**POSTPONED** Professor June Keeling: Stand by Me: Women’s experiences of Domestic Violence and Disclosure to Healthcare Providers

Professor of Women’s Health

**Please note, this lecture has been postponed - a new date will be posted in due course**

Intimate relationships between partners generally begin with a mutual attraction and shared values based on love, reciprocity, and respect; however, some relationships develop in which one partner seeks to dominate the other. Such acts of coercion and control, sometimes accompanied by threats and physical violence, may constitute domestic violence and abuse. This is a significant global health problem, and the evidence suggests it is predominantly a crime by men against women. This inaugural lecture will start by exploring this crime through a gendered lens, bringing into focus the realities of women living with an abusive partner. These realities may include physical or psychological injuries, requiring access to the health service and interactions with health professionals, which can influence how a woman perceives herself, her relationship, and her decision to disclose. As providers of care, we work within a system of competing demands, including conflicts and challenges, and arguably, under pressure to deliver care within limited resources. The lecture will close by combining personal nursing and midwifery research and clinical practice to explore how healthcare providers respond to women who disclose an abusive relationship within this context.

BIOGRAPHY

Professor June Keeling Professor June Keeling became a registered general nurse (RGN) in 1988 and a registered midwife (RM) in 1998. Her first degree was a BSc(Hons) in women’s health, followed by a master’s in professional education, and then a PhD exploring women’s disclosure of domestic violence and interactions with statutory agencies. Largely focusing on women’s experiences of domestic violence, her research has revealed disparities in disclosure rates during the pregnancy/childbirth continuum; however, more recently, she has explored men’s stories about their use of violence in relationships. Committed to raising the profile of domestic violence, Prof. Keeling works with colleagues at a local, national, and international level: she has presented to an inter-ministerial board in Belfast, been invited as a member of a subgroup of the Department of Health’s Taskforce on the Health Aspects of Violence against Women and Girls, and spoke at ‘Parliament, Policy, and Sustainable Development: De-Silhouetting Stilettos by 2030’ at Portcullis House, London. She joined the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Keele University in 2019 as Professor of Women’s Health. Outside work, she enjoys a family-orientated active outdoor lifestyle, including running, skiing, family holidays, and walking their five dogs.

FREE


Event date
Event Time
6:15PM
Location
Westminster Theatre, Chancellor's Building
Organiser
Events
Contact email
events@keele.ac.uk
Contact telephone
01782 734036