Emma Sleath completed her PhD at the University of Leicester under the supervision of Professor Ray Bull.  This PhD examined predictors of rape victim blaming including: rape myth acceptance, belief in a just world, and gender role beliefs.  This PhD also compared the attitudes of specially trained Police officers (STOs) with non-specially trained Police officers to examine the influence of training in addressing these negative perceptions of rape victims.  After achieving her PhD, Emma joined Coventry University’s Psychology and Behavioural Sciences department in August 2011.

Since joining the department, Emma has worked with several police forces in relation to sexual offences and intimate partner violence, developing collaborative relationships across the United Kingdom.  Current projects include carrying out the first research examining police officers’ perspectives and responses to revenge pornography and non-consensual sharing of private sexual media.  The outcomes of this project will develop evidence-based practice in improving police force responses to this offence.  Emma continues to develop research that focusses on victim retraction and disengagement in cases of sexual and intimate partner violence.  

Revenge pornography and non-consensual sharing of private sexual media; Criminal justice response to victims of crime including intimate partner violence and rape; The use of stereotypes (e.g., rape myths) and their impact; Perception of victims of crime (focusing on rape and stalking) including blame attributions and credibility assessments

In terms of my motivations for my research, it has always been carried out with a focus to having applied outcomes.  I have a strong commitment to research objectives that have an impact in the real world.  This is particularly important in my area of research expertise in relation to police practice and victims of serious crimes.  I collaborate with police forces to enable them to further improve their current provision to help victims engage with their services and gain justice for their victimisation.