SURVEY FOR RELATIVES OF WOMEN KILLED BY MALE VIOLENCE

Dear bereaved families,

We are asking for your help in a nationwide survey of families whose female relatives have been killed by male violence.

Killed Women (KW) has put this survey together to try to better understand the experiences of families who have lost a loved one in this way. 

We believe the voices of families need to be elevated, listened to and acted upon. 

The survey is being hosted by Ipsos UK, an independent research organisation, and is for the relatives of women killed by male violence where there has been a criminal conviction or a finding of unlawful killing at inquest. We know this does not cover all bereaved families’ experiences, but we aim for this to be just the beginning of KW’s ongoing outreach and research.

Here is a link to the survey: https://ipsos.uk/KilledWomen2 

This research will help inform the organisation’s work and campaigning, and the overall findings will be collated into a report, which will be published.

This is an anonymous survey, and it will not be possible to identify a particular individual in any published materials. If you would like to participate, it will take approximately 20-30 minutes. We would like to assure you that all the information KW collect will be kept in the strictest confidence.

We deeply appreciate that completing a survey like this may be difficult. It will be asking you questions about the loss of a loved one; we want you to be prepared for that before you decide to participate.

The questions are a mixture of: Yes and No questions; questions that require a rating; and questions that allow for further information to be shared by you. Please only answer the questions you want to, and that are relevant to you. Questions are about: your relative and the crime committed; the perpetrator; your experiences with services and agencies (for example, the police, social services, the CPS, support services); the legal process; others involved, including children; and other priorities. We will not ask you for details about the nature of the homicide(s) or injuries.

You can stop and exit the survey at any time, but please be aware that you will lose any answers you have already input if you do this before you submit. You can, of course, skip any questions you want.

We know some questions might be very hard, or sometimes the survey might feel too short or simplified for such personal and serious subject matter. We have put these questions together because we know families want to speak about certain issues, and because we want the report we produce to be an accurate reflection of families’ experiences.

If you feel you might need further help or support, we have included contact information for some organisations that you might like to reach out to on the 'Support Services' link in the survey. If you feel you might like some extra welfare support to complete the survey itself, please email us on info@killedwomen.org and put ‘Support to Complete Survey’ in the subject box.

The information collected in this survey is intended to be used as part of our campaigning, so we may use anonymous quotes in the press or in publications.

More than one family member can respond by completing separate surveys, if they feel they have experiences or thoughts they would like to share.

As we say above, we know this survey does not cover all families’ experiences. We know there are many families who have lost loved ones following either a suicide or a suspicious or unexplained death. This is an incredibly important area that we intend to campaign on. If you would like to hear more about this work, please email us.

Thank you for your time in participating. We truly appreciate your bravery and openness. 

Of course, if you have any questions or would just like to hear more, please get in touch with us by emailing info@killedwomen.org.

In solidarity,

KW

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.’ Margaret Mead