Have a look below to view the VAMHN's research, policy and visual outputs.
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Research Outputs

Safe, Seen, Supported: ​How to reach and help children and young people experiencing abuse in their households

Safe, Seen, Supported Report
It is estimated that 1 in 5 children is subjected to at least one form of child abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, neglect, exposure to domestic abuse) before the age of 16. Much of this abuse is ‘off-radar’, that is, unknown to statutory services. This survivor-led initiative aims to address the magnified risks of child abuse from COVID-19 and the likely significant post-pandemic consequences from increased exposure to abuse. The report identifies key considerations and actions to support children and young people at-risk, both during the pandemic and beyond.
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This project is led by survivor researchers Jane Chevous, Laura E. Fischer, Concetta Perôt, and Angela Sweeney in partnership with Survivors' Voices, the UKRI Violence Abuse and Mental Health Network, King's College London, and the McPin Foundation.

• To read the report click here.
• To access the black and white version of the report click here.
• To listen to co-authors Laura Fischer and Jane Chevous speak more on this work in the Lancet Psychiatry Podcast click here.
• To read the Part 1 Report which reports the initial collation and thematic analysis of the results of the first survey click here. ​

​​Safe, Seen, Supported Infographic
This infographic offers guidance for children and young people on what to do if they or someone they know might be experiencing abuse. 

• To view the infographic click here
• To download the shareable instagram version click here

​​VAMHN Consultation Report
This report presents the results of the network's research priorities consultation workshops with people who have lived experience of violence, abuse or mental health difficulties. The report will guide the work of the Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network and aims to be used to help plan, develop and commission future research. To download the full report click here.
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​LARA-VP Manual
The LARA-VP (Linking Abuse and Recovery through Advocacy for Victims and Perpetrators) manual was written to help mental health professionals identify and respond to Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA). It provides comprehensive information and guidance on how to approach victims and perpetrators of DVA as a service provider. The manual can be accessed here.

Policy Resources

Written evidence submitted to the Public Bill Committee for the Domestic Abuse Bill: VAMHN
On the 4th June 2020, the Public Bill Committee met to conduct a line-by-line reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill. The network submitted written evidence and recommendations for the consideration of the Committee with regards to the bill. A huge thank you to the 91 network members and organisations for attaching their signatures to this letter.  To read our evidence submission click here. To follow the journey of the Domestic Abuse Bill click here.

​​Trauma Informed Approaches: Briefing Pack
This briefing pack summarises some of the current literature on Trauma Informed Approaches (TIAs). The pack briefly discusses the key principles of TIA and looks at why they have not been adopted consistently across the UK. It also provides examples of services that have successfully implemented TIAs and how this has been achieved. This briefing pack was provided to attendees of our VAMHN Policy Lab Workshop on the 7th Nov 2019. To download, 
​click here.

Visual Outputs

(Re)Sounding Silence: Active Listening as Activism against Abuse

In November 2022, VAMHN grantholder Dr Alana Harris (King's College London) collaborated with Concetta Perot and Jane Chevous (Survivors' Voices) to host a one-day, informal workshop. The workshop gathered survivor researchers and their allies to explore differing interdisciplinary, scholarly, and socially engaged mechanisms to amplify the voices and priorities of survivors – with a focus on ‘active listening’, ‘receptive hearing’ and the need to co-create contexts for ‘silence breaking’ or ‘supported speaking’. The aim of the workshop was to share reflections and recent experiences surrounding the opportunities and challenges involved in survivor-led co-production, and through this mapping of good practice to offer frameworks and tools, especially orientated to preliminary research design, deriving from our differing disciplinary and epistemic settings. 
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The workshop heard research from participants working in a diverse range of disciplines and sub-fields – encompassing intimate partner violence, child abuse, and gendered violence – around three thematic sessions:

• The evolution of ‘trauma-informed’ approaches to research, especially through the resurgence of attention to ‘affect’ and ‘emotions’ and ‘embodiment’ as legitimate fields of enquiry;
• Cross-disciplinary approaches to qualitative and mixed methodologies which aid ‘deep listening’, including ‘listening to the speaking wound’, holding silence and the limitations surrounding speaking; and
• ‘Hearing’ as a catalyst to action – and the different forms this might take. From embedding these pedagogical insights into educational settings; identification of new multi-disciplinary research agendas; or networked coalitions to amplify survivor life histories and testimonies and thereby identify sites of ‘resounding silence’ and continued structural alienation or violence.

Three infographics summarising the breadth and depth of issues covered, the emotional resonances of the material shared, and the theoretical suggestiveness of ‘active listening’ as a conceptual framework and methodological tool were produced which you can above.​

Illustrations by Jenny Leonard: www.jennyleonardart.com