Preventing violence against women and girls - what works: evidence summary

Annex F: Signposting to key sources and further information

Justice Analytical Services (JAS) is undertaking a programme of analytical work around violence in Scotland. A range of statistical sources^[143] are used when measuring violence. The recent report Non-sexual violence in Scotland triangulates these evidence sources to provide an up to date account of the current magnitude, scope and characteristics of violence in Scotland.

Other relevant analytical publications on violence in Scotland, produced or commissioned by JAS include:

• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2018/19: main findings, Scottish Government, June 2020
• Repeat violent victimisation: evidence review, Scottish Government, April 2019
• Recorded Crime in Scotland 2019/20, Scottish Government, September 2020
• Taking stock of violence in Scotland, SCCJR, September 2019

In Scotland, the Scottish Public Health Network (ScotPHN) have published Examples of projects to prevent and reduce violence in Scotland (2018)^[144]. In 2019 they also published a Violence Prevention Framework that promotes a public health approach to understanding different types of violence and interventions that may be effective in preventing them. In both publication, VAWG prevention is highlighted and discussed. This report builds upon this work.

Domestic abuse as a form of VAWG

DA: legislative definitions

It is important to acknowledge the differences in definition between England Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. In England and Wales (and Northern Ireland), the definition of domestic abuse includes violence between “intimate partners and family members”, with family members defined as:

mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister and grandparents whether directly related, in-laws or step-family. However, this is not an exhaustive list and may also be extended to uncles, aunts and cousins etc. (Crown Prosecution Service Website).

This necessarily increases the numbers of homicides that can be considered as “domestic”.

Within Scotland, the definition is more narrow, i.e. “the relationship will be between partners (married, cohabiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners” (Police Scotland definition, see also Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018). The inclusion of wider family homicides in England and Wales may therefore include homicides which increase the overall number. Moreover, the evidence on domestic violence from England and Wales within this report includes these different forms of DA (e.g. wider familial violence, not only partners and ex-partners).

Key literature on domestic abuse

Dobash, R. E. and Dobash, R. P. (1992) Women, Violence and Social Change. London: Routledge.

Johnson, M. P. (2001) Conflict and control: Symmetry and asymmetry in domestic violence. In A. Booth, A. C. Crouter and M. Clements (eds.), Couples in Conflict. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 95-104.

Stark, E. (2007) Coercive control: How men entrap women in personal life. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stark, E. (2009) ‘Rethinking Coercive Control’, Violence against Women, 15(12), pp. 1509-1525.

Literature on barriers to accessing support (DA)

Pain, R. and Scottish Women’s Aid (2017): Everyday Terrorism: How Fear Works in Domestic Abuse, https://womensaid.scot/wp content/uploads/2017/07/EverydayTerrorismReport.pdf

Public Health England (2015): Disability and domestic abuse: risk, impacts and response

SafeLives (2017): Whole Lives: Improving the response to domestic abuse in Scotland SafeLives (2017): Whole Lives: Improving the response to domestic abuse in Scotland

Safe Lives (2018): Barriers to accessing services for LGBT+ victims and survivors

Scottish Transgender Alliance (2010): Out of sight, out of mind? Transgender people’s experiences of domestic abuse

Siddiqui, H. (2018) ‘Counting the Cost: BME Women and Gender-Based Violence in the UK’, IPPR Progressive Review, 24(4), pp. 361–368.

Wilson, K.J. (2006): When Violence Begins at Home: A comprehensive guide to understanding and ending domestic abuse, Hunter House Inc., Alameda

Literature on civil protection orders for DA

Brooks, O., Burman, M., Lombard, N., McIvor, G. and Stevenson-Hastings, L., and Kyle, D. (2014): ‘Violence against women: effective interventions and practices with perpetrators, a literature review’, The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research Report.

Bates, L. & Hester, M. (2020): No longer a civil matter? The design and use of protection orders for domestic violence in England and Wales, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 42:2, 133-153, DOI: 10.1080/09649069.2020.1751943

Bystander interventions: additional sources

Anderson, L. A., & Whiston, S. C. (2005). Sexual assault education programs: A meta-analytic examination of their effectiveness. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 374–388. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00237.x

Breitenbecher, K. (2000). Sexual assault on college campuses: Is an ounce of prevention enough? Applied and Preventive Psychology, 9 (1), 23-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626001016005001

Katz, J., & Moore, J. (2013). Bystander education training for campus sexual assault prevention: An initial meta-analysis. Violence and Victims, 28 (6), 1054-106. https://doi.org.org/10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-12-00113

Storer, H., Casey, E., & Herrenkohl, T. (2016). Efficacy of Bystander Programs to Prevent Dating Abuse Among Youth and Young Adults: A Review of the Literature. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17 (3), 256-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015584361

Fenton, R. A., & Mott, H. L. (2018). Evaluation of the Intervention Initiative: A Bystander Intervention Program to Prevent Violence Against Women in Universities. Violence and Victims, 33(4), 645–662. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-16-00074