Rebecca Haycock

For Rebecca Haycock, stories are at the heart of her research. The lived experiences of women and children who have endured domestic abuse shape her research, her teaching, and her advocacy.

Rebecca’s career has been defined by her commitment to supporting survivors of domestic abuse. For almost three decades, she has worked in the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) sector, taking on various roles in frontline services, strategic development, and academia.

Her early career started after completing her degree. “After university, I had a job as a Nanny and also volunteered for the NSPCC, which led to working with children in a women’s refuge. After having my own children, I changed my role and started to work with families in community projects, developing group programmes to support children and mothers who had experienced domestic abuse,” she said.

Juggling work and family life, as a single mother of three, Rebecca returned to education to carry out a Masters degree part-time. She gradually moved into more strategic roles, including working as a Regional Advisor for violence against women in Gwent. Here, she played a role in implementing the Welsh Government’s 2015 legislation aimed at tackling domestic violence and improving support for survivors.

Now, Rebecca is making significant contributions to research in this area, with two projects focusing on the voices of survivors, ensuring that these voices are not only heard but used to drive meaningful change.

The first project explores the use of secrecy by mothers both during and following domestic violence and abuse. During incidents of domestic abuse, the identity of motherhood comes under attack and the inability for mothers to prevent this attack or protect themselves and their children can be viewed as a ‘failure’ in their mother role. By examining secrecy, Rebecca critiques ‘mother blaming’ discourses. For many mothers who shared their stories, secrecy was used as a survival strategy and as an expression of resilience rather than a sign of failure in caregiving.   

Rebecca said: “When there is domestic violence, motherhood can come under attack from unexpected places. Mothers can experience conflicting support from different services. It is often the mother who is the only visible parent and so it is her that comes into contact with services. Some services may recognise her need for protection whereas others hold her to account for a perceived failure to protect.

“For my research, I gathered stories of lived experience from mothers. These stories provided a way of understanding how mothers made sense of their experience of abuse, how they used and understood secrecy with their children, and how it had impacted upon their relationship and the opportunities for help-seeking. “

Rebecca recently had this research accepted for publication, marking an important milestone in bringing these stories to wider attention.

Her second research project forms the basis of her PhD, where she is working with young people who have lived through domestic violence. She is particularly interested in their abilities to make choices and decisions, as well as how they find ways to navigate their experiences and shape their own narratives.

To capture these stories, Rebecca is employing creative research methods, running workshops that allow young people to express their experiences through various mediums beyond just words. These workshops are designed to be participatory, ensuring that young people are not just research subjects but active contributors to work that may shape future support services and policies.

“There has been a lot of research into the impact of domestic abuse on children and it is complicated, varied and it depends on multiple factors,” Rebecca explained.

“Research has traditionally focused on the effects from an adult perspective, and this can mean that the unique ways in which children take action and make sense of their experience can be overlooked.

“One child might seem to align themselves with the perpetrator as that can be the safest place to be, whereas another might act as a confidante to their mother from which they gain strength. It really is so varied and that’s why perspectives through stories are important.”

Both projects align with a growing recognition in policy and research that survivors’ voices must be central to developing effective responses to domestic abuse. The Welsh Government’s strategy on tackling VAWDASV places a strong emphasis on working with survivors to shape services, and Rebecca’s research plays a key role in that effort.

For Rebecca, International Women’s Day is a vital opportunity to amplify these stories. “It’s about sharing women’s accomplishments - the big stories, the little stories, and the everyday stories, which I find the most powerful,” she said. “For me, International Women’s Day is a moment of connection, a space where voices are heard and celebrated. Whether through written words, spoken experiences, or creative expression, stories have the power to drive change.”