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.
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.
This study, conducted by the Wales Violence Prevention Unit (VPU) and University of Exeter, explores the experiences and behaviours of bystanders to domestic violence and abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Violence against women domestic abuse and sexual violence (VAWDASV) is a major public health problem, criminal justice and human rights issue, with a range of adverse consequences for health and wellbeing over the life course. In Wales, a key objective of the national VAWDASV strategy is to make early intervention and prevention a priority, in recognition that prevention is vital to breaking the cycle of violence in families and communities. The purpose of this review is to identify effective practice for the prevention of VAWDASV and use the evidence to inform the refresh of the national VAWDASV strategy in Wales in 2021.
This research, delivered by the Wales Violence Prevention Unit with funding from Public Health Wales, highlights how COVID-19 has resulted in many challenges for children and young people, including changes to routine, disruption to education and a reduction in access to support services and social activities. Evidence indicates that these challenges, together with other factors such as home life and existing wellbeing concerns, will likely have increased the risk of exposure to violence and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), particularly among the most vulnerable children and young people.
This report explores the impact of COVID-19 and the associated health protection measures on children and young people through a review of the available literature and analysis of multi-agency data. It captures the inequitable and long-term impact that the pandemic could have on children and young people, and highlights considerations for mitigating these negative consequences.
To support the work of partner agencies in re-opening nightlife safely following the first COVID-19 lockdown, the Wales Violence Prevention Unit conducted rapid research to assess the evidence and emerging global best practice for re-opening nightlife whilst containing COVID-19 and preventing violence. 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.
Experts from across the globe have warned of the adverse consequences of COVID-19 lockdown and physical distancing restrictions on violence in the home, with the United Nations describing it as a shadow pandemic. This social innovation narrative explores how a public health approach to violence prevention is implemented in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic by the multi-agency Wales Violence Prevention Unit.
This strategy has been developed by the Wales Violence Prevention Unit. It is designed as a framework for the prevention of serious youth violence in South Wales. The primary audience is policy makers and professionals working on preventing and responding to serious youth violence. It is designed to empower individuals, communities and organisations to take a public health approach to violence prevention, with the support and leadership of the Violence Prevention Unit.
This report provides an assessment of the epidemiology of serious youth violence in the SW police force area. This includes the established and emerging trends in violence, the cohorts most vulnerable to involvement in violence, the risk and protective factors for violence and the impact of violence on health care systems.