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

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 court

understandings 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.