Wales Violence Prevention Unit Report Archive

#SafeToSay seeks to prevent sexual harassment through encouraging prosocial bystander responses towards sexual harassment or its warning signs in night life spaces.

Building on the evaluation of Phase One of #SafeToSay, Phase Two was delivered by the Wales Violence Prevention Unit, with funding from the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, as part of the Home Office Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) fund.

This evaluation has used findings from social media and website analytics, as well as the responses to a post-campaign public perception survey.

‘Wales Without Violence: Perspectives of Children and Young People’ brings together the contributions made by children and young people through the consultation for the Wales Without Violence Framework.

The report provides unparalleled insight into the issues most affecting children and young people in Wales, as well as their priorities for preventing violence.

The report is intended for all professionals working with children and young people. It should be read alongside the Wales Without Violence Framework when planning violence prevention activity.

Preventing violence among children and young people requires collective and coordinated action.

The Wales Without Violence Framework outlines the key elements needed to successfully develop primary prevention and early intervention strategies to end violence among children and young people through a public health, whole-system approach.

Wales Without Violence - A Shared Framework for Preventing Violence among Children and Young People

The Wales Violence Prevention Unit has developed this Wales-specific guidance to support multi-agency partners to complete strategic needs assessments to understand how violence is affecting their communities and to help them develop a violence prevention strategy, as part of the Serious Violence Duty.

This evaluation, which included interviews with clinical staff and other professionals involved in the NHS Violence Prevention Team service, explores the development and implementation of the service within the Emergency Department, and the nature and level of support provided to patients with violence-related injury.

The Wales Violence Prevention Unit developed a violence prevention campaign, #SafeToSay, in collaboration with Good Night Out Campaign and with support from Welsh Women’s Aid. The campaign sought to prevent sexual harassment and violence in the night time economy as COVID-19 restrictions eased in Wales.

This evaluation reports on Phase One of the campaign, which was delivered in Cardiff and Swansea between June and July 2021. The evaluation found that overall, the campaign met its four objectives by encouraging prosocial bystander behaviours in response to sexual harassment within the night time economy.

For 2020/21, we commissioned the Public Health Institute (PHI), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) to evaluate the VPU’s whole-system public health approach to preventing violence, to support us in building on the findings and recommendations from the Year One Evaluation.

This report, together with an evaluation of the Wales Violence Surveillance and Analysis System will support us in further developing our whole-system public health approach to achieve real and lasting change for the people of Wales.

This research explores the experiences and behaviours of bystanders to domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help inform policy and bystander intervention training programmes in light of the changes to daily lives brought about by COVID-19 restrictions.

This study, delivered in partnership with the University of Exeter, and funded by Public Health Wales, included survey and interviews with members of the public to better understand the experiences and behaviours of bystanders to domestic violence and abuse during a period of social restrictions. Whilst implemented on a small scale, this study was the first of its kind and provides new insights into bystander experiences during a global pandemic.

Funded by Welsh Government, this systematic evidence assessment identifies effective primary and secondary prevention interventions for VAWDASV, to inform the adoption of evidence-based policy and practice.

The report identifies a range of effective approaches designed to prevent VAWDASV at individual, relationship, community and societal levels, across education, health, nightlife, and community settings.

The Wales Violence Prevention Unit has published its Annual Report, which highlights how over 500 children and young people have participated in its commissioned interventions in 2020-21.

The report includes information on the Unit’s commissioned interventions, research projects and operational activity during its first full year of operation. It also provides a look toward the future, detailing the Unit’s focus for the next year and beyond.

Wales Violence Prevention Unit Annual Report 2020-21

The Wales Violence Prevention Unit has published the independent evaluation of the Wales Violence Surveillance and Analysis System (WVAS).

The WVAS was established in 2014, with an initial focus on South Wales, with the aim of supporting violence prevention through the development of a surveillance system to collate, analyse and share data across multiple sectors.

The Unit has taken ownership of the WVSAS since 2019, with the aim of expanding the system pan-Wales. This is the first evaluation of the WVSAS, delivered by the Public Health Institute (PHI), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), and it will support the Unit in better understanding the needs of our partners and current/potential barriers and facilitators as we continue to develop the system.

This Health Needs Assessment builds on the interim report ‘Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on Violence and ACEs Experienced by Children and Young People in Wales’

The report outlines key considerations for those working with children and young people, including the need for early intervention, accessible information and continued sustainable funding for services supporting children and young people as Wales re-opens.

In collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) Public Health Institute (PHI), we have developed an evaluation toolkit which includes information and resources for service providers to evaluate programmes and interventions that are targeted at preventing violence.

The toolkit is for intervention service providers in Wales and wider, to support our partners in properly evaluating their services to ensure they are having the greatest impact possible.

This interim report ‘Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on Violence and ACEs Experienced by Children and Young People in Wales’ was published in partnership with the Adverse Childhood Experiences Support Hub.

The report draws on data and analysis conducted through our ongoing monitoring of violence during COVID-19, as well as a review of literature to understand how the wider determinants of children and young people’s health have been impacted by COVID-19. I believe the findings in this report will not be a surprise to many of us but act more as reminder for the need for us to work together to intervene early and protect vulnerable children and young people in Wales.

To inform the continued development of the Wales Violence Prevention Unit, in 2020 we commissioned the the Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moore’s University, to conduct our first Evaluation.

The evaluation found that the Unit has begun to create system-level changes in violence prevention, encouraging organisations to focus upon violence prevention as a public health issue. This demonstrates how the work delivered by us and our partners is starting to transform the landscape of violence prevention in Wales.

This research, delivered in partnership with Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University explores the costs of violence to the healthcare system in Wales.

The study estimates a further £158.8 million was spent on treating the long-term health conditions commonly associated with the consequences of violence. Short-term costs associated with physical injuries from assault and abuse amount to £13.9 million every year. This includes the costs of A&E attendances, ambulance call outs and hospital admissions, with a further £22.2 million spent on treatment for the emotional impact of violence, such as counselling for depression and anxiety.

To support the work partner agencies in re-opening nightlife safely and preventing violence following the lifting of lockdown restrictions, the Unit conducted rapid research in partnership with Public Health Wales to assess the evidence and emerging global best practice.

The report includes key examples of how nightlife has re-opened across the world, how measures to reduce risks of COVID-19 may impact on risks of violence and provides key considerations for opening up nightlife in Wales.