Alison Bird
The Birdcage Training and Consultancy
Creating Lives Free From Abuse
Alison was one of the first trained ISACs (Independent Stalking Advocacy Caseworker) and as such there aren't any stalking case workers in England and Wales with as much front line anti stalking experience. Alison is one of the countries most knowledgeable anti stalking trainers." |
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Alison is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the University of Suffolk in the Institute for Social Justice and Crime and works alongside the University to produce research on stalking.
Alison was one of the first established Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Workers (ISACs) in the UK and is currently an Accredited Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Worker (ISAC). She has been Training and Best Practice Lead for ISACs and the Clinical Lead for Stalking at various domestic abuse charities. Alison is a leading expert in the field and specialises in supporting & advocating for high-risk stalking victims/survivors. As well as the general public, this has included MPs and other high-profile figures.
A speaker at national conferences, Alison also trains the police, Crown Prosecution Service, social care, statutory & non-statutory agencies and workplaces to enhance the understanding and the assessment of risks around stalking, domestic abuse, risk assessment and coercive control.
She was part of the consultation with key stakeholders & MPs for both the Stalking Protection Orders 2020 and the long-awaited Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
As part of the National Stalking Consortium she & her peers influence policy & policy makers on stalking matters.
In 2017 Alison was one of the expert panel members, as well as a critical reader, for the joint HMIC and HMCPSI high profile inspection Living in Fear examining how police and CPS were responding to stalking victims 5 years after the legislation was brought in.
The inspection showed there is still a long way to go before agencies fully understand what stalking is and how to respond to victims appropriately.
Alison is keenly interested in the link between trauma experienced by domestic abuse and stalking survivors - both children and adults - and this is reflected in her trauma-perceptive approach. As a trained Domestic Homicide Chair the theme of trauma is paramount in all Domestic Homicide Reviews.
Alison continues to work passionately to educate all key organisations and advocates for victims and survivors of some of society’s most serious yet underestimated crimes. Despite protective legislation, training, sentencing guidelines and an increasing crime profile, victims are still too often let down by the system.
As a frontline stalking case worker (Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Worker, ISAC) at Paladin, National Stalking Advocacy Service, Alison was privileged to work alongside innumerable high risk stalking victims: ex-intimate and non-intimate. Fundamentally it has led to Alison now having a substantive subject knowledge that not many others have in England and Wales.
Alison has trained key people to become ISAC-qualified at Paladin (National Stalking Advocacy Service), and they have gone on to work at National Stalking Helpline, Veritas Justice, Changing Pathways, Safer Places and the Hollie Gazzard Trust.
Having been a speaker at Paladin’s Raising the Bar Best Practice Conference 2017 Alison was able to share the frustrations of stalking victims and look at what can be done moving forwards. Clive Ruggles opened the conference and articulated the horror of what can happen when stalking is not understood.
Alison was one of the first established Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Workers (ISACs) in the UK and is currently an Accredited Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Worker (ISAC). She has been Training and Best Practice Lead for ISACs and the Clinical Lead for Stalking at various domestic abuse charities. Alison is a leading expert in the field and specialises in supporting & advocating for high-risk stalking victims/survivors. As well as the general public, this has included MPs and other high-profile figures.
A speaker at national conferences, Alison also trains the police, Crown Prosecution Service, social care, statutory & non-statutory agencies and workplaces to enhance the understanding and the assessment of risks around stalking, domestic abuse, risk assessment and coercive control.
She was part of the consultation with key stakeholders & MPs for both the Stalking Protection Orders 2020 and the long-awaited Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
As part of the National Stalking Consortium she & her peers influence policy & policy makers on stalking matters.
In 2017 Alison was one of the expert panel members, as well as a critical reader, for the joint HMIC and HMCPSI high profile inspection Living in Fear examining how police and CPS were responding to stalking victims 5 years after the legislation was brought in.
The inspection showed there is still a long way to go before agencies fully understand what stalking is and how to respond to victims appropriately.
Alison is keenly interested in the link between trauma experienced by domestic abuse and stalking survivors - both children and adults - and this is reflected in her trauma-perceptive approach. As a trained Domestic Homicide Chair the theme of trauma is paramount in all Domestic Homicide Reviews.
Alison continues to work passionately to educate all key organisations and advocates for victims and survivors of some of society’s most serious yet underestimated crimes. Despite protective legislation, training, sentencing guidelines and an increasing crime profile, victims are still too often let down by the system.
As a frontline stalking case worker (Independent Stalking Advocacy Case Worker, ISAC) at Paladin, National Stalking Advocacy Service, Alison was privileged to work alongside innumerable high risk stalking victims: ex-intimate and non-intimate. Fundamentally it has led to Alison now having a substantive subject knowledge that not many others have in England and Wales.
Alison has trained key people to become ISAC-qualified at Paladin (National Stalking Advocacy Service), and they have gone on to work at National Stalking Helpline, Veritas Justice, Changing Pathways, Safer Places and the Hollie Gazzard Trust.
Having been a speaker at Paladin’s Raising the Bar Best Practice Conference 2017 Alison was able to share the frustrations of stalking victims and look at what can be done moving forwards. Clive Ruggles opened the conference and articulated the horror of what can happen when stalking is not understood.
Career
- Stalking case worker (Advocate) Paladin, National Stalking Advocacy Service
- Manager & Trainer Paladin, National Stalking Advocacy Service
- Clinical Lead for Stalking, Deputy Interim CEO: Changing Pathways
- Clinical Lead for Stalking and Training Manager at Solace Women’s Aid
- Speaker/trainer on stalking, domestic abuse and coercive control
- DHR Chair
- Visiting Senior Fellow at University of Suffolk Institute for Social Justice and Crime
- Put the crime of stalking on the map in Essex working closely with local domestic abuse charities, police and SETDAB https://setdab.org/
- Lead on the SETDAB Stalking campaign https://setdab.org/resource/setdab-stalking-campaign-2019/
- Trained Sussex and Surrey police following the stalking murder of Shana Grice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shana_Grice
- Trained MET police on stalking
- Worked alongside Tricia Bernal and am proud to know her as a friend and anti-stalking campaigner, as a result of losing her beautiful daughter Clare to stalking. Tricia founded: https://www.protectionagainststalking.org/
Media/Published/Awards:
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BBC1 documentary “Stalkers” aired in 2017.
The Guardian, The UK’s femicide epidemic: who’s killing our daughters https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/25/the-uks-femicide-epidemic-whos-killing-our-daughters University of Suffolk Research: Examining the victim’s right to review by police in stalking and harassment cases: https://bit.ly/4000Xuo Ipswich Star: https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/crime/21914069.university-study-finds-victims-stalking-left-frustrated-system/ Gazette/Standard https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/17392906.stalking-victim-support-expert-alison-bird-tells/ In 2017 Alison received the Paladin award for “Going Above and Beyond” supporting stalking victims. |
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