Endorsements
Youth/Child-centred Policing Expert
Hi Janine, I hope you don’t mind the direct message. I just wanted to say again how much I rated your piece on lived experience.
I’m about to commission some lived experience co-production around gangs and exploitation and I’m going to make sure that your insights are used to update our inclusion assessment in terms of age and I’m also keen to link to it in the specification I’m writing for providers to consider in their applications to lead the work.
I hope that feels positive, it’s important that these wise and brave insights inform so I wanted you to know they are.
Nicky Hill
Senior Lecturer in Criminology
Janine’s work and writing centres survivors. She is not afraid to voice the tensions and challenges within policy/practice around young people’s experiences of violence and harm. Her writing on creative approaches and methodologies is inspiring. I find Janine’s astute reflections so valuable; grounded in her own authentic work and life experience, and unafraid of speaking truth to power.
Dr Jade Levell
Police Scotland
Janine accompanied me to several presentations and provided her 'real life' experiences of witnessing domestic abuse as a child and the effect it had on the family unit. She also touched on failings in the way her mother and family were dealt with by the Police Service in Northern Ireland and latterly support services who disclosed personal information to the perpetrator.
All audiences, which have included police, students and other professionals found Janine's input extremely beneficial and added realism to the topic rather than being presented with facts and figures.
DCI Graham Smith
Criminology Tutor
Janine always stood out as an exceptional student, engaging with the course fully and submitting work of a very high standard; demonstrating proficiency in applying the course materials, explaining key points of discussion very concisely and always including supporting arguments that were both clear and persuasive Her commitment, perseverance and initiative in terms of her academic development and the desire to study further was evident throughout the course. Her written work was always clear and concise, demonstrating a sound understanding and excellent analytical skills. Janine was a motivated student who I found to have exceptional qualities.
Beverley Gilbert
Senior Lecturer in Criminology
I am an academic based in New Zealand and I got to know Janine through her work as a Trustee from a community-based organisation in Scotland. Janine is a person of real integrity and I greatly admire her commitment to social justice and challenging oppression. Her approach to her work is informed by a combination of academic and practitioner knowledge, and lived experience, which has given her deep knowledge and invaluable insights. She has an innate ability to connect with people, and her passion for supporting others shines through in everything that she does. I highly recommend Janine for any social justice focused project.
Assistant Professor Lynzi Armstrong
Tutor for Leadership and Management in Public Health, Continued Professional Development (CPD)
As a student, Janine showed commitment and diligence in undertaking study on leadership and management. She communicates clearly, effectively and objectively and has shown a positive and proactive approach in wanting to learn and develop. Janine was awarded an overall distinction for her coursework.
Tom Gibb
Public health, NHS Grampian
I formally thanked Janine for all of the support that she provided in helping to communicate the relocation of our Sexual Health service. Through setting up and participating within the focus groups, Janine enabled us to collect invaluable feedback from our target group of 16-25 year olds. Not only was this feedback surrounding the relocation, but also around the topic of Sexual Health which will be extremely useful for future projects we plan to undertake. I would not have any hesitation in working with Janine in the future.
Sarah Munro
Centre for Law Enforcement and Public Health
Janine is an active member of the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association, a member of the GLEPHA Gender Special Interest Group, and to my judgement is a very capable professional committed to supporting marginalised communities on a local, national and international level.
Janine has presented at International Law Enforcement and Public Health conferences twice and has been actively involved in meetings of the Law Enforcement and HIV Network, by presentations, developing consultation work on the policing of vulnerable populations. She has helped establish and co-facilitate Scotland’s first gender, safety and harm reduction programme.
She is becoming a valuable part of a rapidly growing international community of researchers, police officers, public health practitioners, activists and others.
Professor Nick Crofts
Equally Safe Edinburgh Committee
Janine Ewen delivered an online session on contextual safeguarding as part of Edinburgh’s ’16 Days of Action against Gender-Based Violence’. The session was attended by 103 participants across the City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Police Scotland and Third Sector organisations.
Feedback from attendees following the session was overwhelmingly positive, with 79% stating that they would recommend the event to a colleague. They commented that Janine sharing her lived experience really helped to bring contextual safeguarding to life from the perspective of a child who is living with domestic abuse and understanding the risks they face and their needs for safety.
Many commented on what they would take away from the session and apply to their professional practice:
“To think about support children will need after experiencing domestic abuse between parents”
“That there is help and support available for people who are experiencing these issues, and where to find it”
“Making rules up and just applying them to people leads to issues and also generational trauma needs more attention. I arranged a talk with a local Women's Refuge as a result of today”
“A reminder that everyone we are dealing with are people with real feelings, thoughts, perceptions etc, not just numbers on a page”
We are grateful to Janine for this session which has sparked a lot of thought around the safety needs of children living with domestic abuse and how we all have a role to play in making a difference in their lives.
Angela Voulgari, Lead Officer
NHS Tayside
I offer my strongest endorsement for Janine, reflecting on her exceptional contributions during our time working together at NHS Tayside.
As the lead for 'Healthy T'—a major harm reduction initiative at the T in the Park festival—I selected Janine to support the development of this project. Even at such an early stage in her career, she stood out due to her remarkable capabilities in community safety, public health, and harm reduction.
Janine was instrumental in collaborating across our public health, sexual wellbeing, and nursing teams. Her primary focus was creating a supportive, trauma-aware environment designed to prevent harm while maintaining the festival's vibrant atmosphere. She helped design dedicated, safe spaces where attendees could report crimes of violence and other harms in a non-punitive setting, successfully balancing essential safety protocols with a positive, engaging event culture.
Her dedication was evident in every aspect of the project. Janine managed the practical on-site operations, from setting up the tents and designing welcoming corner spaces to organising health promotion materials and conducting direct community outreach. She fully immersed herself in the project across the entire weekend, demonstrating an extraordinary passion and an ability to think about every detail.
The success of 'Healthy T' speaks for itself: it ultimately became a continuous Scottish Government project that ran for four years. This achievement would not have been possible without Janine’s support. It was a true pleasure to develop this project alongside her, and I have no doubt that her dedication, strategic thinking, and public health expertise will make her an invaluable asset to any future initiative.
Richard McIntosh, Public Health Specialist
Law Society of Scotland
Janine Ewen possesses exactly the kind of transformative, field-leading experience that embodies the ethos of a Professor of Practice. From navigating the complexities of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and urban poverty in Brazil's favelas, to pioneering harm-reduction frameworks at major music festivals, her global footprint is truly unique.
Her vital work in trauma-informed practice, childhood exploitation, and multi-agency policing challenges the legal profession to move beyond rigid mindsets towards empathetic, community-building frameworks.
Janine successfully bridges the gap between academic theory and high-stakes, real-world execution. She inspires future legal minds to think critically, understand systemic trauma, and advocate for meaningful justice reform. We endorse her candidacy for Professor of Practice without reservation.
The Sociological Review
Janine Ewen’s work is a masterclass in how creative, asset-based research can transform our understanding of youth safety and urban communities. In her feature for The Sociological Review, ‘Word on the Street,’ Janine beautifully demonstrates how bridging sensory ethnography with neighborhood walkability can unlock profound insights from underserved young people. By shifting the lens away from decontextualised statistics of deprivation and focusing instead on imagination and street art, Janine provides practitioners and academics alike with a powerful, trauma-aware framework for meaningful community engagement. She doesn't just study communities; she actively works to make them safer and more inclusive.
Policing Insight
UK Evaluation Society
I’m very pleased to endorse Janine Ewen’s application for Professor of Practice.
Her recent guest blog, which we shared through UK Evaluation Society channels, raised a timely and important question, prompting a strong and thoughtful response from across our community.
Alongside this, Janine’s contribution to our in-house publication, Evaluative Practice, reflects a consistent ability to connect insight with application, bringing clarity to complex issues and contributing meaningfully to how evaluation is understood and used.
Example of published thought leadership (UK Evaluation Society)
Nick Posford, Executive Director
Umbrella Lane/Glasgow University
Janine was an integral supporter of Umbrella Lane during our formation in 2015 and I have known Janine personally since this point.
Janine continued to support the work I was doing globally to increase access to health and human rights for marginalised communities while working for NSWP. I reached out to Janine for her support. Janine supported in gathering key community perspectives and desires for the service, whilst supporting the legal structure of the organisation and our application to OSCR to come a registered Scottish charity.
Janine is a committed activist, particularly in relation to children/young people, women and families. I have witnessed Janine is various paid and voluntary roles, taking to each position and task with enthusiasm, commitment and passion.
I could not recommend Janine highly enough.
Dr Anastacia Ryan
Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI)
Janine Ewen is a remarkable advocate whose impact on community safety in Northern Ireland cannot be overstated. Having collaborated with the PSNI on numerous occasions, Janine masterfully channels her profound personal experiences with domestic abuse into actionable, smart strategies that protect the most vulnerable. I had the privilege of hearing her speak at Queen’s University Belfast, where her intelligence, quick wit, and strategic thinking were on full display. Janine possesses a rare ability to turn deep personal adversity into better institutional practices that prevent real-world harm. She is an absolute credit to her mother, a vital asset to our community, and a true force for good.
Research in Practice
Janine Ewen’s contributions to Research in Practice exemplify the very best of trauma-informed, progressive scholarship. By successfully bridging the gap between rigorous academic theory and deeply compassionate, arts-based fieldwork, she provides the sector with strategies to protect and empower vulnerable young people. Her dedication to honouring lived experience and advancing ethical practice makes her a vital, transformative voice for modern safeguarding and social care.
Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council highly endorses Janine Ewen following her exceptional, evidence-based presentation on strengthening proper trauma-informed care for young people affected by domestic violence. Janine masterfully blended robust, research-backed advice with powerful, real-world case examples that illustrated historical "missed opportunities" across policing, mental health services, and social work. By analysing these multi-agency gaps, she provided attendees with invaluable, multi-dimensional insights that directly challenge and elevate standard workflows.
The session was a resounding success, leaving everyone who attended feeling deeply inspired and equipped with the practical, holistic tools necessary to truly enrich their daily practices and improve outcomes for vulnerable youth.
Public health, NHS Grampian
Janine was instrumental in helping our Public Health and Protection teams pivot a crucial, needs-based project addressing exploitation and violence in partnership with Police Scotland.
Bringing invaluable insights from underground and hard-to-reach networks, Janine provided a perspective that is too often missing from traditional strategy sessions: the voices of individuals who desperately need support but feel unable to seek it due to the realities of heavy policing agendas.
Janine successfully challenged our initial assumptions and guided the project towards a lived-experience-led, deeply participatory model. By advocating for a structure where Police Scotland served in an advisory capacity rather than a leading one, she helped create a safe, high-trust environment for participants. Ultimately, Janine enabled both public health professionals and law enforcement to see that a community-first, collaborative approach yields far better, safer, and more sustainable outcomes for everyone involved.
Janine possesses a rare ability to bridge the gap between institutional frameworks and grass-roots realities. I cannot recommend her highly enough for any initiative tackling complex social challenges.
Penny Gillies, Senior Health Promotion Officer
