Our Projects and Initiatives

The project: The project involves collaboration with Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art to engage young people in historical and contemporary creative campaigns against gender-based violence (GBV). It will engage with young people to view, critique and discuss three creative sources: 1) an exhibition at Baltic of Franki Raffles' photography, 2) feminist protest posters, 1960-2000 3) feminist periodicals addressing GBV, 1960-80. In response to these creative sources, the young people will be supported to create their own protest art about GBV. The aim is to educate and inspire participants about creative activism to end GBV.

The objectives are to:

• inform participants about the history and achievements of activism against GBV;

• explore continuities and changes in the challenges of and campaigns about GBV;

• encourage participants to develop creative outputs which respond to the three sources they have viewed and to their priorities about GBV.

We will invite young people from selected schools and youth groups to participle in a day’s exploration of creative campaigns about GBV. The project is possible because Baltic will exhibit the work of Franki Raffles, feminist, activist, social documentary photographer. Raffles’ work formed the basis of the Zero Tolerance campaign against men’s violence to women, in Edinburgh, 1992. The project will link this exhibition with the two other creative sources which focus on GBV: the private collection of feminist protest posters of Penny Remfry (local feminist activist, founding member and trustee of Rape Crisis Newcastle and Northumberland); Bazin and Waters’ AHRC-funded project, ‘Liberating Histories’, which has compiled and analysed national and local periodicals from the Women’s Liberation Movement. The intended impact is for participants to be informed about creative approaches to GBV and inspired to engage in such activism. After the day’s activities, the PI will work with the schools and organisations from which the participants were recruited to support them in their continued work on these topics.

PI: Ruth Lewis

Co-Is: Dr Angelika Strohmayer (Design) Dr Rachel Warriner (Art) Dr Victoria Horne (Art) Dr Mel Waters (English) Dr Victoria Bazin (English)

The project: For straight women, the lifetime prevalence of sexual violence is around 43% in the USA, for heterosexual men around 20%, however prevalence rates for the LGBTQ+ community may be higher, with the same survey finding 46% for lesbians, 75% for bisexual women, 40% for gay men, and 47% for bisexual men (Walters et al., 2013). Despite these statistics that suggest members of the LGBTQ+ community may more at risk of sexual violence in their lifetimes, the majority of research focuses on heterosexual rape, with a male perpetrator and female victim. This heteronormative approach is damaging and further marginalizes the community.

Select studies have included LGBTQ+ participants in terms of lifetime risk, suggesting that trans and bisexual individuals are especially at risk (e.g. DeGraff et al., 2017; Rolle et al., 2018), however there is a clear lack of focus on the spectrum of sexual activities that may constitute sexual assault, often only referring to penetrative sex which may not reflect the sexual activities participants are engaging in. Furthermore, statistics show that around 70-90% of perpetrators are known to the victims (e.g. Truman, 2011) and many sexual assaults are perpetrated by partners (e.g., ONS, 2021; Jaffe et al., 2017; Martin, Taft & Resick, 2007). To develop our existing dataset, we will recruit participants from less well-represented groups - trans, asexual participants, gay participants, lesbian participants, queer and non-binary people. Currently research into LBGTQ+ experiences of partner-perpetrated sexual violence is sparse and there is a clear need for more research to be conducted in the area. By further understanding the prevalence of partner-perpetrated sexual violence, this will act as a starting point to better understand how to tackle the issue and raise awareness in an oft-forgotten group.

PI: Amy Newman, Psychology

Co-I: Connor Leslie, Social Sciences

The project: This pilot research initiative collaborates with the West End Women and Girls Centre to delve into the complex facets of urban space and services planning. Grounded in feminist geographical theory and recognising the gendered characteristics of space and location, the objective of this research is to delve into, acknowledge, and contextualise the experiences and emotions of women and girls in the west end of Newcastle. The research promotes a qualitative, critical, and feminist utilisation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to understand and express the temporal and spatial dimensions of harassment and violence in the neighbourhoods, along with the related issues and requirements for community enhancement in the community. Based on Dr. Jin’s ongoing AHRC project, the team will utilise a specific QGIS tool - Mergin Maps to collect participatory data.

Attendees will be prompted to input their insights and thoughts through Mergin Maps, documenting their daily life routines, providing notes, photos and markings that convey their emotions and experiences in specific locations. The participatory GIS approach aims to empower participants at every stage of the research, fostering the active engagement of marginalised groups in collaborative mapping and representation. The outcome will shed light on and question the complex interplay between gender and spatial divisions, emphasising the experiences of women and girls in this urban neighbourhood. By incorporating GIS in a participatory and feminist manner, coupled with methodological transparency and a critical examination of GIS as a positivist "power tool", this research helps to uncover barriers to addressing gender inequality, violence, community safety, trauma and fear with the urban space.

The identified factors related to activity pattern classification and clustering, geographic context identification, and urban morphology present opportunities for gaining deeper insights into the intersections of spatial strategies, collaborative governance, and planning disciplines. This facilitates the development of best practices to enhance gender safety and inclusiveness in upcoming planning strategies. This research also seeks to establish an accessible and dynamic platform for long-term interdisciplinary engagement in the social sensing process. Instead of a one-time effort, this pilot project has the potential for expansion and scaling. The GIS platform can extend its scope by translating its findings into urban planning practices compatible with the New 2040 Local Plan, and fostering continuous improvement and adaptability with other urban data (i.e. Crime Map or Society Digimap).

PI: Jiaya Jin, Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University

Co-I: Dr. Lucy Grimshaw - Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing

The Project: 'The Wrong Type' is a participatory theatre project exploring the physical, emotional, financial and logistical impacts of the English Family Court system. Working with survivors of domestic abuse, we aim to highlight the connection between Family Court and post separation abuse by working in communities with a diverse range of marginalised women to share their stories and experiences. Within this multi-layered project, we will collaborate with Workie Ticket Theatre and use drama as a tool to engage and inform, exploring unheard stories from survivors of post separation abuse who have been through the Family Court. This will be a follow on piece of theatre from Workie Ticket Theatre’s successful ‘Walk the Line’ community project which included a tour of ‘I Walk the Line' - a play about the impact of post separation abuse. This work will have extensive external impact by improving public understanding of the realities of the family court process (about which there has previously been a lack of transparency due to reporting restrictions).

It will also be used as an educational piece to both challenge and inform professional approaches within that system. This is a timely piece of work due to the changes to the family court system which are currently being piloted as a result of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, including the transparency pilot and the pathfinder project. This work also aligns with two of the Ministry of Justice areas of research interest (ARI), more specifically ‘providing a transparent and efficient court system’ and ‘ensuring access to justice in a way that best meets people’s needs’. There is therefore opportunity to influence policy change by shining a spotlight on the stories of these survivors and the challenges they have faced. In order to achieve this we will invite policymakers including police and crime commissioners and MPs to the rehearsal/playback theatre. As well as a potential policy impact, this project would empower survivors by creating a platform for their stories to be heard, building their confidence to speak out.

PI: Kayliegh Richardson, Law School, Northumbria University

Co-I: Rima Hussein, Business School, Northumbria University

The project: Engaging men is a key component to preventing gendered violence and abuse (GVA). However, men may resist and push back against the information presented, perceiving it to be a threat to the status quo of gender relations and/or the work of feminists trying to subjugate men (de Maricourt and Burrell, 2022). This anti-feminist backlash presents a significant barrier to GVA prevention work that needs to be unravelled. The proposed research project will go beyond previous studies which have investigated expression of anti-feminist backlash (e.g. ibid.) by speaking with men to explore how GVA prevention work can be conducted in a way that does not provoke defensive responses from young men who feel they are being attacked when issues of GVA are raised. Specifically, we aim to explore young men’s views of GVA information (e.g. statistics), their previous engagement (or not) with this information, and how they think it should be presented/taught. This will be done by utilising an arts-based approach to facilitate discussions and enable young men to express their views in a supportive environment in order to develop GVA learning activities.  

PI: Cassandra Jone, Social Sciences, Northumbria University

Co-Is: Louise Wattis, Jana Kujundzic, Jana Kujundzic, and Kirsty Blewitt, all Department of Social Sciences , Northumbria University