Watkins Solicitors Hosts Fourth Annual Domestic Abuse Conference Bristol, Uniting Leading Voices to Improve Safety, Collaboration and Survivor Outcomes

Watkins Solicitors Hosts Fourth Annual Domestic Abuse Conference Bristol, Uniting Leading Voices to Improve Safety, Collaboration and Survivor Outcomes

Watkins Solicitors hosted our fourth annual Domestic Abuse Conference Bristol on Friday 8th November at the Watershed, bringing together over ninety professionals and frontline workers from across England and Wales to share learning, strengthen partnerships, and promote survivor-centred practice.

The not-for-profit conference, founded and organised by Watkins Solicitors, has become one of the South West’s key multi-agency events addressing domestic abuse. This year’s programme brought together lived experience, specialist practice, and research in one room to strengthen understanding and improve support for survivors.

Speakers and Sessions

Beverley Watkins, Managing Partner at Watkins Solicitors

Beverley opened the conference with a legal update covering the latest developments in domestic abuse and family law. Her talk addressed the government’s announcement to end the presumption of parental contact where it risks harm, the Cafcass Domestic Abuse Practice Policy (implemented in January 2025), and recent case law on non-molestation orders. 

Beverley also discussed new restrictions on parental responsibility for convicted offenders, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s 2025 report Everyday Business, and the Pathfinder pilot scheme for children matters. She highlighted how the language professionals use can make a real difference to survivors’ experiences in the family courts, ensuring that every decision keeps safety and children’s welfare at the centre.

Gareth Jones, Survivor and Ambassador

Gareth shared his lived experience as a male survivor of domestic abuse. His experience illustrated how coercive control can extend far beyond physical violence, from being denied access to food and hygiene to having his contact with family tightly monitored. 

Speaking with courage and candour, Gareth reflected on the psychological impact of abuse and the vital role that professionals can play in changing a survivor’s journey. He described moments where an act of empathy or informed intervention might have altered the course of his recovery, demonstrating the importance of early recognition and trauma-aware responses. 

Now an Ambassador for the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA), Gareth’s message to attendees was that signposting, listening without judgement, and knowing where to refer can make a critical difference to safety and recovery.

Kate Worthington, Senior Practitioner at the Revenge Porn Helpline

Kate delivered an impactful session on image-based abuse and technology-facilitated coercive control, highlighting how digital forms of abuse are increasingly intertwined with domestic abuse. Drawing on cases from the Helpline’s national caseload, she explained how perpetrators use technology to monitor, threaten, humiliate and isolate victims, behaviour that can continue after relationships have ended. 

Kate outlined the legal framework covering these offences under the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 and the Online Safety Act 2023, and provided practical guidance for professionals on how to help victims remove harmful content and report abuse safely. She also emphasised the importance of joined-up, trauma-informed responses across agencies, noting how online abuse can prolong fear and control in ways that mirror physical and emotional harm. 

Kate discussed how collaboration between the Revenge Porn Helpline, the Internet Watch Foundation, and StopNCII.org is helping to protect victims and reduce the re-circulation of images online, providing clear, practical guidance on routes to image removal, evidence preservation, and reporting processes through these platforms.

Natasha Saunders, Campaigner, Consultant and Public Speaker at Survive. Rise. Thrive.

Natasha delivered a deeply moving session titled “Survive. Rise. Thrive.”, sharing her eight-year experience of multifaceted abuse including sexual, physical, emotional, economic and technological abuse, alongside coercive control. Natasha spoke about how the abuse escalated over time, from control and isolation to violence and degradation, and how these patterns can often remain hidden in plain sight. 

Her account exposed the ways in which coercive control infiltrates every part of a survivor’s life: from access to food and finances, to communication, autonomy and personal identity. She recalled being starved during pregnancy and told by her abuser, “If you were up for sex more, I wouldn’t have to take it from you.” 

Drawing on her lived experience, Natasha reflected on what would have made a difference - awareness, empathy and accountability - and how every professional interaction, however brief, has the potential either to harm or to heal. 

Natasha’s closing words, “Nothing is impossible – the word itself says ‘I’m possible’,” captured a message of hope, showing that even in situations that feel overwhelming, there remains a way forward. 

Harriet Smailes, Research Manager at the Institute for Addressing Strangulation

Harriet delivered a clinically focused session on non-fatal strangulation and the risks. Drawing on research findings and case examples, she explained how strangulation can be missed or underestimated because there may be no visible external injuries.

Harriet outlined the physical and neurological impacts that can develop hours, days or even months later, the red flags that require urgent medical assessment, and the importance of asking clear, direct questions when a disclosure is made. 

Her session guided attendees through the practical steps that frontline professionals, police, advocates and legal practitioners should take when strangulation is suspected, including how to record key details, what symptoms require immediate escalation, and how to support a survivor through referral pathways.

Cassie Summers, Team Leader at Dogs Trust Freedom

Cassie concluded the day’s sessions with a session on the link between domestic abuse and pet ownership. Using data and case experiences from the Freedom Programme, she explained how perpetrators can use pets as tools of coercion and control, including threats, harm, neglect and the withholding of access, all of which can prevent survivors from leaving abusive situations.

Cassie outlined how Freedom’s specialist dog-fostering service works in practice, offering confidential, short-term foster placements so that survivors can enter refuge or emergency accommodation without being forced to give up their dogs. 

She also highlighted the emotional significance of companion animals in recovery, explaining how fear for a pet’s welfare is one of the most frequently cited reasons for delayed escape.

Collaboration and impact

Attendees at the event included specialist domestic and sexual violence services, legal professionals from firms and chambers, researchers and university teams, public bodies, housing and homelessness services, charities working with the elderly and with substance misuse, and specialist teams and charities working with victims of domestic abuse. 

Participant feedback of the event was overwhelmingly supportive:

“This was my first domestic abuse conference and I found it really insightful, particularly in understanding the range of services that support victims and survivors.”

“As ever - I have attended every year - this is the most informative and educational domestic abuse conference I have been to. Please keep going.”

“An interesting and insightful day with a very good selection of speakers. It was helpful to learn about services I had not been aware of.”

“A really good event. I learned a great deal. There was a lot of thought-provoking information that feeds directly into my PhD research.”

Beverley Watkins, Managing Partner at Watkins Solicitors, said:

“Our conference is about practical collaboration. Domestic abuse affects every community, and improving outcomes for survivors means listening to lived experience, sharing professional expertise and building stronger pathways between organisations. We are proud to play our part in bringing people together to make that happen.”

The event was coordinated by Watkins Solicitors’ Family Law team, who specialise in supporting survivors of domestic abuse across England and Wales through both legal aid and privately funded representation.

Looking ahead

The next Domestic Abuse Conference Bristol will take place on Thursday 12th November 2026, at a new venue - The Mount Without in Bristol.

Resources and signposting links shared at this year’s conference will be circulated to delegates and partner organisations to help embed learning into practice.

For further information about Watkins Solicitors’ work supporting survivors of domestic abuse, visit www.watkinssolicitors.co.uk or contact info@watkinssolicitors.co.uk.