Lorna O'Doherty

My research is concerned with intimate partner violence and sexual violence and abuse across the lifespan as major public health problems globally. I am committed to maximising the role of health providers and the NHS in supporting those who have experienced violence and abuse to access equitable and appropriate health care. My work looks at different community and health care-based interventions for survivors of abuse and I have co-led four Cochrane Reviews and randomised controlled trials. I was chief investigator on a national evaluation Sexual Assault Referral Centres, undertaking a cohort study of health, wellbeing and costs for adult and children survivors of sexual assault, abuse and rape (NIHR-funded MESARCH project). I co-designed a research enriched online training course at Coventry University to enhance health care workers' responses to women experiencing gender-based violence during pregnancy. My work has also taken me into the arena of justice for survivors (ESRC-funded JiCSAV project) and currently I am leading the evaluation of UpFront Survivors, a collaboration of frontline services and survivor-activists and artists to promote leadership and training for survivors as part of increasing the voice and visibility of child sexual abuse survivors in cultural, political and social spaces.