Shilan Caman

Gender-based violence (GBV) and domestic violence (DV) are serious societal problems. During the last 30 years, the problems have been increasingly discussed in academia, politics and in the media. The research field has grown and taken different directions within a variety of disciplines, including law, criminology, sociology, psychology, gender studies, social work, medicine and nursing. Today, research on GV and VINR is conducted at universities all over the country. At some universities there are established research groups with a focus on GBV/DV, but most research is carried out by individual researchers scattered across different faculties and who lack an environment in which to discuss their research and the development of the field. Through a national network, researchers from different contexts and with different experience can come together, learn from each other and create opportunities that move the research forward.A challenge for the research topic that will be discussed in the network is the use of different concepts and boundaries linked to the research fields. The planned network will develop GBV/DV research in Sweden by connecting researchers and jointly conducting critical discussions about the important concepts and potential in a Swedish context. The purpose of the network is to avoid fragmentation within the field, and to identify both gaps and overlaps in research conducted around the country. This is done through 6 network meetings during the years 2025-2027. The meetings will take place at different universities and have different highly relevant themes. Researchers are invited to the network from all over the country, from different disciplines and at different stages of their career. The network´s activities and contact areas will form the basis for increased research collaborations and the establishment of a permanent national network after the funding period.

As a result of an amendment to the Social Services Act (SoL), the social services in Sweden are since 2021 obliged to offer treatment to partner violent men. Problematically, the knowledge about the effectiveness of treatment interventions to prevent repeat partner violence is limited overall and especially with regard to the perpetrators who themselves seek treatment on a voluntary basis.Research problem and aim: The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of treatment provided by social services and non-governmental organizations in Örebro County to partner violent men. This project also aims to study how this treatment can possibly be improved. As the participating service providers are primarily aimed at men, this project will be limited to this group.Data and method: The project will be carried out within the framework of an already existing collaboration between the research team and three service providers (Social Services Örebro, Mansforum Örebro, and Örebro Läns Mansmottagning). The design will consist of an effect evaluation design and a user-oriented evaluation model. This includes both quantitative and qualitative methods (mixed-methods design).Plan for project realization: First, a questionnaire will be developed that the service providers will use with the clients on two occasions: at the beginning of treatment and after the end of treatment (pre-and post-measurement). This form will measure the risk of recidivism

the use of, and attitudes to, partner violence

and other outcomes related to the treatment. Second, qualitative interviews with clients and therapists will be conducted to examine their experience of treatment (challenges and opportunities) and what they think needs to be improved. Such qualitative elements are generally lacking in current research on the effectiveness of treatment interventions. Relevance: The outcome of this project will contribute with knowledge about the effect of treatment interventions for partner violent men, as well as how this type of intervention can be improved so that partner violence can be more effectively prevented from being repeated. Such knowledge is currently lacking and in strong demand by municipalities throughout Sweden. As the project is carried out together with the practice, the results will be directly practically useful in how current treatment can be developed and improved.