Monday 10th December - Tuesday 11th December 2007, University of Warwick

Living on the Edge – Sexual Violence and Abuse in Context

2 Day Residential Conference – Day delegate rates available

Keynote Speakers

• Vernon Coaker MP

Vernon Coaker MP is a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction. Before taking up his post at the Home Office, Mr Coaker was a government whip, from June 2003. He was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Tessa Jowell, Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, and was also PPS to Estelle Morris when she was Secretary of State for Education. Mr Coaker has been MP for Gedling in Nottinghamshire since 1997. He is one of UNICEF’s 'Special Friends' in Parliament, and has visited Kosovo, Macedonia and Angola to see the work being done there.

• Virginia Lovell, Deputy Lord Lieutenant Hampshire

Virginia Lovell is a Magistrate, a Deputy to the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire and County President for St John Ambulance, as well as being Patron to Home-Start Meon Valley.

• John Dunworth

John is currently the Head of Interpersonal Violence at the Home Office where he was previously the Head of the Drugs Prevention Advisory Team. He has over 12 years experience in senior policy making roles, working closely with ministers and senior politicians across government sectors and departments.

• Allison Anderson

Allison has been working for West Sussex Social Services since 1989, and in Mental Health Services since 1993. She is currently seconded to the Sussex Partnership NHS Trust as a Training and Development Officer, and is also a qualified Mental Health Social Worker. Allison has been offering training on working with survivors for 4 years.

• Richard Curen

Richard is Chair of the Survivors Trust and Director of Respond. He has worked as a counsellor, psychotherapist and manager of services in the sexual abuse field for the last 12 years. He trained at the Gestalt Centre London and completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Forensic Studies at the Portman Clinic. He is also a specialist advisor to the Metropolitan Police Services’ Project Sapphire.

• Gillian Finch

Gillian Finch is the founder of CIS’ters (Childhood Incest Survivors) which was set up in September 1995, and she is a past-Chair of The Survivors Trust (CIS’ters was one of the founding agencies). She remains a core member of the Victims of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme (VVAPP), which is jointly hosted by the Home Office and Department of Health.

• Bob Balfour

Currently a Residential Support Worker for a Social Service/NHS Mental Health team, in a role he’s occupied for 8 years, Bob is part way through an Open University degree in Health and Social Care. Bob founded Survivors West Yorkshire (SWY) in 2000, an organisation supporting male and female victim/survivors and their families from its base in Bradford, and campaigns to raise the issues faced by victims/survivors with its main focus on adult provision.

• Dave Gee

Dave Gee is the co-author of the original thematic inspection report on rape, published in 2002. He is currently assisting the Police Standards Unit, Home Office Violent Crime Unit and ACPO towards improving facilities for rape victims. He has now completed work on publishing a report on Operation Matisse, a twelve month research project into the incidence of drug facilitated sexual assault.

• Sharon Harvey

Sharon Harvey, a Clinical Psychologist, will present her research on how women experience, or have experienced, shame and how relevant they feel shame issues are in working with issues of childhood abuse.

More information can be found at: The Survivors Trust

Attendance Fees apply - See Conference Programme for further details

Click Here for the Conference Programme & Booking Form

Contact: Liz Campbell - liz.campbell_tst@btconnect.com for further information