Department of Education
- Education
- Research
- Centre for Research on Education and Social Justice
- Research themes
- Intersectional inequalities in education
- EqualEd York: Developing a City-Wide Framework for Preventing VAWG in Schools
EqualEd York: Developing a City-Wide Framework for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls in Schools
About the project
The EqualEd York project aims to support secondary schools across York in understanding and preventing VAWG through the development of a coordinated, city-wide framework. This framework will be informed by a whole-school approach, and will contain targeted whole-school resources and recommendations on preventing and responding to VAWG amongst pupils. Over the next year, we will be working with the City of York Council and schools, parents and young people across York to co-produce this framework.
Project Team
The EqualEd York project is led by Professor Vanita Sundaram from the, who is responsible for a wider programme of research surrounding preventing gender-based violence in education settings. The day-to-day oversight and work within the project will be conducted by Dr Abby Gilsenan, who will be seconded to City of York Council until December 2026.
Get in touch
Are you a DSL, PSHE lead, or pastoral lead in a school in York?
As part of this work, we want to understand more about how schools in York are responding to VAWG, and any barriers staff face. Currently, we are particularly interested in speaking to key staff within schools, including DSLs, PSHE or PD leads, and pastoral leads. If hold any of these roles and you would be interested in speaking to us, we would really appreciate your time. Please see follow this link for more information on how to get involved and feel free to pass on the details to other relevant staff in your school.
Other Questions? Contact us
For any other questions or for more information about the project, please feel free to email us.
Lead Investigator: vanita.sundaram@york.ac.uk
Research Associate: abby.gilsenan@york.ac.uk
Outputs
Gilsenan, A., & Sundaram, V. (2025). What do we mean by a whole-school approach to gender-related violence prevention? A critical exploration of existing models. Gender and Education, 37(7), 741–759.
