Marianne Mela, Polamk
Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Marianne Mela. I work as a researcher at the Police University College of Finland. I have been working for 5 years now on various research projects related to domestic violence, vulnerable persons, and police training. Before this, I worked for more than 15 years as a police officer and the last few years in the preventive policing unit in Helsinki. At that time, my task was to develop cooperation with various organizations so that we could better reach people in a vulnerable position, such as immigrant women who have experienced violence, victims of honor-related violence, and LGBTQ+ immigrants who have experienced hate crimes.
Could you describe your role in the IMPROVE project?
As a researcher, I get to do versatile work, from collecting data to analysing it. The work also includes the development of training. The best part of the job is when the research results become concrete, and we get new tools for the police and new knowledge for training.
Could you name a valuable moment you had in the IMPROVE project and tell us why it was so?
In the first work package T1.1, we collected information about the barriers the victims of violence face when seeking help. We mapped a huge number of studies, reports, and statements in different countries. I calculated that a victim of violence can have more than a hundred reasons why she or he does not disclose to anyone about their experiences. Later during the project, we interviewed survivors who had experienced violence and mapped their path to seeking help. As a police officer, I was used to asking and hearing about violence, but I had never realized how difficult it can be for victims to get help. This tremendous struggle of people to cope with the threat of violence and their efforts to get a professional to hear and see their situation touched me. Their stories also crystallised why our work in the IMPROVE project is meaningful.
“As a police officer, I was used to asking and hearing about violence, but I had never realized how difficult it can be for victims to get help.”
“The best part of the job is when the research results become concrete, and we get new tools for the police and new knowledge for training.”
