The Dewis Choice Initiative: ‘Through an older survivor’s eyes’: Co-producing a working virtual reality prototype to improve the response to disclosure of domestic abuse and sexual violence

Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) has significant social, welfare and economic impacts. Criminal Justice Inspectorate reports (HMICFRS, 2021) and the PEEL assessments 21/22 highlight the police response to domestic abuse victims ‘was not good enough and forces need to take decisive action to rectify this’ Recommendations include adopting a ‘whole systems approach involving partners’ and securing ‘more effective engagement with victims’. This workshop uses a social science perspective to explore the potential of immersive virtual reality tools to support both victims as help seekers and practitioners as help providers at different stages in the help seeking journey. It draws on findings from a twelve-week pilot funded by Welsh Government ‘Through their eyes’ the immersive experience of help seeking for older victim-survivors’ involving the team from Dewis Choice and colleagues Dr Helen Miles and doctoral researcher Andra Jones. The pilot led to a co-produced Virtual Reality (VR) working prototype comprising eight scripted branching scenarios created from the longitudinal study Dewis Choice. The subsequent evaluation demonstrated significant training potential using immersive VR experiences presenting a victim’s perspective 'through their eyes’ of EITHER examples of secondary victimisation/disengagement OR safe positive responses/engagement with help-providers. The findings also highlighted the value of VR in facilitating empathy for practitioners experiencing ‘compassion fatigue’ We wish to host this workshop to discuss potential training and development opportunities in the areas of domestic abuse and sexual violence and seek collaborators to work us to support survivors of VAWDASV across the life course. We aim to have an inclusive approach to the workshop and explore ethical, methodological and pedagogical implications of undertaking co-produced VR research that involves diverse groups of victim-survivors