Professor Marianne Hester
B.A.Hons (Oxon.), M.A., Ph.D.(Leeds)
Expertise
Professor Marianne Hester OBE FAcSS is a leading researcher of gender-based violence in the UK and internationally whose work is about tackling of violence and abuse, including domestic and sexual violence
Current positions
Chair in Gender, Violence & International Policy
School for Policy Studies
Contact
Media contact
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Biography
Professor Marianne Hester OBE FAcSS (MA Oxon, PhD Leeds) is acknowledged as a leading researcher of gender-based violence in the UK and internationally and has written about many aspects of violence and abuse including domestic and sexual violence, child contact, domestic abuse in LGBT+ communities and forced marriage. Much of her current work is on perpetrators of domestic abuse, on wider notions of justice for victim-survivors of gender-based violence, and on measuring coercive control. She is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the international Journal of Gender Based Violence. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2012 for services to research and to the community in tackling domestic abuse, elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 2016 and as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2017. She works closely with NGOs tackling gender-based violence, frequently acts as advisor to government departments. She is on the board of the European Network of Work With Perpetrators (WWP) and Patron of Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services. She has been visiting Professor at a number of prestigious universities including the Universities of Uppsala, Sweden, the China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, and the Nordic Institute of East Asian Studies, Copenhagen, and is currently Affiliated Professor at the University of Gothenburg.
Research interests
Research projects
- Justice, inequality and gender based violence
- IAA Gendered experience of justice and domestic abuse – evidence for policy and practice
- Re-Provide
- Impact Toolkit
- Global Challenges - Gender, Violence and Displacement
Completed
- Drive, evaluation of intervention with high harm & high risk domestic abuse perpetrators http://driveproject.org.uk/about/research-evaluation/
- Exploring the service and support needs of male, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered, black and other ethnic victims of domestic and sexual violence
- Knowledge transfer partnership with Northern Rock Foundation
- PROVIDE - Programme of Research On Violence in Diverse domestic Environments
- Rape and the criminal justice system
- WOSAFEJUS: Why doesn't she press charges?
- Domestic violence perpetrator services evaluation (2009)
- Review of tackling perpetrators of violence against women (2009)
- Evaluation of the measures to support victims of domestic violence in the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act (2004) and the proposed Croydon Integrated Domestic Violence Court (2008)
- Gender of domestic abuse perpetrators (2008)
- Time for change: Domestic abuse perpetrator research in Bristol (2006)
- Identifying and assessing the practical needs of domestic violence offenders to inform early intervention (2006)
- Making an impact (2006)
- Bristol Community Safety and Drugs Partnership (2005)
- Domestic abuse in Bristol: Findings from a 24-hour snapshot (2005)
- CRP violence against women overview reports (2004)
- Developing routine “asking about domestic violence” within general practices (2004)
- Mapping services and assessing need regarding children and young people living with domestic violence (2004)
- Attrition in domestic violence cases entering the criminal justice system (2003)
- Violence against women initiative: Multi-service project initiative evaluation (2003)
- Young people’s experiences and perceptions of violence in the family (2000)
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse
Principal Investigator
Description
Developing digital and other approaches to eliminating domestic abuse through work with victim-survivors, perpetrators and youth groups. The project links expertise from the specialist domestic abuse victim support and perpetrator…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/09/2022 to 31/08/2025
CONSENT - Combating Online early access to Sexually explicit material and EnhancingTools to foster youngsters’ healthy intimate relationships
Principal Investigator
Description
developing understanding of young people's access to and use of pornography and developing means to prevent consequent harm and to foster healthy relationships via schools sex education programmesManaging organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/02/2022 to 31/01/2023
8121 PU-21-0147 ONS Domestic Abuse Research, M Hester
Principal Investigator
Description
The University of Bristol have been commissioned by the Office of National Statistics to carry out research that will support the development of survey questions on domestic abuse for…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
30/11/2020 to 21/05/2021
Unrestricted programme support on Understanding and Responding to Coercive Control
Principal Investigator
Description
The project addresses a series of important issues in tackling domestic violence and abuse that have not previously been dealt with to any extent, relating specifically to emerging forms of…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/10/2020 to 30/09/2022
Prostitution and sex work: nature and prevalence in England and Wales
Principal Investigator
Description
The University of Bristol was commissioned by the Home Office and the Office of the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner to look in to the current ‘nature’ and ‘prevalence’…
Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/06/2018 to 30/06/2019
Thesis supervisions
Violence in Young Adults’ Relationships
Supervisors
Animal Abuse as a Strategy of Coercive Control
Supervisors
Publications
Selected publications
01/06/2020No longer a civil matter? The design and use of protection orders for domestic violence in England and Wales
Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law
The Current Landscape of Prostitution and Sex Work in England and Wales
Sexuality and Culture
Evaluation of the Drive Project
Evaluation of the Drive Project
The nature and prevalence of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales today
The nature and prevalence of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales today
What does justice mean to black and minority ethnic (BME) victims/survivors of gender-based violence?
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Recent publications
17/01/2023Masculinity and Domestic Violence: Hegemonic Masculinity
Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence
The measurement of domestic abuse – redeveloping the Crime Survey for England and Wales
Journal of Family Violence
UK victim-survivor experiences of intimate partner spiritual abuse and religious coercive control and implications for practice
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Faith and Coercive Control
Faith and Coercive Control
Domestic violence and abuse through a criminological lens
The Routledge International Handbook of Domestic Violence and Abuse
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Dr Eszter Szilassy
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Dr Nadia Aghtaie
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School for Policy Studies
Dr William Turner
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Dr Natasha Mulvihill
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