About this Event
The conference will bring together researchers working at the intersection of religion, domestic violence and migration, policy experts and practitioners working in domestic violence and abuse (DVA) services, community-led ‘by and for’ organisations, counsellors working with DVA victims, survivors or perpetrators, and religious scholars and clerics over two days to share evidence, experience and good practices and to deliberate together on future directions for integrated, faith-sensitive DVA services and responses in the UK.
The Annual Conference is organised by Project dldl/ድልድል, a research and innovation project funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) that is led by Dr Romina Istratii at SOAS University of London, working in partnership with the University of Sheffield and Bristol and numerous indigenous organisations in Ethiopia. The Annual Conference is supported by a circle of related research institutions and DVA organisations and initiatives in the UK and internationally, including the Faith and VAWG Coalition, the Christian Network to End Domestic Abuse (CNEDA), Imams Against Domestic Abuse (IADA), the Safe in Faith Initiative, Restored, the Dahlia Project, and other UK- and Ethiopia-based organisations.
In line with the decolonial vision of Project dldl/ድልድል, the Annual Conference seeks to promote religio-culturally sensitive, community-centred, transboundary and integrated responses to support DVA victims and survivors, as well as perpetrators, in diverse cultural and religious communities. The aim is to create a space where we can understand better the state of evidence, identify good practices and foster conversations that can lead to collaboration and long-term partnerships, and hence, a more integrated response in the sector to an increasingly diverse population.
The conference will comprise of evidence-based sessions presented by researchers and practice-oriented workshops facilitated by practitioners from leading DVA service providers, including ‘by and for’ organisations. The two-day workshop will conclude with a multistakeholder roundtable that will be open to anyone in the public. In the evening of day 1, Project dldl/ድልድል will hold a screening of its docudrama ‘Tidar’, an educational film co-produced in Ethiopia and the UK to raise awareness about the role of religious beliefs and faith in domestic violence experiences.
The agenda of the two-day conference is as follows:
DAY 1
8:00-9:00 Registration
9:00-9:15 Introduction by organiser
9:15-9:30 Keynote by Nicole Jacobs, UK Domestic Abuse Commissioner
9:30-10:30 Opening discussion: Conference Aims and Objectives
Chair: Dr Romina Istratii, Project dldl/ድልድል SOAS University of London
Participants: Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Faith & VAWG Coalition, Restored, AMINA, Respect
10:30-11:00 Refreshments
11:00-12:00 Panel 1: Current state of evidence and gaps on DVA, faith communities and culturally-sensitive services
11:00-11:15 The relationship between DVA and faith internationally and the integration of religious and cultural diversity in DVA services in the UK
Presenters: Dr Romina Istratii (SOAS), Professor Parveen Ali (University of Sheffield) and Professor Gene Feder (University of Bristol)
11:15-11:30 Domestic violence attitudes and responses in ethnic minority and migrant communities in the UK and the role of religious and cultural mediators: synthesis of qualitative studies
Presenters: Dr Aysha Ahmed and Dr Natalia Paszkiewicz on behalf of Project dldl/ድልድል
11:30-11:45 Domestic Violence Service Providers’ Engagement with their Clients’ Religious Beliefs and Experiences: Results from a country-wide survey
Presenter: Dr Mahmoud Afifi, on behalf of Project dldl/ድልድል
11:45-12:00 Panel 1 Q&A session
12:00-13:00 Practice-based workshop
Improving domestic abuse service provision for ethnic minority women in East England (The Dahlia Project)
Facilitators: Mandy Geraghty, Irram Razzaq and Samina Nawaz (Peterborough Women's Aid, UK) and Dr Mirna Guha (Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Panel 2: DVA, faith and culture: Perspectives from the ground
14:00-14:15 Untangling relationships between honour-based abuse and Islam
Presenter: Dr Sadiq Bhanbhro, Sheffield Hallam University
14:15-14:30 Reflections on PhD project: Exploring Tamil women's conceptualisation of குடும்ப வன்முறை (Tamil: English - kudumba vennmurai: family violence) / domestic abuse
Presenter: Minoya Patkunam, PhD student, University of Kent
14:30-14:45 Panel 2 Q&A session
14:45-15:30 Practice-based workshop
Transforming Communities: A Decade of Imams' Leadership Against Domestic Abuse – Challenges & Opportunities
Facilitator: Imam M.A. Hasan, Imams Against Domestic Abuse (IADA)
15:30-16:00 Afternoon tea and cakes
16:00-17:30 Panel 3: Engaging religious stakeholders and religious spaces in DVA services and responses
16:00-16:15 Researching Black majority churches and domestic abuse
Presenters: Dr Joanne Wilson (Independent Researcher) and Dr Ava Kanyeredzi (Queen Mary University of London)
16:15-16:45 Building Bridges of Collaboration Between Clergy and Service Providers
Presenter: Dr Pamela Shelley, University College London Hospital
16:45-17:00 A journey to change in the Church
Presenter: Bekah Legg, Restored
17:00-17:15 The role of religious actors in addressing violence against women in Cape Town, South Africa
Presenter: Dr Fungai Chirongoma, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
17:15-17:30 Panel 3 Q&A session
18:00-19:00 ‘Tidar’ Film screening followed by Q&A session
Discussants: Dr Romina Istratii (SOAS), Max Conil & Hermon Hailay (Exile Pictures, UK) and Yidnekachew Shumete (Kurat Pictures, Ethiopia)
19:00-20:00 Reception in Cloister, Senate House, SOAS University of London
DAY 2
9:00-10:30 Panel 1: Religious tradition, cultural context and theological responses to domestic violence and abuse
9:00-9:15 Project dldl/ድልድል’s research-based and theologically-informed approach developing training materials and training clergy on domestic violence
Dr Romina Istratii (SOAS, UK) and Henok Hailu (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)
9:15-10:00 Redeeming Scripture: does Judges 19 victim blame the Levite’s concubine?
Bekah Legg, Restored
10:00-10:15 Women’s Great Guile in the Muslim Exegetical Tradition
Dr Taira Amin, Independent scholar
10:15-10:30 Panel 1 Q&A session
10:30-11:00 Refreshments
11:00-12:00 Conversation
Engaging diverse communities: language matters
Chair: Professor Parveen Ali, University of Sheffield
Discussants: AMINA, Respect, Imam Hasan, EMIRTA, Project/ድልድል
12:00-13:00 Practice-based workshop
Enhancing cultural competency and faith literacy in Domestic Homicide Reviews
Coaction Hub: Asian Women’s Centre (AWRC) in partnership with Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse (STADA)
Presenters: Fran Richards (Coaction Hub Coordinator at Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, STADA), Sukhi Kaur (DHR Mentee for Coaction Hub & Chair of Trustees at Sikh Women’s Aid) and Aasifa Usmani (Coaction Hub & Training Manager at Asian Women’s Resource Centre, AWRC)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Panel 2: Faith-sensitive and trauma-informed counselling approaches and responses to domestic violence
14:00-14:15 Exploring the Experience, attitude, challenges, and opportunities of clients of Faith-based and trauma-informed counselling approaches in the case of Ethiopian Orthodox Church: A Phenomenological Study.
Henok Hailu and Kesis Yigzaw Mekonnen, Fnot, Ethiopia
14:15-14:30 Religion as a positive resource for trauma healing? Results from a scoping study among religious actors in Tigray
Benjamin Kalkum, Project dldl/ድልድል
14:30-14:45 Panel 2 Q&A session
14:45-15:30 Practice-based workshop
Trauma and Faith Sensitivity
Nikki Dhillon Keane, Safe in Faith
15:30-16:00 Afternoon tea and cakes
16:00-17:00 Roundtable
Chair: Professor Gene Feder, University of Bristol
Discussants: Faith & VAWG Coalition, Respect, EMIRTA, Dahlia Project, FORWARD, Project/ድልድል
17:00-17:15 Closing remarks by Dr Romina Istratii
End of Conference
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
