Awardees

GWNZ Fellowships, 2021 - 2022

Charlotte Bremer

  Charlotte Bremer PhD in clinical psychology Massey University

Tēnā koutou, Ko Charlotte (Charlie) Bremer tōku ingoa. I am a doctorate student at Massey, in the clinical psychology training programme. My doctoral research is aiming to develop risk assessment guidelines to support risk assessment prior to sexual violence restorative justice. Sexual violence is an ongoing issue within society, and while increasingly condemned, it is still a common occurrence. Criminal justice responses to sexual violence are known to commonly ignore the needs of victim-survivors and contribute to revictimisation, while rarely leading to conviction. Restorative justice offers psychological benefits to both victim-survivors and offenders (including reduced reoffending), however due to concerns of risk it is not common practice. Aotearoa is one of few countries practicing SVRJ. Developing risk assessment guidelines will improve the safety of SVRJ and may lead to increased use of SVRJ (both within Aotearoa and internationally) meaning more victim-survivors, offenders and their communities will be able to access the benefits of SVRJ in a safer manner.  I intend to complete my doctorate degree in 2023 and become a registered clinical psychologist. The support of Graduate Women New Zealand is much appreciated, and I look forward to giving back to this organisation in the future.