​Small Grant Competition 2019: Measurement
During summer 2019 the VAMHN held its first annual funding call on the theme of measurement. We received 23 applications and we were pleased to award funding of up to £25k to four projects. Projects will run for up to 12 months - we are excited to see the results of these projects and will be sharing with them network once they are completed
1. The Development of Measures to Assess the Long-Term Support Needs of Adult Sexual Assault Survivors 
  • Project Aims
  • Team
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"This proposed research aims to lay the groundwork needed to facilitate the development of measures that would be used in a longitudinal study of adult sexual assault survivors’ support and service needs. Its focus is on the social, emotional and physical well-being of those who have previously disclosed assaults to Saint Mary’s SARC in Manchester. In 1986 Saint Mary’s became the first SARC to be established in the UK, with an initial remit to provide a medico-legal response to sexual assaults. There are now over 40 SARCS in the UK. Saint Mary’s SARCs remains the busiest site, seeing over 1200 clients in 2018/9 for a forensic medical examination (FME). SARCs perform forensic medical examinations which involve the collection and preservation of forensic evidence which may be of use in future court cases. Today, Saint Mary’s SARC has a unique service delivery model whereby it provides a comprehensive and coordinated forensic, ISVA and counselling service to males and females, children and adults who have reported sexual assault or rape. Most clients come to Saint Mary’s via the police, but about 10% of adults contact SARC directly and attend without police involvement. The project will pilot a set of measures designed to assess how survivors’ needs are tempered and changed following access to support and service provision."
Prof David Gadd, Professor of Criminology at University of Manchester
Dr Rabiya Majeed-Ariss, Research Associate at Saint Mary’s SARC
Dr Maria Pampaka, Senior Lecturer in Social Statistics at University of Manchester
Oana Petcu, Research Assistant at University of Manchester
Dr Filippo Varese, Clinical lecturer in Psychology at University of Manchester
Dr Laura Watt, Research Associate at University of Manchester
2. Estimating the lifetime cost of Sexual Violence and abuse in Essex, UK ​
  • Project Aims
  • Team
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"Our aim is to estimate the lifetime cost of sexual violence and abuse in Essex, UK and evidence return on investment for support services. We anticipate that the result of this initial research will inform a wider UK wide piece of research to be funded externally, possibly by research institutes such as the Health Foundation or the Wellcome Trust. We also believe that this initial piece of research will enable RapeCrisis to increase its advocacy influence on local, regional and national governments and third sector funders. 
This research will be a first attempt at costing sexual violence per se, and will enable one to build on existing literature of costs of gender-based violence. Although adopting an economic viewpoint may seem somewhat distant when discussing such an emotionally traumatic event, it is nonetheless a vital aspect to consider in terms of precipitating change. Financial markers, and particularly cost estimates, can provide a basis of governmental and corporate policy, as they offer concrete and tangible evidence of the impact of sexual violence and abuse." 
Estela Capelas Barbosa, University of Bristol
Rebekah Brant, South Essex Rape & Incest Crisis Centre
3. What difference does it make? An intersectional framework to measure mental health harms in women and men associated with different thresholds of violence and abuse: a systematic review and meta-analysis. ​ 
  • Project Aims
  • Team
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"The overarching aim of this systematic review and meta-analysisis to review research evidence on VA to address the lack of data on how different types, severity and duration of VA relate to survivors’ mental health.The specific objectives are:
  • To examine, using quantitative methods and meta-analysis, the gender impact of mental health harms associated with different thresholds of VA, including frequency, severity and duration.
  • To examine, using quantitative methods and meta-analysis, the gender impact of VA on the mental health of survivors from diverse backgrounds, if possible, in terms of race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, refugee status, sexual identities, and disability.
  • To produce a provisional theory of change on mental health harms associated with different thresholds of VA among women and men from diverse backgrounds, integrating findings across the syntheses.
  • To work with co-applicants and survivors to identify areas for further research in mental health harms resulting from VA.
We anticipate the development of a future outcome measure scale and associated indicators-acceptable and relevant to survivors -, and further funding will be sought to test/validate the outcome measure. The measure will seek to supports the development of a theory of violence to explain how variations in repetition, duration, seriousness,and context can impact on mental health harms. In addition, the identification and analysis of variations in gendered violence and other social inequalities might enable the research team to theorise on the causes of this violence and what might be effective in its treatment."
Nadia Mantovani, St George’s, University of London
​Angela Sweeney, St George’s, University of London 
Steve Gillard, St George’s, University of London 
Sarah White, St George’s, University of London 
Jacqueline Sin, St George’s, University of London 
Joanna Sharpen, Against Violence and Abuse (AVA)
​Emma Brett, Anglia Ruskin University
4. PaRental intimate partner viOlence and abuse: measuremenT of the risk of Exposing Children and the menTal health impact: PROTECT study 
  • Overview
  • Team
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"This study aims to examine the shared and diverging professional practices as it relates to parents who are victims/survivors of IPVA, parents who are perpetrators of IPVA and exposed children. In particular, we will examine the measurements used, perceptions of 20 thresholds for harm and the resulting mental health and other impacts. These areas of interest will be examined from different professional viewpoints, with specific exploration of parental conflict as it compares to parental IPVA. We will examine how IPVA is measured at different stages of the child’s life course (pre-birth, to childhood and adolescence, into adulthood), in relationships of differing status (biological parents in a relationship, IPVA within a relationship with a partner other than the biological parent, and post separation), and in different types of child exposure (child observing IPVA, being involved in the IPVA or being exposed to the aftermath). The shared and diverging understanding of the mental health and other impacts of IPVA(for the victims, survivors, children and perpetrators) in differing contexts will also be examined. Our findings will identify the current organisational, cultural and individual level barriers and facilitators to achieving a shared understanding of parental IPVA to inform the future development of a measurement framework for different thresholds of IPVA and its mental health harms, which has multi-agency relevance. Such knowledge is essential to enable the development of an effective multi-agency measurement framework to identify and respond to parental IPVA, promoting the ability of services to safeguard vulnerable children and families."
Dr Ruth McGovern, Newcastle University 
Dr Simon Scott Hackett, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust & Newcastle University
Ms Deborah Smart, Newcastle University
Dr Hayley Alderson, Newcastle University
Dr William McGovern, Northumbria University
Victoria Cooling, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
​Professor Eileen Kaner, Newcastle University​

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