing are two of the ambitions of Professor Westmarland’s joint project on ‘forensic marking’ with the College of Policing.

In the forensic marking initiative, victims of domestic abuse who have separated from their partner are given devices that deter their ex-partners from coming near them, for example, an invisible spray or gel that only shows up under UV light. Ex-partners are informed about the extra protection that has been put around victim’s homes and warned not to contact them.

The ‘theory of change’ is that this will deter domestic abuse offenders from re-offending, improve victim’s feelings of safety, bring more offenders to justice, and increase victim’s feelings of trust and confidence in policing.

Behaviour change interventions

Professor Westmarland is also known as an international expert on behaviour change interventions to prevent further domestic abuse. It is essential that these interventions, such as domestic abuse perpetrator programmes, are safe and effective.

With Professor Liz Kelly at London Metropolitan University, Professor Westmarland wrote the first ever Home Office overarching principles and practice guidelines for commissioning and delivering interventions for perpetrators of domestic abuse.

In the coming years, Professor Westmarland will continue her programme of work on ensuring perpetrators of domestic abuse and other forms of violence and abuse are made visible and that evidence-based interventions are in place that will actually start to reduce violent crime.

Online harms

Professor Clare McGlynn, a CRiVA member from Durham University’s Law School, is an internationally recognised expert working closely with politicians, victims and civil society to improve laws nationally and across the world to better tackle online abuse, pornography and sexual violence.

Prof McGlynn’s research and expertise shaped new laws on cyberflashing and image-based abuse and she is currently advising politicians and organisations around the world on how best to tackle deepfake sexual abuse.

Together with former CRiVA member Fiona Vera-Gray, Prof McGlynn’s research on the sexually violent nature of mainstream pornography has underpinned reforms across the world. In fact, it was Professor McGlynn’s research with University of Kent Law Professor Erika Rackley that first developed the concept of image-based sexual abuse which is now used globally including by the White House in its recent Call to Action and in US legislation on deepfakes.

Tackling sexual violence

In relation to sexual violence, this year, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, Professor McGlynn helped develop and launch a new tool for police forces to improve rape investigations.

The Rape Victim Impact Assessment (RVIA) tool will help police forces improve services to victims by providing a clear process to support officers and staff to systematically review how police policies and procedures could impact victims. Although the tool was developed in the specific context of rape investigations, it has the potential to be applied across all areas of the criminal justice system.

Working in partnership

As reflected by their leading research, all CRiVA members are passionate about supporting people who have experienced violence and abuse and are dedicated to finding ways to end it. Durham University further demonstrated its commitment to supporting survivors and shaping policing policy with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Durham Constabulary in July 2024.

The University’s work has already enhanced the Constabulary’s understanding and approach to many areas of crime and policing, including on gender-based violence and staff wellbeing. Previously, Professor Westmarland worked with Open Clasp theatre company to train all frontline officers in Durham Constabulary on understanding and responding to coercive and controlling behaviour.

The MoU further formalises the University’s positive relationship with its local police force and will lead to further collaborations in the future.

 

Facts & Figures

  • 200+ books and papers published by CRiVA members since 2013
  • Over 1 million people globally have read CRiVA articles published in The Conversation
  • A UK survey revealed 86% of 18-to 24-year-old women, and 71% of all women, had been harassed in a public space (Source: APPG report for UN women)

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