Partnerships between police and GBV service providers in remote, rural and island communities in northern Scotland before and during COVID-19.

Pedersen, Sarah; Mueller-Hirth, Natascha; Miller, Leia

Abstract

COVID-19 exacerbated challenges that already existed in the policing of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in remote and rural northern Scotland. Victims' direct access to the police and third-sector organisations was impeded by social distancing while the pandemic exacerbated extant issues relating to staffing, particularly in relation to female police officers. On the positive side, the flexibility that already characterised rural and remote policing continued, and police officers and third-sector organisations worked together to support victims. The move to videoconferencing was hailed as a positive move in an area where travel to meetings or court can be difficult and expensive. A lack of training for officers with no specific GBV role was identified as particularly problematic during the pandemic when officers on the ground in rural and remote Scotland had to take over work usually undertaken by specialist task forces.

Citation

PEDERSEN, S., MUELLER-HIRTH, N. and MILLER, L. 2023. Partnerships between police and GBV service providers in remote, rural and island communities in northern Scotland before and during COVID-19. Policing [online], 17, Advanced Articles. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad045

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 19, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 28, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Journal: Policing: a journal of policy and practice
• Print ISSN: 1752-4512
• Electronic ISSN: 1752-4520
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad045
• Keywords: COVID-19; Gender-based violence (GBV); Police; Victims; Scotland; Remote; Rural
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2023145
• Related Public URLs: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2034925 (Video of project); https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2049031 (Project report); https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1357852 (Conference webinar); https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1866788 (Related journal article in Island Studies Journal); https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1346357 (Related report)