Assessing Intimate Partner Violence Court Proceedings: A Study to Explore and Understand Women Victim-Survivors' Experiences in Specialist Domestic Vi

这一研究项目涉及听取亲密伴侣暴力的女性受害者-幸存者对西米德兰兹郡家庭暴力专门法院的看法。其目的是让受害者幸存者进入一个关注IPV背后的性别不平等和权力失衡的法院。它将通过从受害者幸存者的角度分析可持续发展风险投资对文献作出原创性贡献，并通过回答以下问题来弥合文献差距：1)受害者幸存者如何描述他们在可持续发展可持续发展进程中的经历？他们对法院工作人员的看法是什么？他们感觉得到了怎样的支持？2)法院工作人员对IPV动态和法院对受害者支持的可用性的理解是什么？强制管制罪的引入对人们的态度有何影响？3)在必要的程度上，如何才能以受害者-幸存者感受到的支持来衡量法院诉讼程序的改善？这个项目主要关注异性关系中男性的IPV行为，采用了女权主义的理解，将IPV作为一个植根于父权关系的概念。为了对犯罪作出有意义的反应，知识产权的性别不对称必须成为寻求了解和打击这类行为的法律程序的中心重点。法院在将知识产权作为一种性别犯罪处理方面负有重大责任，政策制定者认识到，受害者必须相信司法系统是公平、公正的，并了解知识产权动态。专门法院的存在表明，各国政府试图解决主流司法程序的不足之处，在敬业的从业人员中寻求更高水平的专业知识，并聘请独立的家庭暴力顾问专注于受害者的情感需求。然而，紧缩和资源减少影响了训练有素的员工的质量，并对SDVC的生存构成了挑战。《2020年家庭暴力法案》中对IPV的法定定义承认，IPV不仅包括身体上的虐待，还包括情感上的、强制性的或控制性的虐待。在处理知识产权案件时，必须清楚地认识到强制控制的重要性；然而，司法机构需要更好地了解这一复杂领域。妇女援助组织呼吁进行进一步的研究，以探索法院对IPV和强制控制的理解，报告了法庭内对受害者幸存者的性别歧视态度。虽然自营风险投资旨在提高受害者的支持和满意度，但没有研究专门调查自营风险投资如何理解强制控制及其对受害者幸存者经历的影响--这项研究将填补这一空白。方法我将通过现场访问观察SDVC的过程，并通过问卷调查和与受害者幸存者和法院工作人员的访谈对我的观察进行三角划分，创建SDVC试验的人种学。数据分析将根据女权主义话语突出共同和突出的经历。开放式调查问卷将确定最近在西米德兰兹郡有过SDVC经历的女性受害者-幸存者的经历，回答研究问题1和3。该地区被选为获得机会、公认的剥夺(获得支持的额外障碍)和伍尔弗汉普顿的SDVC历史(英国首批建立的地区之一)。问卷参与者将被邀请通过半结构化访谈更深入地讨论新的调查结果。虽然探索受害者幸存者的观点是核心，但采访SDVC法院工作人员(包括法律和社区支助人员)也很重要，因为他们与法院程序关系密切。他们对IPV的理解将有助于将受害者幸存者的观点与背景联系起来，并回答研究问题2和3，为制定更有效的战略来改进政策和实践增加证据基础。

This research project is concerned with hearing the perspectives of women victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) regarding Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVC) in the West Midlands. Its aim is for victim-survivors to enter a court that is attentive to gender inequalities and power imbalances that underlie IPV. It will make an original contribution to the literature by analysing SDVCs using victim-survivors' perspectives and bridge the literature gap by answering the following questions: 1) How do victim-survivors characterise their experiences of the SDVC process? What are their perceptions of court personnel? How supported did they feel? 2) What are court personnel's understandings of IPV dynamics and court availability of victim support? How has the introduction of the coercive control offence impacted on attitudes? 3) To the extent needed, how best can improvement in court proceedings be achieved as measured by victim-survivors feeling supported? This project focuses on IPV perpetration by men in heterosexual relationships, employing a feminist understanding of IPV as a concept rooted in patriarchal power relations. To respond meaningfully to the crime, the gender asymmetry of IPV must form a central focus of legal processes that seek to understand and combat such behaviour. Courts have a major responsibility in tackling IPV as a gendered offence, with policymakers recognising that victims must have confidence that the justice system is fair, impartial and understands IPV dynamics. The existence of Specialist Courts indicates an attempt by governments to address the inadequacies of mainstream justice processes, seeking an improved level of expertise among dedicated practitioners and employing Independent Domestic Violence Advisers to focus on the victim's emotional needs. Yet, austerity and dwindling resources affect the quality of trained staff and challenge SDVC survival. The statutory definition of IPV in the Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 recognises that IPV encompasses not only physical but also emotional, coercive or controlling abuse. A clear understanding of the importance of coercive control is essential when approaching IPV cases; however, the judiciary requires improved understanding of this complex field. Women's Aid calls for further research to explore courtunderstandings of IPV and coercive control, reporting gender-discriminatory attitudes towards victim-survivors within the courtroom. Whilst SDVCs were designed to improve victim support and satisfaction, no research has specifically investigated how SDVCs understand coercive control and their impact on the experiences of victim-survivors - a gap that this research will fill. Methods I will observe the SDVC process through site visits and triangulate my observations with questionnaires and interviews with victim-survivors and court personnel, creating an ethnography of SDVC trials. Data analysis will highlight common and salient experiences in light of feminist discourses. The open-ended questionnaire will determine the experiences of women victim-survivors who have recent experience of West Midlands SDVCs, addressing Research Questions 1 and 3. This region is chosen for access, recognised deprivation (additional barriers to accessing support) and Wolverhampton's SDVC history (one of the first to be established in England). Questionnaire participants will be invited to discuss emerging findings in greater depth through semi-structured interviews. Whilst exploring victim-survivors' perspectives is central, it is also important to interview SDVC court personnel (both legal and community-based support workers) because they are so closely allied to the court process. Their understandings of IPV will help contextualise victim-survivors' views and answer Research Questions 2 and 3, adding to the evidence base for more effective strategies to improve policy and practice.