Jo is responsible for designing and piloting exciting new and effective interventions to end domestic abuse. Jo provides expert advice on activities, policy messages and practice, she works with national and local commissioners, funders, policy makers and partners to make this happen. Jo rejoined us in January 2014, having spent two years as senior consultant at the NSPCC in Cardiff. Jo was Caada’s (SafeLives’ former name) director of professional development between 2006 and 2012. She also worked for the police for ten years in the public protection unit and at the Women’s Safety Unit in Cardiff.

Rhian Lewis is currently the Deputy CEO for the Domestic Abuse Safety Unit North Wales (DASU), where she has worked for over four years. Rhian has 20 years’ experience of working within the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence sector in a range of front line and senior managerial roles. Rhian has strategic oversight of the Pathfinder Family Court Pilot in North Wales on behalf of DASU. She is also a qualified Therapist, Trainer and Teacher. She is also a trustee for The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre.

Louise is Head of Social Housing & Regeneration at MSB and has developed an in-depth knowledge of Social Housing law throughout her 15 year career.
She has developed MSB’s Housing team into a formidable unit; she is tenacious and achieves outstanding results.
Regularly delivering bespoke training across a broad spectrum of topics representing over 30 Registered Providers of various sizes and structures. Her experience is vast and she is regularly called upon to speak at industry events and conferences, such as Liverpool Law Society’s Annual Disrepair Conference and the CIH Northen Conference.
Louise has comprehensive understanding of housing condition claims, housing & asset management and is able to offer Registered Providers focused and pragmatic advice.
Louise enjoys achieving the best outcomes for clients in a robust and cost-effective manner whilst being part of a wider, driven team. Her approach is straight forward, to the point and gets the job done

Having qualified as a probation officer in 1987, Karen worked for the Probation Service in a number of settings within the criminal justice system and was the lead for Leicestershire for the roll out of CJSSS, which involved the speeding up of the process of criminal justice. In 2008 Karen was invited to establish and embed Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts in Leicestershire before joining Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse in 2012 to establish the Dedicated Domestic Abuse Court at Westminster. With her colleague she leads on the Criminal Justice work for STADA and sits on the Local Criminal Justice Board Delivery Group, CPS VAWG Scrutiny Panel and MET Police Scrutiny Panel. For the past 2 years, Karen has led on STADA’s project involving the mapping of Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts and how domestic abuse is dealt with in the Criminal Justice System.

Det.Chief Supt Gareth Lee has served within Cheshire Constabulary for the past 19years.
Within this time he has responded, supported and prioritised the Force’s response to Crime and Disorder.

His knowledge of the Constabulary and the communities it serves ensures that as the head of PVP and Criminal Justice he has clear direction and drive to ensure that those who pose the highest of risk are subject to swift justice and onward management through a dedicated team of officers.

Gareth has a wealth of experience in not only his current portfolio but additionally Organised Crime, Regional priorities, Major Crime and Murder Investigations.

Not only is he well respected due to his knowledge and skill set but his recollection of movies and their punchlines will give anyone in a pub quiz a run for their money!

That aside his focus, determination and drive is demonstrated daily whether that be in person, through partner agencies or with our front-line student officers providing them with the reassurance and confidence to strive for excellence.

MATAC Manager for Northumbria Police – MATAC aims to prevent or reduce re-offending of the most harmful and serial perpetrators of domestic abuse. It is a pro-active intelligence led process based on analysis of previous offending patterns using RFGV analysis to identify the most harmful offenders then multi-agency tactics to stop the behaviour using a MATAC toolkit which includes options from education, prevention and diversion to disruption and enforcement. During the pilot period for MATAC a 65% reduction in re-offending was achieved and a Social Return on Investment of £12.54 per £1 spent.

Rhys Hart has been the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Head of Policy since April 2022. During this time he has worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, national and local government, the sector, and parliamentarians, to drive forward policy and legislative changes to improve the outcomes and journey for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. He has previously worked within government as a policy advisor and later programme lead on reducing serious violence through public health, whole-systems, and multi-agency approaches. This work included the delivery of early intervention and prevention activity and establishment of Violence Reduction Units.

London’s Violence Reduction Unit is a team of specialists who bring people across London together to better understand why violence happens and to take action to prevent it now, and in the long-term. Caroline leads on the VRUs women and girls portfolio, and champions prevention and early intervention in tackling VAWG. Her background is in policy and programme delivery in local government and central government with a focus on youth justice and VAWG. In her spare time, Caroline is a proud volunteer on the National Domestic Abuse Helpline.

Abbie joined South West Surrey Domestic Abuse service back in 2016. During this time, she has supported 100’s of children and young people giving them a voice to be heard and believed. Abbie is a qualified YPVA (Young persons violence advisor) ensuring support is delivered in a way responsive to children and young peoples needs. Since taking on the management role Abbie has expanded the children’s service developing specialist roles including a youth engagement worker and promoting trauma informed child led support. Abbie champions holistic practice ensuring children and their non abusive parent are supported therapeutically. She has successfully forged relationships with local charities and agencies allowing the service to offer a wide range of recovery work. She is committed to making social change, training professionals in Domestic Abuse Awareness and the impact on children and has recently co-produced a short video featuring young people with lived experience to ensure young victims feel heard.

Deborah leads on the day-to-day operations of Safer London’s Pan London Housing Reciprocal. This managed housing reciprocal scheme connects social housing tenancy landlords across London, so they can support their tenants who are at risk of violence and abuse, to find safe and stable housing. They do this by facilitating property ‘swaps’ and Safer London acts as a central administrator, ensuring the scheme is transparent and fair to all those who use it.
Since 2017 the Reciprocal has been an effective tool in the fight against gender-based violence, supporting social housing tenants affected by domestic violence/abuse and gender-based violence. Since its inception the Reciprocal’s remit and criteria has expanded, with the scheme now able to support social housing tenants affected by youth violence and hate crimes (including LGBTQ+ hate crime), as well as supporting care and prison leavers, to find safe and secure homes.

Judith is the Programme Manager for the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), working in Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse. After working as a family lawyer for eight years Judith moved into the domestic abuse sector where she has worked for nearly 25 years. Having worked directly with victims of abuse in refuge and outreach for 12 years, Judith then worked with CAADA/SafeLives on the MARAC implementation and quality assurance programme before moving to DAHA four years ago leading significant developments in the accreditation framework, creating a membership model and building capacity to better support the social housing sector improve their response to domestic abuse.

Luke Hart, and his brother Ryan Hart, share their family’s story of coercive control and domestic homicide. In 2017 they released their book, Remembered Forever, and set up their organization, CoCoAwareness, to increase the awareness of coercive control. So far, their work has taken them to over 13 countries and they have trained tens of thousands of professionals in identifying, understanding, and ending domestic abuse.

They are White Ribbon Ambassadors and Refuge Champions speaking out against male violence towards women and children. They have also worked with the charity Level Up to produce and advocate for the acceptance of domestic homicide reporting guidelines and have received a number of awards for their work in raising awareness – including the Lincolnshire Police Outstanding Contribution to Public Service 2018/2019, BBC Inspirations 2020 award and the Big Issue’s Top 100 Changemakers of 2020.

Called to the Bar in 1980, also called to the Bar of N. Ireland and to the Bar of Eire.
Appointed as a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2005.
Appointed Circuit Judge 2009.
Served as a Judicial member of the Parole Board 6+ years.
Approved tutor Judge of the Judicial Studies Board 8+ years.
Resident Judge for two full terms (the maximum allowed).
Honorary Recorder of Aylesbury in 2011-present.
Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

Barbara qualified as a solicitor back in 1993 after graduating from the University of Liverpool with LLB Hons and completing her Solicitor Examinations at the College of Law York.

A member of the Law Society Children Panel, Barbara is experienced in all aspects of divorce, financial, domestic abuse injunctions and children’s matters.

More recently, Barbara has specialised in public law children work. Her cases have included sudden infant death, fabricated or induced illness, non-accidental injuries and sexual abuse. Barbara’s expertise includes representing clients with learning disabilities and working alongside court-appointed intermediaries to assist those who are classified as vulnerable during the process of giving evidence.

Barbara enjoys undertaking her own advocacy in the family courts representing parents and children.

She prides herself on her professional yet approachable style and ability to guide clients through what are often complex proceedings. Barbara represents parents, grandparents, and other parties, such as intervenors and prospective special guardians.

In addition, through her Children Panel membership, Barbara is approved to represent children.

Catherine was recently appointed the senior lead in NHS England for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence. She heads an ambitious programme of work to transform the way the NHS responds to domestic abuse and sexual violence for both patients and staff. The programme considers these crimes through a public health lens, looking at prevention, early intervention and resulting health inequalities, as well as improving support for victims. It implements commitments made in the Women’s Health Strategy, Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and the Domestic Abuse Plan, as well as legislative changes in the Domestic Abuse Act and the ‘Serious Violence Duty’ on prevention strategies.

Catherine was formerly a Deputy Director in the Family and Criminal Justice Policy Directorate in the Ministry of Justice, heading the Victim and Witness Policy Unit. She was responsible for most of the government policy relating to victims of crime in England and Wales, and a £140 million per annum budget for victim and witness services. Catherine chaired the Covid 19 Victim and Witness Silver Command Group, leading the government response to Covid for victims and witnesses. Catherine was also appointed ‘Gender Champion’ for the Ministry of Justice in May 2016, providing visible leadership to around 80,000 staff on achieving gender equality in the workplace.

Catherine is a keen supporter of women and the arts and is a member of Clean Break Theatre Company’s Development Committee. She is also Chair of her local Residents’ Association.

Catherine started her legal career at the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2001. She relocated to London to work at the Refugee Legal Centre, where she represented victims of trafficking, sexual violence and torture. Catherine then joined the Ministry of Justice, working as a lawyer before moving into the Senior Civil Service to work on policy and strategy.