The Referral Maze

Where do women and girls get stuck in the support system, and what can we do about it?

The Referral Maze is a collaborative workshop between Islington Council and UCL, bringing together frontline practitioners, specialist VAWG services, community organisations, and strategic partners to explore how women and girls navigate the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) support system.

Together, we will map referral pathways, identify where women and girls experience barriers, delays, and gaps in support, and co-create practical recommendations to strengthen collaboration and improve access to services.

This workshop recognises that those working directly with women and girls hold invaluable knowledge about how support systems operate in practice. By bringing together expertise from across the sector, we aim to develop a shared understanding of the referral landscape and identify opportunities to make pathways safer, clearer, and more survivor-centred.

The workshop is funded through the UCL Public Policy Fellowship Micro Grant Programme.

This event will be particularly useful to frontline practitioners, specialist VAWG services, community organisations, strategic partners and policy makers.

Speakers

• Presenter and Facilitator: Dr Nelly Ali, Lecturer, UCL Institute of Education and UCL Public Policy Fellow
• Collaborator: Karolina Bober, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy and Commissioning Manager, Islington Council
• Collaborator: Catherine Briody, Head of VAWG and Youth Safety Commissioning, Young Islington, Islington Council

The workshop logistics and facilitation will be supported by two UCL Institute of Education students:

• Kiki Tan: BEd Education Policy and Society
• Madison Charlton: MA Social Research Institute

Related links

• 2026 UCL Policy Fellows
• Research at IOE

Image

Dr Nelly Ali.