Sue Westwood

Profile

Biography

Dr Sue Westwood
BSc (Hons), MSc (Geront), MSc (IntPsych), DipCnsPsych, PGDip (Gender, Sexuality & Human Rights), GDL, PhD (Law), FHEA

Senior Lecturer

I am a Senior Lecturer in Law, the 2-Year LLB Law (Senior Status) Programme Leader, the York Law School (YLS) Athena Swan Coordinator, and a member of the YLS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.

I joined York Law School as a Lecturer in 2018 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021. I had been a research fellow/research associate at several universities, including the University of Oxford and the University of Surrey, where I was a member of the Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender (CRAG). I was previously a Visiting Scholar at the Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative, Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, USA. I have also taught law at Keele University, Coventry University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

My research relates to the following: law and ageing; law, women and ageing; law, gender and its intersections, including sexuality; equality in legal education.

Research

Overview

My research relates to the following: law and ageing; law, women and ageing; law, gender and its intersections, including sexuality; equality in legal education.

Projects

Current Projects

I am co-editing, with Professor Nancy Knauer, of Temple University, Philadelphia, US, a 40-chapter research handbook currently under construction:

• Westwood, S. and Knauer, K. (2024) Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing. Edward Elgar.

A further edited collection, on menopause discrimination is also currently under development.

I am currently researching the place of gender and ethnicity in legal education, specifically, at the present time, how gender and ethnicity inform differences in undergraduate law students' second- and third- year module option allocations, and the associated equality implications.

I am also conducting a scoping review of good practice guidance on responding to sexual harassment and violence at UK universities.

I am committed to research impact and have recently co-written, with Dr Liz Price, University of Hull, a good practice guide for those working with LGBTQ people living with dementia (Jessica Kingsley, in press).

Publications

Selected publications

Selected Recent Publications

For a full list of publications see York research database

Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Westwood, S. (2022) Can religious social workers practice affirmatively with LGBTQ service recipients? An exploration within the regulatory context. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2022.2067652
• Westwood, S. (2022). “People with faith-based objections might display homophobic behaviour or transphobic behaviour”: Older LGBTQ people’s fears about religious organisations and staff providing long-term care. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2022.2070820
• Westwood, S. (2022) Religious-based negative attitudes towards LGBTQ people among healthcare, social care and social work students and professionals: A review of the international literature. Health and Social Care in the Community, http://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13812
• Toze, M., Gates, T.G., Hughes, M., Dune, T., Westwood, S., Hafford-Letchfield, T., and Thepsourinthone, J. (2022). Social support in older transgender and gender diverse communities in the United Kingdom and Australia: A comparative study during COVID-19. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2022.2107135
• Toze, M., Westwood, S., and Hafford-Letchfield, T. (2021) Social support and unmet needs among older trans and gender non-conforming people during the COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ in the UK.  International Journal of Transgender Health. 10.1080/26895269.2021.1977210  
• Hafford-Letchfield, T., Toze, M. & Westwood, S. (2021) Unheard voices: A qualitative study of LGBT+ older people’s experiences during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Health and Social Care in the Community https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13531 

Books

• Westwood, S. and Price, E. (in press) LGBTQ People and Dementia: A good practice guide. Good Practice Guides in Dementia Care series, Jessica Kingsley.
• Westwood, S. (Ed) (2021) Death Rights: Regulating the endings of life. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Westwood, S. (Ed) (2018). Ageing, Diversity and Equality: Social justice perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge.
• King, A., Almack, S., Suen, Y.T., Westwood, S. (Eds) (2018). Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People: Minding the Knowledge Gaps. Routledge.
• Westwood, S., and Price, E. (Eds) (2016) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* (LGBT*) Individuals Living with Dementia: Concepts, practice and rights. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Westwood, S. (2016) Ageing, Gender and Sexuality: Equality in Later Life. Abingdon: Routledge. [Winner of the Socio Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Early Career Book Prize for 2017]

Book chapters

• Westwood, S. (forthcoming). Ageing Sexualities, Recognition and Social Justice. In J. Byles (ed) What Matters for Health Ageing. What Matters Most, Vol 1: People, participation and identity. New York, Springer.
• Willis, P. and Westwood, S. (forthcoming). Mental health across the lifespan. In J. Semlyen and P. Rohleder (eds) Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Mental Health: Current Perspectives and New Directions. Palgrave Macmillan
• Westwood, S. (2021). Embodiment, choice and control at the beginning and ending of life: Paradoxes and contradictions. In S. Westwood (ed) Regulating the Endings of Life: Death Rights Abingdon: Routledge.
• Westwood, S. (2020). Older Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People: Socio- legal perspectives on healthcare inequalities in later life. In M.A. Jacob and A. Kirkland (Eds) Research Handbook for Socio-Legal Studies of Medicine and Health, part of Law and Society series directed by Austin Sarat (Amherst, US) and Rosemary Hunter (Queen Mary, London), London: Edward Elgar Publishing.

External activities

Overview

I am a member of the Socio Legal Studies Association, the Law and Society Association, and the British Society of Gerontology. I was Honorary Secretary of the British Society of Gerontology 2020-2022.

I have collaborated with researchers at several other UK universities, including De Montfort University; University of Bristol; University College London; University of Hertfordshire; University of Hull; University of Lincoln; University of Strathclyde; University of Sheffield; University of Surrey; University of Sussex; and Staffordshire University.

I have also collaborated with a wide range of external organisations, including Age UK; Alzheimer's Society; Brighton and Hove Switchboard; Carers UK; City of York Council; International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK); Leeds Bereavement Centre; LGBT Foundation; Opening Doors London; Public Health England; LGBT SAND (Safe Ageing, No Discrimination); Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care; Stonewall; York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and Yorkshire MESMAC.

Internationally, I have collaborated with academic colleagues at Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada; Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, US; and Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia.

Expert invitations

In 2022, I was an invited expert at a World Health Organisation (WHO) international consultation event to inform its report Tackling Elder Abuse: Priorities for the Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021 – 2030.

In 2021, I was interviewed as expert witness on LGBTQ people and dementia, national consultation by Diversifying Dementia Services & COB-MS School of Health Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway.

Events

I attend, chair and convene a range of academic and public events each year. Events which are planned this year (2023) include a symposium on menopause discrimination and a series of book launch events for ‘LGBTQ People and Dementia: A good practice guide’ (S. Westwood and E. Price), to be published by Jessica Kingsley later this year.

Other Activities

I am/have been an invited reviewer for the following:

• Peer review journals: Age and Ageing; Ageing and Society; American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementia; Canadian Journal for Law and Society; Clinical Gerontologist; Culture, Health and Sexuality; European Geriatric Medicine; Gerontologist; Health and Social Care in the Community; Health Promotion Journal of Australia; Housing Studies; International Journal of Law and Psychiatry; Journal of Academic Development and Education (JADE ); Journal of Human Rights Practice; Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work; NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research); PLOS ONE; Psychology and Sexuality; Psychology of Sexualities Review; Research on Ageing; Social Epidemiology; Social Science and Medicine; Social Theory and Health; The British Journal of Sociology; The Journal of Medical Ethics; The Journal of Nursing Ethics; The Sociological Review.
• Book publishers: Policy Press;
• Grant-making bodies: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); Swiss Nationale Fondation (SNF)

Teaching

Undergraduate

A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, I am the 2-Year LLB Law (Senior Status) Programme Leader.

I also teach/have taught on the following modules:

• LLB Year 1: Introduction to Law and Society (2018-22 ); Legal Concepts (2021-2 )
• LLB Years 1 and 2: Foundations in Law, Obligations (2018-)
• LLB Year 3 optional modules:
  • Law, Gender & Sexuality (designer & module leader) (2019-)
  • Law and Emotion (designer and module leader) (2022- )
  • Year 3 Dissertations (2018- ) (co-Module Leader 2023-)

I am also a member of the YLS Learning and Teaching Development Team, and the Staff/Student Forum.

Postgraduate

• LLM optional module Law, Gender & Sexuality (designer and module leader) (2020-22, 2023-)