Blog
Investigating Rape and Sexual Assault in Marital Relationships
February, 2025
Gisèle Pelicot, the 72-year-old, sexually violated and raped in her home for from 2011-2020 stood in a French open court in 2024 to testify against former husband, Dominique and 50 other men. In France, proof of intent is required to secure a conviction of rape. Gisèle was drugged by her husband during the prolonged and repeated abuse. Currently, 17 men who have been convicted are claiming they were “manipulated” by Pelicot into raping his wife and assumed she had given consent…
Communicating Cross-Culturally in Asylum Interviews
November 2024
In the asylum context, the interviewer and interviewee (i.e. the person seeking asylum) commonly have different culture, values, language and ways of understanding the world. Layer on top of this the challenge of an interview taking place in a second language (e.g. English) or via an interpreter. Both are operating in less-than-optimal conditions….
Protecting the Mental Health of People Seeking Sanctuary
October 2024
This report outlines the added harm on people’s mental health that can be caused by the current immigration law and practice in the United Kingdom for those seeking sanctuary. It considers research on mental health in those seeking sanctuary and how uncertainty, increasing rates of immigration detention, limiting opportunities to seek legal support are exacerbating symptoms of mental illness and pre-existing barriers to healthcare…
Detecting Lies in the Blink of an Eye – The Concept and Problems of Artificially Intelligent Border Guards
January, 2020
AI border guards are no longer a futuristic idea, currently being piloted for implementation at select EU and US borders, they are here to stay. These “machines” measure physical cues, such as facial expressions and heart rate to allegedly check the validity of individual’s accounts. AI is increasingly used to control migration without human judgement (Korkmaz, 2020) but scientific evidence that AI programs can reliably make such life changing decisions is lacking…
Emotions are Everywhere but No One Talks About Them
November, 2020
Everyone experiences emotions. We might use different words but we all know what it feels like to be sad or joyful, angry, anxious or empathic. Social work practice is full of emotions but there’s been surprisingly limited research in this area. Where do emotions fit in the social work profession? How do practitioners think about their emotions? And do emotions have a value or function in everyday professional practice?…