Under-researched area gets new attention thanks to collaboration between University of Leeds and Cumbria Constabulary.

University of Leeds academics and Cumbria Constabulary have received funding from the Home Office Police STAR Board. The project, Understanding the Geospatial and Contextual Patterns of Rural Domestic Abuse, will bring together data from Cumbria Constabulary and other local service providers to better understand the nature, extent and spatial patterns of rural domestic abuse.
The project builds upon the collaboration between Cumbria Constabulary and a research team led Dr Sam Lewis for the N8 PRP Small Grant, Police responses to child-to-parent violence (CPV), published last year.

On the importance of the N8 PRP in developing the project and winning funding, Dr Sam Lewis, the Principle Investigator, said:

“Our N8 PRP Small Grant Award facilitated the development of strong collaborative links between Cumbria Constabulary and academics at the University of Leeds. We could then apply for this grant as an established partnership with a successful track record.”

The Small Grant project examined cases of CPV in both a rural and an urban setting, and noting the concerns that victims in rural areas may face particular barriers to reporting and service access, put together this project to inform future policy and practice.

The research for the new project will be carried out by Dr Sam Lewis, Dr Dan Birks, Sat Kartar Chandan and Natacha Chenevoy from the University of Leeds, with support from the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA).

Professor Geoff Pearson, N8 PRP Co-Director, commented on the significance of the project:

 “It is fantastic to see N8PRP seed funding assisting with the development of this Home Office-funded project of research co-production. It is also good to see a project looking specifically at the under-researched area of the policing of rural areas in the north of England.”

To read about N8 PRP’s work on the policing of domestic abuse, vulnerability, and many other topics, visit our research pages and browse the Research Index.

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