Did you know that the law’s definition of violence is not fixed?

In 2015, England and Wales recognised that domestic violence is not only about physical attacks but includes coercive control. Three years later, Scotland went further, covering patterns of abusive behaviour that isolate, frighten, humiliate or control. Research and survivors’ knowledge made this more meaningful legal understanding of violence possible.

THINKING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE

If violence threatens social justice, how can research help us respond better to its many forms?

Violence and Conflict

Violence and conflict threaten the possibility of living safely and freely. Public fears about violent crime, terrorism and war reflect this basic social justice concern. Yet harm is not always visible or confined to a single event.

Violence can grow within personal relationships, divide communities or be exercised through institutional and state power. It can control people economically and psychologically, silence their voices and leave harms that pass between generations. Social justice depends on our ability to recognise, prevent and address these different forms of violence. The Centre builds research around survivors’ knowledge and community understandings of justice, bringing them together with expertise from academics, lawyers and civil society.

Millions of people struggle to access dental care

The law is supposed to ensure that people who have no home are offered accommodation that is safe and suitable.

Public Concern and Social Justice

People's everyday experiences of work, welfare and care are central to social justice.

Children are profoundly affected by social injustice.

Corporations can have global power, yet their actions are felt on people’s doorsteps.

Violence and conflict threaten the possibility of living safely and freely.

Candour and Communities tells a shocking story about lies to the public and institutional cover-ups.