Isabelle Younane is Head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid Federation of England. She joined Women’s Aid in August 2021, and currently leads the charity’s work across public affairs, digital media, events and campaigning to ensure domestic abuse is at the top of the public and political agenda. Prior to joining Women’s Aid, Isabelle has held policy, advocacy and communications roles at ActionAid UK, the British Council and the United Nations Association – UK. She is also an Executive Committee member of the New Diplomacy Project, which advises the Labour Party on foreign policy. An English graduate from the University of Exeter, she holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights from University College London.

Clare was elected as Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset in May 2024, and brings a wealth of experience to the role.

Clare has a background spanning a variety of sectors, including serving as a Member of the European Parliament, working at the heart of government in No.10 Downing Street, and as a Trade Union officer for over twenty years.

Prior to being elected to the PCC role, Clare was co-Chief Exec of Equally Ours, a UK equality and human rights charity.

These experiences have equipped Clare with an understanding of how to work with complex organisations and systems, as well as applying strong problem-solving skills.

Jo was appointed as the Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire & Crime by York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith and took up her role in July 2024. She has committed to tackling domestic abuse, reducing levels of violence against women and girls, building public confidence in policing and driving budget efficiencies to increase investment in prevention and early intervention to tackle the causes of crime and anti- social behaviour.

Born in North Yorkshire, Jo grew up in York and after graduating from the University of Warwick lived in Paris for a number of years before returning to the UK to continue her career. Her professional background includes work in the private and voluntary sectors working across the crime and justice sector and in youth provision.

Jo has also worked in politics during periods of government and in opposition, serving as a trusted adviser to leading national politicians. In 2023 she was elected to City of York Council, leading on health and adult social care until her appointment as Deputy Mayor. She lives in York with her family and continues to serve as a local councillor, representing some of the most deprived communities in the city.

Gareth Edwards is the head of the national Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme (VKPP), one of three programmes (VKPP, Soteria and VAWG Taskforce) which have come together to create the new national centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP).  The NCVPP is Government funded, operating across the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC). Its core aim is to drive improvements in the response to VAWG and Public Protection through evidence led solutions and responses. Gareth has led the VKPP programme since its inception in 2018, iteratively building a range of enhanced delivery functions with the aim of drawing together evidence and responses to target and tackle the cross cutting issues undermining effecting practice.

Gareth was previously head of policy and strategy to former Chief Constable Simon Bailey during his tenures as the head of the NPCC Violence and Public Protection (VPP) portfolio and Child Protection Abuse Investigation (CPAI) lead. During this period Gareth directed the activities of a Home Office funded network of regional analysts and prevention officers to help tackle Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) as well as developed national policy.  Prior to this he worked at the office of the children’s commissioner for England, leading on data analysis across their child rights agenda including their national Inquiries into CSAE. Gareth has also worked in a range of operational and strategic analytical roles within the Metropolitan Police and Cambridgeshire Constabulary and has completed a Master of Studies (MSt) in Applied Criminology and Police Management at the University of Cambridge.

Emily joined the IOPC in 2017 and was appointed to the role of Director of Engagement in January 2025, responsible for developing productive relationships with stakeholders, to help make positive changes to the police complaints system, including policing policy and practice. Emily’s role also means she represents the IOPC when engaging with key stakeholders including policing leaders, senior partners within the policing and criminal justice system, the media, and both national and local communities. Emily has held various senior roles at the IOPC, most recently as a regional director. She has worked in both the North West and North East regions, and is one of the strategic leads for the IOPC VaWG programme and senior sponsor for the Safeguarding Network. She was also the IOPC technical lead for Abuse of Position for Sexual Purpose. Prior to joining the IOPC, Emily held investigative roles at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the General Medical Council.

Katerina is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex. Her research looks at the ethical implications of developments in technologies and data for security and law enforcement.

She has held advisory roles for the College of Policing, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, United Nations and National Police Chiefs Council. She chairs Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Ethics Committee. She is a member of the UK National Crime Agency’s Independent Reference Group and the Metropolitan’s Police’s Research Ethics Committee.

Her research has been funded by the European Commission, Economic and Social Research Council, Home Office and the British Academy.

Jess has the pleasure of leading the development and delivery of SafeLives’ work in Scotland including the Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy (DACA) work she will be discussing at the conference and  hich you can read more about here. SafeLives work across the UK to end domestic abuse. By finding what works, and helping it happen, we work with a whole host of organisations and areas in realising our vision of a society that prevents harm, reduces risk and supports recovery.

Suky has been with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for over ten years and has been CEO since 2019. In this time, Suky has overseen the growth and development of its national stalking services, led its policy and campaigns team, and designed and delivered complex national projects. She has been the Programme Director for the world’s first multi-agency stalking intervention programme (MASIP) and overseen the ongoing campaign for national minimum standards for taxis and private hire vehicles.
Suky was also seconded for over 12 months from Suzy Lamplugh Trust as an adviser to the Parliamentary Security Department, supporting and advising MPs and their staff in issues relating to personal safety.
With over 18 years experience in the sector, Suky has worked in frontline services as well as policy, research and development capacities, with areas of speciality in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector including trafficking, honour-based violence, domestic and sexual violence, and stalking. Suky was heavily involved in the successful coercive control campaign, which brought law change to domestic violence in the UK.

Katy joined Thames Valley Police in 2000 having studied Sociology at the London School of Economics. She worked in a variety of role and ranks including uniform patrol, CID, neighbourhood policing, child abuse investigation, surveillance and strategic development. In April 2023 Katy was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable for Crime and Criminal Justice, with force wide responsibility for Crime, Intelligence, Public Protection, Criminal Justice and Forensics. She also led Thames Valley Police’s response to Violence Against Women and Girls. In November 2024 Katy took up the position of Deputy Chief Constable at Gloucestershire Constabulary. 

Katy completed her Masters in Police Leadership and Management at Warwick Business School in 2015. She has a keen academic interest in domestic abuse, and published an academic journal article on domestic abuse attrition rates 1 following her Masters research, and a book chapter on domestic abuse in ‘An Introduction to Professional Policing’ 2. She has also written a book with colleagues titled Policing Domestic Abuse – Risk, Policy & Practice published by Routledge in November 2022. Katy continues to work academically in this field, now focussing on adolescent domestic abuse in a research partnership with the VISION consortium at City University, London where she is an Honorary Research Fellow and Practitioner in Residence. More on her work in this field can be found in this policy brief: Addressing abuse in teenage relationships – City Vision and this journal article: : Adolescent Domestic Abuse and Its Consequences: A Rapid Systematic Review | Journal of Family Violence 

Katy instigated the ‘TVP Journal’ which is a fantastic gateway to recognise the academic work of officers and staff. Following the success of the TVP Journal Katy was asked to be the Editor in Chief of the College of Policing Publication ‘Going Equipped’ 3. Katy also leads on @WeCops 4 a twitter debate forum on current police issues in the UK.  

In 2024 Katy was the runner up in the World Policing Summit awards in Dubai in the category of Inspirational Female Police Officer.  

Dr Ruth Weir is Deputy Director and a Senior Research Fellow in the Violence and Society Centre, where she leads work on teenage relationship abuse, neighbourhoods and policing for the UKPRP-funded consortium on Violence, Health and Society (VISION).  Her research is interdisciplinary, drawing on her expertise in Geography and Criminology. 

Ruth recently collaborated with two senior police officers (including DCC Katy Barrow-Grint) and another academic to write a book, ‘Policing Domestic Abuse: Risk, Policy and Practice’. The book is dedicated to improving the practice of policing domestic and aims to help inform those in policing about the dynamics of how domestic abuse occurs, how best to respond to and investigate it, and in the longer term prevent it.

In collaboration with DCC Katy Barrow-Grint she has formed the National Working Group on Teenage Relationship Abuse, which has brought together key stakeholders from the Police, Home Office, Domestic Abuse Commissioners Office and specialist domestic abuse services together to set a research agenda for understanding more about and responding to abuse in teenage relationships.

She is a steering group member of the Domestic Abuse Research Network (DARNet), is on the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) advisory board for the College of Policing and has worked on a number of research projects funded by UKRI ESRC, Comic Relief and the Home Office. She is also an Associate Editor for The Journal of Sexual Aggression and Co-editor of the Journal of Gender Based Violence. Prior to working in academia Ruth held several research, intelligence and policy positions in local government and for the Home Office. 

Mina Smallman is a retired Anglican priest and former high school teacher. She studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Before being ordained in 2006 at St Paul’s Cathedral, she was a former Assistant Principal of John Kelly Girls’ Technology College. She served as the Archdeacon of Southend in the Diocese of Chelmsford from 2013-2016 and, in recognition of her work, she was awarded the title of Emeritus the Venerable.

After the murder of two of her daughters, Mina, together with her husband Chris, criticised the Metropolitan Police Service for being initially dismissive and mishandling the missing persons investigation, questioning whether the murder of women of colour is treated differently by police and society at large. In December 2021, two Metropolitan Police Officers who took photographs of the murdered sisters and shared the images via WhatsApp – conduct described by Ms Smallman as “a betrayal of catastrophic proportions” – were convicted and jailed for 33 months.

Mina is an Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, and she was included in the BBC’s 100 Women List for 2021, for her trailblazing work as Archdeacon, as well as her campaign work, which is aimed at police reform and making UK streets safer. She delivered the Longford Lecture in November 2022, and is working with the Metropolitan Police to share her experiences in a series of leadership talks.

Isabelle Younane is Head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid Federation of England. She joined Women’s Aid in August 2021, and currently leads the charity’s work across public affairs, digital media, events and campaigning to ensure domestic abuse is at the top of the public and political agenda. Prior to joining Women’s Aid, Isabelle has held policy, advocacy and communications roles at ActionAid UK, the British Council and the United Nations Association – UK. She is also an Executive Committee member of the New Diplomacy Project, which advises the Labour Party on foreign policy. An English graduate from the University of Exeter, she holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights from University College London.