Workshop Leaders

Workshop Leaders:

This page provides you with information on the people who will be leading each of the workshop sessions. It gives an outline of the areas in which they work and their areas of expertise.

Information on workshop content can be found HERE.

Information on the keynote speakers can be found HERE.

The conference programme can be found HERE

Gael Strack:  – Strangulation Workshop

Gael Strack is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Alliance for HOPE International. Programmes of the Alliance include: National Family Justice Centre Alliance, Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, Camp HOPE America, Justice Legal Network and VOICES Survivor Network.

Previously she served as the Founding Director of the San Diego Family Justice Centre from October 2002 to May 2007. Prior to that Gael held many senior positions within the San Diego City Attorney’s Office, during which time she worked alongside Casey Gwinn.

She too has served on many prestigious commissions and committees transforming the provision of services to survivors of domestic violence. Gael is an adjunct law professor at California Western School of Law, where she teaches “Domestic Violence and the Law.”

Gael has also co-authored a series of strangulation articles and five books with Casey Gwinn, JD, on the Family Justice Centre movement.

Prof. Chan Hellman: The Science and Power of Hope

Chan’s current research is focused on the application of Hope theory to predict adaptive behaviours, and Hope as a psychological strength that buffers stress and adversity among those affected by family violence. In this context, he is also interested in the impact of prevention and intervention services on improving client hope.

Chan is a widely published author and contributor and has presented his various research findings at more than 100 conferences within the US and internationally.

Chan has taught at both the master’s and doctoral level, primarily in the areas of positive psychology, research methods and statistics. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specialising in Research, Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics. Currently based within Oklahoma University (OU) he is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Paediatrics OU College of Medicine and the OU College of Public Health. Chan is an Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences, Professor in the Department of Human Relations and Founding Director of the Centre of Applied Research for Non-profit Organisations.

Dr. Geraldine O’Hare:  Special Court Perpetrators’ Probation Service

Geraldine is the Director of Rehabilitation for the Probation Board for  N. Ireland, and is also a Chartered and Registered Forensic Psychologist.

She leads on the areas of Rehabilitation, Programme for Government, North/South Co-operation, Business Planning and Research.  Geraldine is the organisation’s Senior Information Asset Owner and Chair of the Reducing Offending in Partnership Steering Group.

Geraldine was recently awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship and has travelled to the USA to research Problem Solving Courts with a particular interest in Mental Health, Domestic Violence and Drug Courts.

Casey Gwinn:  Breaking the cycle of Domestic Violence, a culture of Hope

Casey Gwinn is President of Alliance for HOPE International and has been recognised by The American Lawyer magazine as one of the top 45 public lawyers in America. Casey founded San Diego City Attorney’s Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit and led it from 1986 to 1996.

His vision of a comprehensive centre for services to victims of family violence become a reality in San Diego in 2002 with the opening of the nationally acclaimed San Diego Family Justice Centre, which sees professionals from 25 agencies together under one roof.

Today, Casey and his team support more than 130 open and developing Family Justice Centres in the US and around the world. He is also an expert in the handling of near-fatal strangulation assaults. He has served on many influential and high-profile committees, commissions and task forces.

Over the years his pioneering work has been credited with a 90% drop in the number of domestic violence related homicides in San Diego. His work has been profiled many times within the US on national television, in the national press and in online news outlets. Casey has written or co-authored dozens of articles and media commentaries as well as ten books on domestic violence and the Family Justice Centre movement.

One of Casey’s great personal passions is Camp HOPE America, the unique camping initiative he founded at the San Diego Family Justice Centre that is now expanding across the US. It is the first specialised camp to be focused exclusively on children exposed to domestic violence and child abuse.

John O’Hagan/RosinHamill:  Local perspective – “Teenlink” Workshop 

John is a social worker with more than 25 years of experience. He worked in child protection services for 10 years and for the past 15 years has been employed by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland. As part of his role in the Probation Service he has been involved in facilitating Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes for the past 12 years. He is currently on secondment with Foyle Women’s Aid from the Probation service to develop early intervention services for children and young people who have experienced living with domestic abuse as part of their family life.

Rosin has dedicated her career to progressive practice with families, children and young people who have experienced, indirectly or directly, domestic and sexual violence. Rosin’s career at Foyle Women’s Aid started in 2001, where she committed her passion and energy to the children’s services. Her professional development, nurtured by the forward thinking of FWA, offered Rosin the opportunity for her to share practice, expertise and skills as she became a facilitator, delivering Social Guardian Training to teachers and schools across Northern Ireland. The project, funded and supported by the Education Authority, demonstrated a significant shift in the recognition of the hidden harm and hidden voices of domestic abuse.
Rosin’s commitment to the voices of children and young people continued and she was an integral advocate for the development of services, which are now specifically tailored to meet the needs and demands of the ever-growing service.
Rosin, in collaboration with the pioneering vision of FWA, supported and facilitated the development of the Teenlink therapeutic programme and, subsequently, the innovative POD15 Children and Young People’s Centre, which envelops the service provision for young people who have had experience of domestic abuse. The project creates a safe space which is designed for, and led by, the needs of young people in the service and was the first of its kind in the region.

Pascale Franck: European Justice Centre Perspective 

Pascale Franck, criminologist, is the vice-president of the European Family Justice Center Alliance and the co-director of the Family Justice Center Antwerp. She works for the Flemish government in enrolling the multidisciplinary approach of gender-based, domestic violence and child abuse. She has 30 years experience in the field of gender based, domestic, honor related, sexual violence and child abuse, as project developer, manager, trainer, coach.

Marie Brown MBE: Foyle Family Justice Centre Update

Marie began her career as a trainee nurse at Belfast City Hospital. Once qualified, she worked in the South of England and in New Mexico, USA.

In 1993, Marie returned to Derry and worked for Social Services with teenagers in care.  In 1994, Marie began working in Foyle Women’s Aid, and has successfully developed residential services and a range of varied projects supporting women, children and young people across the Foyle area. Marie has led local media campaigns on the issue of violence against women and children, and is currently working with a range of partners to develop the first One Safe Place: Family Justice Centre in Ireland.

As Director of Foyle Women’s Aid, she has striven to build relationships with other agencies and increase training and awareness within the local and regional community of the problem of domestic abuse, and work towards encouraging a common response to women and children.

Marie has also led and taken part in media campaigns highlighting the complexities of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland.

Prof. Stephen Murphy: Women’s Empowerment Programmes from Survivor to Thriver!

Stephen Murphy is the Associate Director of the Alameda County Family Justice Centre. The Alameda County Family Justice Centre, located in Oakland, California, provides wraparound services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, elder abuse and child abuse.
Stephen is presently an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, School of Law, where he teaches a course on Domestic Violence and the Practice of Law.

Dr Esther McGuinness:  The impact of Student Led University Law Clinics: An Overview

Dr Esther McGuinness is a Senior Lecturer in Law. She holds a degree in law and a PhD from Ulster University and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority. In 2004, she undertook further training in Labour Law and Human Rights at the European University Institute, Florence. She worked as a Fellow at the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) before joining the School of Law as a Lecturer in 2004. A former Acting Head of the School of Law, she is a founding member and Co Director of the Ulster Law Clinic, where she supervises LLM students and practices/advises on all areas of employment law. A qualified mediator,  Esther is a founding member of the Law Clinic Derry/Foyle Family Justice Centre, which specialises in providing advice and support to victims of domestic violence and their families.

She is currently engaged in a H2020 project on privacy and the use of big data sets for the collection and retention of information in accordance with the GDPR. She has been a Visiting Professor at Guelph Humber University Toronto, Canada and is currently the Northern Irish Correspondent for the Irish Year Book of International Law and an External Examiner of Employment Law Programmes at Dublin City University (DCU).

Prof. Aisling Swaine:  Women in Civil Rights

Aisling is Assistant Professor of Gender and Security at the Department of Gender Studies of the London School of Economics & Political Science.

Aisling’s research and teaching interests are in the areas of feminist legal theory, gender theory of armed conflict, and international security and peacebuilding. Her work is concerned with feminist examination of international law and global normative developments relating to armed conflict and peacebuilding. Specifically, her recent book, Conflict-Related Violence Against Women: Transforming Transition, examines relationships between violence against women within and outside of armed conflict and how transitional justice mechanisms engage with the characteristics of violence experienced by women.

She is a Visiting Fellow at the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, and previously a Hauser Global Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at the School of Law, New York University. She is an appointed ‘Expert’ to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy Network, is a member of the Faculty Advisory Council of the Global Women’s Institute, George Washington University and is a member of a number of UN advisory expert rosters.

Domestic Violence and Abuse Disclosure Scheme ‘Our Journey’

Day 1 only – Mairead Ferris : Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Abortion Law in Northern Ireland.

Mairead studied Law and Business at the University of Ulster (now Ulster University) graduating with First Class Honours in 2002. After completing her degree, she completed her Solicitor training at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queens University Belfast and was admitted to the role of Solicitors in Northern Ireland in 2004. She has been a practising Solicitor in Northern Ireland since 2004. Mairead’s areas of practice include litigation, criminal, family law, conveyancing and probate. She is accredited to the Law Society of Northern Ireland Children Order Panel and acts as a Solicitor Mentor for the Law Society of Northern Ireland. She was awarded a Masters Degree in Human Rights and Criminal Justice by Queens University Belfast in 2008 and completed a Advanced Diploma in Management Practice in 2014. Mairead has been lecturing law at Ulster University since 2006. In 2008 she completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was nominated UK Law Teacher of the year in 2016. Mairead is currently researching for a PhD in Law at Ulster University. Her research area is Northern Ireland abortion law. She is investigating the link between Northern Ireland’s colonial past and the current framework of abortion law and policy in the region.

Day 2 only – Alison McAreavey:  Domestic Abuse and Body Worn Video: utility or futility for women’s rights in court?

Allison McAreavey is a PhD candidate at Queen’s University Belfast.  Her doctoral research focuses on the utility and impact of  police Body Worn Video  (BWV) cameras within respective human rights, criminal justice and technological frameworks. To date she has gathered the views of different categories of criminal justice system stakeholders and will now consider how this technology could and should be regulated.  Allison is a graduate of the Ulster University Law Clinic and has over 30 years’ experience in the public sector. She is passionate about access to justice research.

Deirdre Mahon and Natasha Duddy:  Signs of Safety & Domestic Violence Cases 

Deirdre is the Interim Director of Women & Children’s Services and the Executive Director of Social Work in the Western Trust in N.Ireland. Deirdre is an experienced strategic, senior leader in social work in Northern Ireland. Deirdre has over 30 years’ experience in the delivery, management and training of child protection social work. She has extensive experience in both direct work with children and families, the assessment of risk and practice, and in managing and developing staff. Deirdre has a particular interest in evidence based practice and is passionate about ensuring service users receive a high quality service. Deirdre is a member of the Safeguarding Board of N.Ireland and has worked nationally and internationally. She set up and chaired the Western Domestic Violence Partnership and is particularly keen to ensure all agencies work together to eliminate Domestic Violence from our society. Deirdre has undertaken many serious case reviews and currently chairs the Case Management Review Panel within the Western Area of N.Ireland.

Natasha Duddy is the Implementation Officer for Signs of Safety in the WHSCT. Natasha has worked as practitioner and manager within Family and Childcare Social Work for 17 years, 6 of which were as the Manager of the Domestic Violence Specific Team in the WHSCT. Natasha believes that Signs of Safety can greatly assist in establishing meaningful and respectful working relationships with families that are needed in working together to achieve the best outcomes for children and their families. Natasha is also a Signs of Safety Licenced trainer.

Day 1 only – Dr Shauna Page:  Female Genital Mutilation as the Basis for Refugee Status: A Particularised Form of Domestic Violence 

Dr Shauna Page joined the School of Law and the Transitional Justice Institute of Ulster University as an associate/affiliate in 2006. As a part-time lecturer Shauna has extensive teaching experience, having taught at both Ulster University and Queens University Belfast. Shauna has graduated with both her LLB and LLM master’s degrees and in 2017 she obtained her PhD in Law from Ulster University. Her doctoral research was concerned with highlighting the inconsistent and inadequate treatment of gender-based claims for refugee status by decision-makers, focusing exclusively on the controversial cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Shauna also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and is an Associate of the Higher Education Academy and teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of family law, domestic violence, gender-based violence, human rights, and refugee law. Shauna is also involved with the Ulster University Law Clinic which has been launched at the Ulster University Magee campus in partnership with the UU School of Law, UU Science Shop and Foyle Women’s Aid. The new Foyle Family Justice Centre offers innovative, dedicated legal advice and support to victims of domestic violence and their families.

Day 2 only – Sasha Gillespie:  Carers, Social Exclusion and Poverty: Why Women Remain Among the Most Disadvantaged

After a decade employed as a special education teacher, Sasha returned to study at Ulster University gaining LLB and LLM (with Distinction) qualifications. Sasha has particular interest in wider social participation in the context of equality law theory, and feminist perspectives.  Her doctoral research focuses on whether the existing legal frameworks impact negatively on carers and leads to social exclusion, poverty and presents barriers to entering in to, or remaining in, employment.