Professor Vanessa Munro has been awarded funding from the University’s Policy Support fund to support her two new research projects which will look at domestic abuse suicides and harassment during student legal placements. Details of the two projects and the funding awarded can be found below.

‘Learning Legacies: Improving Domestic Homicide Reviews in Cases of Domestic Abuse Suicide’ (£49,592) – continuing her prior collaboration with Sarah Dangar (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) and Lotte Young Andrade (Warwick), Vanessa has secured funding under the University’s Policy Support Fund to develop a series of webinars, spotlight briefings and practitioner toolkits, based on findings from the research previously conducted into the content, commissioning and running of Domestic Homicide Reviews in cases of Domestic Abuse Suicide (funded by the Home Office, as part of its Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Fund). In this next phase of the work, the team will host a launch event for the Project Report, at which stakeholder engagement will assist in developing outputs to ensure maximum impacts on policy and practice as a result of its findings. This suite of outputs will be hosted on a knowledge hub on AAFDA’s website, along with a podcast which is currently underway and a short film to be developed. Individually and cumulatively, it is hoped that these outputs can increase national and international understanding around domestic abuse suicide, its prevalence and risk factors, and the profiles of victims and abusers; ensure more robust police investigations to identify domestic abuse suicides and improved commissioning practices in relation to suicide Domestic Homicide Reviews; increase the training and competency of Domestic Homicide Review Chairs and panel members specifically in suicide cases and ensure more effective engagement with bereaved family members in this context; and influence ongoing Home Office reform of the Domestic Homicide Review process in England and Wales, as well as the design and recently announced intended implementation of a parallel Review regime in Scotland.

‘Learning on the Job: Exploring Harassment During Student Legal Placements’ (£43, 618) – working in collaboration with the Bar Council, and building on previous recent work exploring University misconduct complaint processes, Vanessa has secured funding under the University’s Policy Support Fund to undertake initial scoping work to explore law students’ experiences of harassment and bullying (including sexual misconduct) during mini pupillages and vacation placements; and to learn lessons in regard to the adequacy of existing mechanisms (within chambers, firms and universities) for risk-assessing and responding to any such incidents that may arise. It is envisaged that this work will lead to a Project Report, as well as toolkits addressed to Universities, Law Schools, the Legal Profession and Student Unions in order to provide information and resources to improve protocols and protections available in this arena.

Congratulations Vanessa and good luck with the research.