Criminology degree students hear from male survivor of domestic abuse

A male survivor of domestic abuse today told his personal story to criminology degree students in a special guest lecture.

Lee Marks travelled from Coventry to give the lecture to the BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology undergraduates at the college this morning.

Lee, Locality Manager for the Warwickshire city’s drug and alcohol service Change Grow Live, is also an author and advocate for victims of domestic abuse.

He wrote acclaimed book ‘Break the Silence’ as a support guide for male victims of domestic abuse and also writes fiction.

Lee has completed significant research into why men are treated so unfavourably when reporting being a victim of these crimes to the police and is trying to influence policy change to level this up for male victims.

He revealed that he is himself a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of a former female partner during his lecture, and this had a profound impact on the listening students.

One said afterwards: “It was really interesting. Like really, really interesting. His knowledge on the work he does was really good to listen to, with good detail. I liked how he interacted with the class and got everyone involved with something.

“It has got me interested into looking into the criticisms of how the police function on domestic cases in day-to-day policing. His story was heart touching to be honest. You wouldn’t expect him to look like he was abused but that’s the shock element to how you don’t expect abuse to happen to anyone.”

• If you are interested in the BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology degree, register for our University Course Open Evening on Thursday March 14 from 5pm to 7.30pm here.

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