Archives: Trainings

Domestic Abuse & Older People Lecture- Dewis Choice

Wednesday 22^nd June 2022, 4-5.30pm – Online

Learning outcome:

• Increase understanding and knowledge of DA in older people.

About Dewis Choice

Dewis Choice is a Welsh Initiative based at the Centre for Age, Gender and Social Justice at Aberystwyth University. Established in 2015, the Initiative uniquely combines a co-produced service with research on domestic abuse in later life. The bespoke service has been designed by and for older victim-survivors of domestic abuse, offering long-term intensive support for up to three years and providing a service for all older people except for those receiving in-hospice care. As such, it represents a response to the gap in service provision for this age group.

Dewis Choice is the first longitudinal prospective study globally to examine the decision-making processes of older victim-survivors as they seek help and access to justice. Dewis Choice has highlighted the diverse ‘lived experiences’ of 131 women and men aged 60 years and over who have experienced abuse from intimate partners and/or adult family members.

Elize Freeman

Elize Freeman is Service and Training Development Lead for the Dewis Choice Initiative.  She has co-developed and delivered training nationally for the Initiative to professionals from Social Care, Adult Protection, Health, Police and Domestic abuse, including bespoke training for SafeLives IDVA’s working with older people.  Elize co-authored “Transforming the response to domestic violence in later life,” practitioner guidance.

Elize is an accredited SafeLives Gender Based Service Manager, Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) and experienced Wellbeing Practitioner.  She is a Dementia Champion with the Alzheimer’s Society delivering Dementia Friends sessions to practitioners and community members.

Elize is a member of the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Abuse Steering Group and Mid and West Wales VAWDASV Delivery Group.

Rebecca Zerk

Rebecca Zerk is the Deputy Director for the Centre for Age, Gender and Social Justice based at Aberystwyth University. She is also the research project manager for the Dewis Choice Initiative. Rebecca is a published and experienced qualitative researcher working in the field of domestic abuse for over 12 years. Adopting inclusive research methods, including participatory action research, Rebecca’s role involves capturing the voices of those who have previously be silenced to bring about positive change in research, policy and practice.

To attend the session via Microsoft Teams please save the link in your calendar to access at the appropriate time:

https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting_YTZjM2Q1OWQtZWI2Ny00YmUzLTlhYzUtOWQ3N2M1NTNkNmQ5%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522a8b4324f-155c-4215-a0f1-7ed8cc9a992f%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%252288140734-884f-4beb-bfac-1b368c188fe5%2522%257d&data=04%7C01%7C%7C70b6c1c266324576e0b308da12e7ead4%7Ca8b4324f155c4215a0f17ed8cc9a992f%7C0%7C0%7C637843084583898700%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=7RkxTlfdR%2BZRy1Od1FfWMy%2FY%2Bdxda2%2BijsEvulgph%2BI%3D&reserved=0

Learning outcomes:

• Improve awareness & understanding around stalking.
• Improve confidence in identifying stalking at the earliest opportunity.

Target audience:

Front line workers and managers – those working with victims and families affected by domestic abuse.

Alison Bird is the Training Manager and Clinical Lead for Stalking at Solace Women’s Aid. Alison has worked nationally and locally with stalking/domestic abuse survivors for over a decade and was one of the first established and accredited Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Workers (ISACs) in the UK. She is a leading expert in the anti-stalking field. She was part of the consultation with key stakeholders and MPs for both the Stalking Protection Orders 2020 and the long-awaited Domestic Abuse Draft Bill.

Alison is a Visiting Senior Fellow for Social Policy at University of Suffolk and alongside the University of Suffolk has just published research on the Victim’s Right to Review (VRR) in stalking cases that have been No Further Actioned (NFAd).

Alison was also featured recently in: The UK’s femicide epidemic: who’s killing our daughters? report by The Guardian. Alison is a speaker at national and local conferences as well as a trainer.  She is also a DHR Chair.  As an Associate of the National Stalking Consortium, she and her peers influence policy and policy makers on stalking matters.

To attend the session via Microsoft Teams please save the link in your calendar to access at the appropriate time:

https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_ZDg1MTljMzctMGM0YS00NTg5LTkyMTQtMDVkNGY4M2Y2MmZj%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522a8b4324f-155c-4215-a0f1-7ed8cc9a992f%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522658af886-9e15-4fec-b51f-f4c89223c1d7%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=5e2c848d-1a02-47b6-9e7d-fc041ba9f52d&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true