Time for change: Reducing violence against women and girls (VAWG) by 50%
Join us in advance of International Women’s Day as our diverse and expert panel explore strategies and suggestions to achieve a 50% reduction in VAWG by 2034.
Facilitated by Dr Liza Thompson the panel includes Emily Darlington, Professor Olga Jurasz, HHJ Karen Venables and Lisa Ward. This powerful hour will explore, with the panel, the issue and reality of reducing VAWG by 50% then open to the audience to ask questions.
🗓 Thursday, 6 March 2025
⏰ 10:00 – 11:00 GMT
📍 Online
Dr Liza Thompson – Experienced Review Chair and Author with a demonstrated history of working within a multi-agency response to domestic abuse. Skilled in Academic Writing, Chairing, Coaching, Peer Mentoring, Writing Analysis and Team Building. Strong professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused in Law from Queen Mary, U. of London.
Emily Darlington, MP – Emily Darlington is the MP for Milton Keynes Central. She is Chair of the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Backbench Committee, and a member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee. She was previously the Deputy Leader of Milton Keynes City Council.
Professor Olga Jurasz – Olga is professor of law at the Open University (UK) and Director of the Centre for Protecting Women Online – an interdisciplinary unit focusing on research, policy engagement and creating social impact in relation to women’s online safety. Since 2024, she serves as an Independent Expert to the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.
HHJ Karen Venables – Judge Venables was a solicitor, and then managing partner, in a busy legal aid practice for almost twenty years where she worked primarily on cases of domestic abuse and care proceedings. She retired as a salaried Judge in February 2024 but continues to sit in retirement as a judge in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court. Judge Venables was the Lead Judge for Domestic Abuse until her retirement and was the principal author of the Milton Keynes Court protocol on Domestic Abuse.
Lisa Ward – Lisa’s working life has been spent in the fields of mental health and the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector. Currently a Trustee for Sexual Assault and Abuse Support Service Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, Lisa is one of the Survivor Services Representative for NOTA. Lisa previously held the role of Chief Executive Officer of Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC) and as a Trustee for Rape Crisis England & Wales.
