Thesis Title:
Understanding post-separation domestic abuse: risks, characteristics, and outcomes.
Thesis Abstract:
Domestic abuse is a broad concept including physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological or emotional abuse against a current/ex-partner or relative. The estimated cost of domestic abuse for victims is around £66 billion, with the cost to the economy estimated at around £14 billion. 2.3 million people in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in 2024, however the Crown Prosecution Service reported only 51,183 domestic abuse-related prosecutions in the year ending March 2024, highlighting a large proportion of cases never entering the Criminal Justice System.
Post-separation is a known period of risk for domestic abuse and even homicide within families. Since 2009, most UK police forces use the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour-based Violence (DASH) risk assessment to determine whether it is likely domestic abuse is happening. However, the DASH has come under scrutiny for its poor predictive accuracy. Domestic abuse is prevalent in childcare proceedings within family courts, but there are often no associated formal prosecutions. This proposed PhD will outline the characteristics and outcomes of post-separation domestic abuse cases in family courts and criminal justice data. It will also focus on understanding experiences of domestic abuse post-separation in families and experiences of practitioners using risk assessment tools in these contexts. Together, the results will be used to co-produce a prototype domestic abuse risk assessment checklist for post-separation.
Overall, the findings will provide important insights into who is at risk of post-separation domestic abuse, the impact of experiencing this type of abuse and the difficulties of working to manage risk in the post-separation period, with the goal of better preventing post-separation domestic abuse in families. This PhD will be completed in partnership between Queen Mary UoL and the Stalking Threat Assessment Unit.
Primary Supervisor:
Dr Hannah Jones