From bad to worse? Supporting justice-involved women and those subjected to gender-based violence during a cost of living crisis

• In Event: WCCJ Panel 10 – Challenges in Accessing Support for Gender-based Violence Survivors

Abstract

This paper draws on findings from recent research exploring the psychosocial wellbeing and personal welfare of women workers who provide therapeutic, advocacy, support and/or practical services for women subjected to rape and domestic abuse and women who are either in, or at risk of being draw into, the criminal justice system in the UK. In its investigation of the cumulative effects of intensified client need, arduous work conditions, financial precarity, job security concerns, and domestic caring responsibilities, the research has identified factors and processes which exacerbate and diminish the impact of such work on women workers, many of whom have similar life experiences to those that they support.

In this paper, we highlight the significance of multidimensional dynamics and stressors, played out at individual, organisational and structural levels, which impact the personal and professional lives of those delivering services, affecting their wellbeing and resilience. We highlight the emotional toll of the work and the costs and consequences of delivering services to these groups in the context of a cost of living crisis, but we also draw attention to the rewards of this work and the development of vicarious resilience by workers. We also discuss innovative practices of education, training, supervision and support mitigating the traumagenic effects of the work and reflect on how these insights may be incorporated into models of working which support the resilience and wellbeing of a vital workforce.

Authors

• Michele Jane Burman, University of Glasgow

• Joana Miguel Gomes Ferreira, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

• Loraine Gelsthorpe, University of Cambridge

• Jenn Glinski, University of Glasgow /SCCJR

• Annie Crowley, University of Glasgow /SCCJR