With low formal reporting rates, there is evidence that Autistic women are significantly more likely to be victims of Interpersonal, including Gender Based, Violence (IPV, GBV) than non-autistic women (Gibbs et al., 2022). Pearson et al (2022) suggested that barriers to autistic women reporting such crimes include an increased likelihood of the perpetrator being known to them (as with GBV crimes overall), and that they are more likely to have previous negative experiences with healthcare and police services while reporting such crimes. Communication differences may compound these experiences. This qualitative study invited 16 Autistic women based in Scotland to describe their experience of reporting GBV to Police Scotland. Using PhotoVoice to elicit data, with analysis using Braun & Clark’s (2006) 6 Phase Framework for Thematic Analysis, results will be used to inform and develop improvements as to how police may engage with autistic women in the reporting processes.
Background
Evidence-based policing has successfully focused attention on “what works”. However, domestic abuse prevention also requires understanding “what happens”: the social, developmental and relational trajectories through which abuse becomes established.
Objective
This discovery project explored if lifecourse perspectives could be usefully applied to strategic thinking on domestic abuse prevention.
Methods
An embedded researcher at the College of Policing undertook literature reviewing and partner discussions to establish what lifecourse perspectives looked like, the evidence base relating to the lifecourse and the perpetration of domestic abuse and how a decision support tool might integrate this knowledge.
Results
Lifecourse perspectives could add insight into the trajectory of domestic abuse perpetration, potentially guiding interventions. A lifecourse perspective added focus to the goal of primary prevention.
Implications and conclusions
Lifecourse could potentially be operationalised in strategic prevention tools. The surfacing of potential risks in the discovery phase ensures better design in any prospective tool.
Traditionally, conventions on intimate partner violence (IPV) have viewed isolation as a form of power and control primarily in terms of geographical relocation—moving victims away from social supports and networks. This type of isolation is marked by physical distance, limited accessibility, and infrastructural barriers, with service access and transportation options playing significant roles. However, isolation is not solely rooted in geography. This presentation explores how isolation can occur without physical relocation, focusing on the concept of Destructive Isolation, where perpetrators deliberately separate victims from support regardless of location. Drawing on the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ CALD victims of IPV, the presentation demonstrates that such isolation transcends both geography and specific communities. While the discussion highlights LGBTQ+ CALD perspectives, the phenomenon of Destructive Isolation can affect anyone, making it a universally relevant issue. The goal is to broaden the understanding of isolation in IPV beyond traditional geographic frameworks.
This paper draws on empirical data from one local authority area as part of research examining the Greater Manchester response to domestic abuse under the region’s 10-Gender-Based Violence Strategy. It explores the efficacy of Bacchi's (2009) ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be’ (WPR) approach for making sense of the 'Think Family' model adopted in this area. Applying Bacchi’s six questions, the paper examines how domestic abuse is represented and what silences this representation produces. Findings illustrate how the ‘Think Family’ framing represents domestic abuse as a problem requiring coordinated family-centred intervention across agencies, shaping how responsibility, risk and response are understood in practice. The intervention emphasis of this response—alongside its problem framing—is critically examined. This analysis is especially pertinent given that the UK Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy also promotes a Think Family approach, raising questions about what might be learned from local implementation.