Why lived experience engagement matters
Lived experience engagement is essential to designing effective and safe domestic abuse policy, services, and research. Good engagement with people who have lived experience of domestic abuse should be based on integrity, safety and respect.
This page brings together best practice frameworks, tools and guidance to help professionals involve victims and survivors of domestic abuse in a way that is safe, respectful and empowering.
Our principles of survivor engagement
The Commissioner and her team believe it is important to approach lived experience engagement with clear principles. This ensures the purpose of why and how we want to work with people who have lived experience of domestic abuse is not lost when using different frameworks and tools.
We use the following principles to guide engagement:
There is no ‘us and them’. Professionals must use their power responsibly, respecting survivors’ expertise and dignity.
There is no one voice to represent victims and survivors of domestic abuse – there are as many types of victims and survivors as there are people.
Not all voices are heard equally. Those with platforms should actively seek to amplify those that are less likely to be heard.
Victims and survivors of domestic abuse can tell us what they want to see change without having to explain and repeat their story.
Victims and survivors should have the space to influence what matters to them, not just comment on what matters to organisations.
Frameworks and tools for survivor participation
The following resources share best practice for engaging with people who have lived experience of domestic abuse within your work.
A guide to meaningful survivor engagement
Developed by Imkaan and the Women’s Aid Federations in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. This guide outlines a practical, survivor-centred approach which considers safety and intersectionality. Specialist language is explained in simple terms.
Family Violence Experts by Experience framework
Developed by Safe and Equal and the University of Melbourne. A comprehensive suite of materials to support engagement including organisational and survivor checklists.
4Pi involvement standards
Developed by National Survivor User Network. A seminal document looking from a mental health lens at engagement; it talks of principles, purpose, presence, process and impact.
Participation toolkit for working with young people affected by domestic abuse
Developed by the CAFADA research project. Created to share learning around child participation, the resources and approach is also of interest to those working with adults. It has a research focus, hence is strong with evaluation tools included too.
Understanding effective lived experience engagement
The following resources share some academic and practical in-depth accounts of lived experience engagement. They raise more detailed and thorough examinations of elements to consider when involving survivors in your work and research.
Creating system change: centring the voice of lived experience
Rights of Women (2026). This resource relates to lived experience of the family justice system. This paper shares how the voices of lived experience can really act to drive systems change in remarkable ways.
The value of lived experience in social change: The need for leadership and organisational development in the social sector
Baljeet Sandhu (2017). An in-depth thesis on lived expertise and the challenges of sustaining agency in participation.
A meeting of minds: How co-production benefits people, professionals, and organisations
Jo Woodall, Ewan Davison, Julia Parnaby, Anne-Mari Hall (2019). A report which provides insight into the role of lived experience and co-production in the National Lottery Community Fund’s five strategic investments.
‘Beneficial but triggering’: Experiences and support of survivor speakers in the UK
VictimFocus (2021). This work provides a challenge to consider the ethics of survivors repeatedly re-telling their experiences in public.
A Chance to have a Voice: The Motivations and Experiences of Female Victim-Survivors of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence who Joined a Lived Experience Research Group
Renee Fiolet, Katie Lamb, Laura Tarzia and Kelsey Hegarty (2024). This academic paper considers why people with lived experience want to be involved in such projects – specifically in this paper as co-researchers.
Remuneration for survivor involvement
The value of participants’ time and expertise must not be undervalued, and budgets must account for reasonable engagement-related expenses, such as travel and childcare.
It is good practice to offer renumeration (whether that be money, vouchers or sometimes with skills exchange) direct to people with lived experience to acknowledge their engagement.
Providing support for participants
If your agency or organisation doesn’t have the internal expertise or specially trained staff to offer support to people with lived experience of domestic abuse, we recommend approaching local domestic abuse services. They will understand risk management and safe engagement, and can help you establish a referral pathway into their service.
If someone participating in your work needs support, please direct them to our help page, which includes helplines and links to access local domestic abuse services. If you are concerned for their immediate safety, please call 999.
To amplify voices which are not always heard, it is good practice to consider the barriers to participation for different cohorts of people with lived experience of domestic abuse e.g., language (including sign language), childcare, easy read materials, and access to things like technology. It may not be practical to address all these considerations each time, so it is best to assess needs on a case-by-case basis.
Submit a survivor engagement opportunity
The Commissioner’s office set up Our voices matter to link people with lived experience of domestic abuse in with opportunities to share their experience and influence change.
We promote opportunities for people with lived experience to participate in external engagement through a regular newsletter. The types of opportunities we promote include surveys, one-to-one interviews, roundtables, and ongoing board-level representation.
We follow an assessment process to ensure that the engagement opportunities we promote are safe and purposeful. We cannot guarantee that every opportunity submitted will be shared.
If you would like to submit an engagement opportunity for people with lived experience of domestic abuse, please complete this form.