Dr Susie Balderston specialises in social policy and research methods.  She is currently a Research Fellow in the School of Law at the University of Strathclyde, working on method and peer research involvement in a four country study (you can read more about the project here: www.sexworkandsexualviolence.com). 

She has led and delivered £1.3m of user-led and participative research with disabled people and women after rape, hate crime and institutional abuse.  She joined Strathclyde from the University of Birmingham where she was a Research Fellow on a national study to improve justice and outcomes for criminal justice involved women, working with Women’s Centres across England.

From 2014-2018 she was a Research Associate and Research Fellow at the UNESCO Centre for Violence and Society at Lancaster University.  There she evaluated third sector services to prevent and tackle violence, including for the European Commission, a sex worker outreach project and a Routine Enquiry for domestic violence with National Citizens Advice.

Before joining academia, Susie mentored commissioning and service improvements in policing, social care and health across England and was Policy & Training Director for a user-led, not-for-profit organisation of disabled people.  Susie authored a Shadow Report about disabled women and criminal justice for the UN Inquiry into Systematic Human Rights Violations in the UK.  She has served as an advisor to EHRC, NIHR and an EU DAPHNE project about disabled women after violence.  She has been part of Care and Treatment Review Teams for high and medium secure offenders and out of area social care assessments.  Susie is proud to be a disabled woman and a Geordie.  Rape and hate crime makes Susie very angry but puppies and ice cream make her very happy.