Violence, Health and Society: Making the changing forms of violence visible

The Section of Women's Mental Health (King's College London) are delighted to host this term's Health Service and Population Research Department seminar, at which we will be welcoming Prof. Sylvia Walby OBE, City University of London.

Violence, Health and Society: Making the changing forms of violence visible

Violence is a significant detriment to health, both physical and mental. Understanding routes to prevention require a theory of change that embraces not only violence and health, but also violence and society. Further it requires an understanding of gender relations if the specificity of domestic and sexual violence is to be addressed. Alternative approaches to violence and society will be presented. Testing these theories requires the conceptualisation and measurement of violence across several academic disciplines and professional practices simultaneously in a manner that is coherent and reliable. This is a challenge since measurement practices vary significantly. This talk will discuss the implications for the visibility of violence and its trajectories of change made possible by improving measurement practices in official statistics. Collaboration in the development of the conceptualisation and measurement of violence has implications for professional practices to mitigate harms and to prevent violence.

The talk will run from 4pm-5pm followed by a reception from 5pm onwards.

On the day, please can non-KCL staff report to reception in the IOP Main Building and sign in.

Professor Sylvia Walby joined City, University of London as Professor of Sociology and Director of the interdisciplinary Violence and Society Centre on 1 March 2019. She has held positions at Lancaster University, where she was Distinguished Professor of Sociology and UNESCO Chair in Gender Research; and at LSE, University of Bristol and the University of Leeds. Professor Walby is Chair of the REF Sub-Panel for Sociology and was awarded an OBE for services to equal opportunities and diversity. She was the founding President of the European Sociological Association and has provided research-based advice to the European Commission, European Parliament, UN Women, UK government and NGOs seeking to end violence against women.

The Section of Women’s Mental Health (SWMH) at King's College London undertakes mental health services and policy research with a primary focus on women’s mental health. The section carries out global research into the gendered determinants of mental health problems and the needs of women with mental health problems using epidemiological and qualitative methods as well as developing and evaluating interventions to meet those needs and inform health policy. Their work contributes to policymaking and healthcare practice both nationally and internationally.

You can listen to interviews with members of SWMH and other guests by downloading the Minding the Gap podcast. You can listen to the first episode here.

Follow us on Twitter @swmh_ioppn

For any questions about the event please email anjuli.1.kaul@kcl.ac.uk