Recording: Gender, Safeguarding and Criminality

Contextual safeguarding recognises that aspects of a person’s life beyond their family can impact on their involvement in organised crime. It examines these social and environmental risks, as well as what interventions can be put in place to prevent people from being drawn into a lifetime of exploitation and offending behaviour.

Research frequently suggests that organised crime offenders often have many of the same features as victims, and that victims can also become offenders. For girls and women this is highly contextual, and the victim-offender overlap can make it difficult to identify opportunities for intervention. Conversely, and if specific focus is given to understanding the context, it can also offer solutions for prevention.

Katy Barrow-Grint is a Chief Superintendent from Thames Valley Police with responsible for Local Policing in Oxfordshire. She is also the force thematic lead for Violence Against Women and Girls and Exploitation. Her previous roles include Head of Criminal Justice, and Head for Serious & Organised Crime for the Thames Valley. Katy writes academically on the subject of Domestic Abuse and recently published a book entitled ‘Policing Domestic Abuse’ Policing Domestic Abuse: Risk, Policy, and Practice - 1st Edition - Ka (routledge.com).

Dr Liz Such is an Anne McLaren Fellow at the School of Health Sciences and Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham. She has worked extensively on co-developing a public health approach to modern slavery and trafficking through research with the UK counter-slavery sector. She is currently exploring how to prevent harm through the maternal health and care system for women at risk of exploitation.

Nicola Bell’s expertise are in Modern Slavery & Exploitation and she has 8 years’ experience working in this field setting up and managing support services for victims, raising awareness, providing training and working strategically with statutory services and other agencies across Thames Valley. Her current role is with Oxford City Council as Anti-Slavery Coordinator for Oxfordshire tasked with co-ordinating Oxfordshire’s response to modern slavery.

The discussion will be moderated by Stan Gilmour, Director of the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit.