Social justice

• Research helps define and improve the management of ‘medical manslaughter’ cases
  Dr Oliver Quick is a recognised authority in Criminal Law and Medical Law, with a special interest in patient safety. His recent research has focused on how prosecutors and experts negotiate criminal law and process in these controversial cases.
• Improving implementation of human rights in Africa
  Bristol’s Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC), supported by ESRC funding, carried out a programme of research that provided new evidence on what affects the implementation of human rights law. This has helped to bring about improvements to policies and practices in Africa to support the implementation of human rights law.
• Using evolutionary anthropology to improve women's health in Ethiopia
  Bristol research has helped to influence policy and create a blueprint for development interventions in remote communities.
• Reforming abortion law in Northern Ireland
  Prior to October 2019, abortion was illegal in Northern Ireland with very few exceptions. Research by Professor Sheelagh McGuinness and Dr Jane Rooney supported the campaign to decriminalise abortion and informed legislation that has enabled Northern Irish women to access legal and local abortion services.
• Helping policy makers create an effective vaccination strategy for meningitis B
  Research by the University of Bristol supported the UK government’s decision to introduce a new vaccine for UK infants that has led to a 75% reduction in cases.
• Building the bridge: Muslim community engagement in Bristol
  Levels of personal debt and financial hardship are rising, leading many to resort to payday lenders. In a context of welfare retrenchment and increasing financial exclusion, faith organisations, including from minority faiths, are not just plugging the gaps, but setting out alternative and often innovative approaches to welfare and economic justice.
• Transforming healthcare for women experiencing domestic violence and abuse
  Bristol leads evaluation and rollout of IRIS programme that improves training and support in GP practices.
• Protecting UK employment rights
  Over the last forty years, the UK has witnessed a gradual erosion of workers’ rights through labour market deregulation that has been balanced, at least to some degree, by the guarantee of fundamental rights through the EU.
• Discoveries lead to better and safer hip and knee replacements
  Research profoundly changes the practice of joint replacement globally.
• Optimising treatment for prostate cancer
  Bristol has contributed to research that provides a new evidence base for improving care and reducing harm caused by treatments.
• Confronting worker exploitation in electronics manufacturing
  Better migrant workers' rights at the world's biggest consumer electronics manufacturer, thanks to study which highlights the effects of 'just-in-time' manufacturing on staff.
• A radical advance in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration
  Research leads to increased availability of lower-cost treatment for a major worldwide cause of sight loss.
• Discoveries lead to better and safer hip and knee replacements
  Research profoundly changes the practice of joint replacement globally.
• Reshaping migration laws in South America
  Immigration regulation has long been a legal and political challenge in South America. Professor Diego Acosta has produced extensive research on the issue that has decisively influenced several articles of major new immigration laws adopted in Brazil and Ecuador.
• A radical advance in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration
  Research leads to increased availability of lower-cost treatment for a major worldwide cause of sight loss.