The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether living experience of Domestic Abuse (DA) could potentially impact the work of professionals who, in turn, work with people experiencing DA. Moreover, it sought to understand whether this group needed tailored support. A mixed-methods approach was used. Forty-two professionals participated in this study. The study found that 30 of the professionals working with service users/clients are also victim/survivors themselves. The findings highlighted several barriers to accessing support were: not being offered support or timely support and also barriers that are similar to those that have been found for all victims/survivors such as not being taken seriously. There was also a fear of being judged. The range of barriers to support described by this small cohort was extensive. These included the stigma of being a professional, a sense of judgement and shame and lack of privacy. Participants identified how their own experiences of DA had positively influenced their practice including being empathetic and having a greater understanding of the tactics the perpetrators of abuse use. This study highlights the need for further research to better understand the impact of having experienced DA could impact professionals and service provision.
About the speakers
Dr Louise Oliver is a senior lecturer within the social work team. She teaches on both the qualifying and post-qualifying social work programmes. She is also, a qualified social worker who has predominantly worked in children's and families within local authorities. Her interests are in Violence Against Women and Girls, family violence and abuse, particularly Domestic Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence, Child-to-Parent Violence and Abuse, familial problematic communication, with a focus upon secrets and secrecy. As well social work practice education, with a focus upon innovative pedagogical teaching tools and also critical reflection.
Dr Orlanda Harvey is a social work senior lecturer within the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University. She is a qualified social worker. Her research interests include domestic abuse, Anabolic Androgenic Steroid use and reflective practice. She is currently involved in two projects researching the impact of domestic abuse support programmes for victim/survivors and one for perpetrators. She also cofacilitates domestic abuse support programme for women. Simon Hester is the Head of Safeguarding at NHS Dorset. Simon is a Systems thinker. He is a trustee for Beyond the Streets. A UK charity working to end sexual exploitation by creating routes out of prostitution for women.
Jasmine Thomson is a qualified social worker who predominately works in adults social care. She is involved in research with a focus on arts-based critical reflection in social work practice as well as an interest in social justice and collaborative learning.
Christopher Long. My work at Bournemouth University focuses on the development of at-scale statistical approaches for the analysis of health & social sciences data for several application domains key to these sectors. My interests are in quantitative methods for causal inference using large datasets, inverse problems in imaging, time-series analysis and system dynamics/systems thinking approaches for the analysis of large complex healthcare systems. Prior to my role at Bournemouth, I was Technical Lead/Senior Data Scientist at Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen Germany within the Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging Business Line. In this role I developed Business Analytic hypotheses and supporting quantitative statistical models for new lines of digital services & products in the domains of operational analytics for clinical workflows, clinical decision-making in radiology, and predictive maintenance of the MR system global fleet.
Edwin Van Teijlingen. I am trained as a medical sociologist, and I have an interest in mixed-methods research, qualitative research and evaluation research. A large share of my academic work has been in the fields of Public Health, Health Promotion and the Organisation of Maternity Care. I have substantial research experience in conducting large-scale comparative studies, usually applying interdisciplinary and mixed methods approaches.
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This is Seminar 9 of the 2025/26 Centre for Gender and Violence Research Seminar Series. Please see the 2026 Events page for further events in this series.