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From 30 October to 1 November, Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Committee and the University of the West of Scotland will host a visit from two members of le Comité National des Violences Intra Familiales de France (The French National Committee on Domestic Abuse).

The visit is taking place in the context of an ongoing enquiry in France into the nature and extent of domestic abuse and the legal, professional, and public health responses that can be taken to address it. Scotland is recognised internationally as a leader in understanding and tackling domestic abuse within a paradigm of coercive control, and Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Partnership and The University of the West of Scotland are delighted to be hosting this visit.

The visit will begin with a day conference on Monday 30 October at the University of the West of Scotland, Bankend Road, Dumfries. The theme of the conference, which will be chaired by Gordon Pattinson, Public Protection Manager for Dumfries and Galloway Council, is comparative understanding and practice in addressing domestic abuse. Our French visitors will be joined on the conference platform by Scottish local and national experts, practitioners, and policy makers for a day of rich exchanges.

Joining us online from Angers in France will be Elliot Louan, member of le Comité National des Violences Intra-familiales, a former probation officer, and now researcher/trainer at the Research Institute on Law and Justice (France).

Scottish Speakers

Samantha Keogh is the Protecting People Project Officer at the Improvement Service in Scotland.

Fiona McMullen of ASSIST, the specialist domestic abuse, advocacy and support service which is focused on reducing risk and improving the safety of victims of domestic abuse.

Allyson McLaughlin and Clare McDowell of Dumfries and Galloway Council Justice Social Work Service will speak to the conference about their experiences of delivering personal change programmes to convicted perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Police Scotland will deliver a presentation on the policing responses to reports of domestic abuse and how the law is understood and used to convict perpetrators and protect women and children.

Anna Mitchell, Regional Manager and Organisational Assessment Lead for the Safe and Together Institute UK. Anna will speak about how the Safe and Together approach can lead to more socially just outcomes for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse by holding perpetrators to account and keeping victims “safe and together”. Anna will be joined by Sarah McGarva of Dumfries and Galloway Council Social Services who will speak about the implementation of “Safe and Together” in Dumfries and Galloway.

The conference will be followed by two days of visits to meet practitioners and researchers who are studying and working with domestic abuse.

The French delegation for the visit will be led by the Présidente of the Commission on Perpetrators, Dr. Isabelle Dréan-Rivette. Isabelle holds a PhD in Criminology. She is qualified to practice law in France and in Canada. Isabelle is a judge and has authored several books on legal practice. She was recently the Special Advisor on domestic Abuse to Mme Isabelle Rome, the Minister for Equality Between Men and Women. Her current substantive role is as a Policy Advisor within the French Justice Ministry in Paris.

Accompanying Dr. Dréan-Rivette is Dr. Andreea Gruev-Vintilla. Andreea is an academic and Social Psychologist at the Université Paris-Nanterre where she researches and teaches on domestic abuse. Andreea’s book: “le Controle Coercitif; au coeur des violences conjugales” (Coercive Control: at the heart of domestic abuse), published in September 2023 is the first book published on that topic in French for a French readership.

John Sturgeon, Lecturer in Social Work at the University of the West of Scotland who has given evidence on two occasions to Le Comité National des Violences Intra-familiales as part of their ongoing work, said: “I am delighted that members of the CNViF, having heard of practice in Scotland are willing and able to come to see for themselves the good work that is being done on the ground by Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Partnership and across Scotland to address domestic abuse. Such international exchanges are mutually beneficial in that in being exposed to the perspective and set of systems in another country, we are forced to ask questions of our own.  I hope that this visit will mark the beginning of a tripartite relationship of research and knowledge exchange between our institutions and countries.”

Hamish McGhie, Independent Chair of the Public Protection Committee said: “This is an exciting opportunity for staff to learn about the response to domestic abuse in Scotland, France and here in Dumfries and Galloway. I know that local staff are working hard to respond to domestic abuse and some of them will be offering insights to their work; in addition, it will be helpful to hear about the approach across Scotland and in France. I appreciate the experts travelling from France as well as staff coming from other parts of Scotland to provide attendees with an understanding of their work.”

Vikki Binnie, Chair of the Violence Against Women subcommittee said: “Members of the Violence Against Women and Girls subcommittee are delighted to work together with colleagues from France and the University of the West of Scotland to develop an exciting conference programme. Working in partnership to tackle and respond to domestic abuse is one of the core areas the subcommittee works on, and this event and meetings over the following days will allow us all to exchange our knowledge.”

If you wish to attend, please email: PublicProtectionTraining@dumgal.gov.uk