Lesley McMillan, FRSE, professor of Criminology and

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

(GCU), associate director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, and associate director of the Centre for Research in Families and Relationships based at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, researches

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

and criminal justice systems. She influenced reforms in police training for best practice when dealing with traumatised rape or sexual violence survivors, and was behind a multimedia campaign "''Erase the Grey''" which challenges traditional views on gender-based violence.

Career and research

McMillan became a member of the Young Academy, and is registered by the

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) is a professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists practising in the United Kingdom. History Originally founded in 1977 as the British Association for Counselling, aide ...

(BACP), as a counsellor, volunteering for the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. Her work specialises in gendered and sexual violence and criminal justice, especially initial policing but also covering the whole system's responses to survivors, and also wider related areas like sexual victimising of university students. She is an associate director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, and leads its Public Protection Network, and is also an associate director of multiple partner Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, based at the

. McMillan supervises Ph.Ds across a range of research such as 'policing rape;

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

; criminal justice policy.. on violence;.. initiatives on youth crime; legal defences to women who kill violent partners; rape as a war crime'. McMillan also heads up the GCU Masters Programme in Research (Strategy) in the Graduate School. McMillan has joined in public debate on what constitutes rape, and as she studied 408 case histories, exploring why so many rape cases are dropped. The study noted that 90% of attacks were by people the women knew, or were in a sexual relationship with, and those were more likely to be dropped, of her sample only 10% went all the way to trial. She also commented on the anti-rape devices and apps, which she viewed as endorsing the misconception of ' stranger danger' and that rapists are mainly 'jumping out at night.' In 2019, she extended her work with students and

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

to a social media campaign, Erase the Grey''' as a way of offering help to reduce the average of nine people a year murdered in

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

, and a 'hard-hitting' approach to sexual risks on campus to help guide students and link to sources of support and help locally. Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a member of the Metropolitan Police (the Met), McMillan's work was quoted by another rape survivor, who was planning to write a book on her own experiences, quoting the findings that police believed women were lying about their rape or sexual assaults between 5% and 95% of the time, but her analysis had shown that no more than 3-4% of such claims could have been 'fabricated'. GCU Principal & Vice-Chancellor

Pamela Gillies Professor Pamela Gillies (born 1953) is a Scottish academic and educator who was appointed Principal/Vice-Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in March 2006. Education The first in her family to go to university, Gillies attended the U ...

welcomed McMillan's election as a ''Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,'' saying "Her research expertise in the area of sexual violence has garnered international acclaim and has influenced professional practice by police, governmental agencies and the third sector." McMillan was nominated by the university as their candidate for the 2021 '' AdvanceHE National Teaching Excellence Award''.

Research publications

McMillan's research and selected publications are on-line, and listed in Google Scholar, and JSTOR. Books include her 2007 comparative account "''Feminists organising against gendered violence''" publisher

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

, for example refuges provided by

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

. In 2012, a further study of ''Diversity, Standardization and Social Transformation: Gender, Ethnicity and Inequality in Europe'' publisher

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

'','' looked at the interactions between national, European and regional regulatory aspects. She also co-edited in 2012 a theory and practice compendium "''Violence against women.''"

External links

* selected research publications: ''Researc
online
' * publications on

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes ...

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* publications via JSTORbr>
* ''Erase the Grey'' Youtube vide

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Lesley Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Criminology educators Gender studies academics