Funding for research that will evaluate the effectiveness of community interventions that support female survivors and victims of domestic abuse in mitigating physical and mental health impacts.
Evaluations may encompass both innovative, smaller-scale public health initiatives and broader, community-level strategies aimed at supporting survivors and victims. Also of interest are the key features and characteristics of effective interventions that promote access and engagement with support services, offering insights into scalable and adaptable approaches.
Research areas of interest could include, but are not limited to:
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of community-based interventions in mitigating the physical and/or mental health impacts of domestic abuse on women and girls, recognising domestic violence and abuse as a gendered health issue. Studies should consider how sex (biological characteristics) and gender (social roles, norms, and expectations) may influence exposure, response to intervention, and recovery outcomes across the domestic violence recovery journey – including prevention, those at risk, individuals currently experiencing abuse, and survivors.
- Evaluations of community-level interventions that seek to improve mental and physical health by increasing access to refuge and support for women and girls, while considering how gender, sex, ethnicity, migration status, disability, or other intersecting characteristics shape access and effectiveness.
- Evaluation of multi-agency intervention approaches to domestic abuse prevention and survivor support, involving law enforcement, social services, housing, and health services. Proposals should clearly describe how sex and gender (or both) will be considered in sampling, data collection, and analysis, in line with NIHR requirements for disaggregated analysis.
- Evaluation of early intervention and prevention programmes, focusing on their impact in reducing long-term health consequences for survivors and their families (who may be indirectly affected as witnesses or secondary survivors). This includes examining the role of housing and refuge services in supporting survivors and their dependents, ensuring long-term safety, stability, and wellbeing.
- Research on workplace and economic interventions that promote survivor recovery and independence, including financial resilience, employment protections, and gender-sensitive workplace policies.
- Evaluation of digital and remote support services to enhance accessibility and engagement with domestic abuse support systems, such as digital alert systems, virtual counselling, and remote workplace-based support. Researchers should account for how gender modality, digital literacy, and perceived safety may influence engagement across different groups.
- Research on community-led and gender-transformative approaches to prevent domestic abuse and challenge harmful gender norms, attitudes, and social expectations that underpin violence and coercion.
- Research on non-traditional forms of domestic and gender-based violence, including matricide and other forms of familial violence against women and girls (e.g. elder abuse, filial abuse, or sibling violence). This may include evaluating prevention strategies and support interventions for women experiencing violence from children, family members, or others in non-intimate domestic relationships.
- Evaluation of school or community-based early intervention programmes aimed at preventing domestic and gender-based violence among adolescents, including initiatives focused on promoting healthy relationships, gender equity, and respectful behaviour.
- Particular attention should be given to vulnerable or underserved populations, including women from marginalised ethnic groups, refugee and migrant women, women with disabilities, and others experiencing compounded barriers to disclosure and support.
For reference, active and completed studies of interest in NIHR’s portfolio include:
- NIHR127793: Family Recovery after Domestic Abuse (FReDA): A feasibility trial and nested process evaluation of a group based psychoeducational intervention for children exposed to domestic violence and abuse (Complete)
- NIHR168771: Rapid Evaluation of Young People’s Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (YPIDVA) (Complete)
- NIHR153788: A primary care system-level training and support programme for the secondary prevention of domestic violence and abuse: a multicentre cluster randomised trial with economic and process evaluation (Active)
- NIHR156812: Violence prevention and survivor support for and by sex workers: evaluation of a community-based intervention (Active)
- NIHR134055: The Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of a Clinical Violence Prevention Team Based in the Emergency Department (Active)
- NIHR154546: A UK multi-centre cluster randomised control trial, with internal pilot, of the ADVANCE-Digitally supported perpetrator intervention compared to community justice offender management (1:1), to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV), for men convicted of IPV who misuse substances (ADVANCE-D trial) (Active)
- NIHR154376: Whole-school approach to addressing Gender-Based violence in secondary school (Equally Safe at School): A pragmatic cluster-randomised trial and mixed-methods evaluation (Active).
- NIHR134629: Global Health Research Group on Disrupting the cycle of GEndered violence & Poor Mental health among Migrants in precarious Situations (GEMMS) (Active)
- NIHR156915: NIHR Global Health Research Group on Violence Against Women and Violence Against Children: University of Birmingham/University of Cape Town in partnership with the Lancet Commission (Active)
KEY DATES
Outline application deadline: 21 April 2026
Shortlisting decision: Early July 2026
Full application deadline: End August 2026
More information, including a detailed research specification and application guidance, can be found on the opportunity webpage.