Dr Kirsty McGregor is a Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. She commenced her academic journey at Coventry University completing a BSc in Forensic Investigation, followed by an MSc in Clinical Criminology at the University of Leicester. Kirsty’s PhD research, obtained from the University of Manchester in 2018, examined intimate partner violence experienced by adolescent girls. She joined the School from her previous role at the University of Brighton in March 2024. Kirsty is a steering group member of the British Society of Criminology Victims Network.
Kirsty is an intersectional feminist and queer criminologist interested in how power operates at individual, cultural and societal levels to create contexts in which violence occurs. She uses intersectional feminist and queer frameworks to explore how people experience relationships with one another, including through digital platforms.
Kirsty’s recent research examines the experiences of marginalised groups whose voices are often hidden – children and adolescents, LGBTQIA+ communities, and male survivors. By interrogating dominant understandings and practices of violence, and responses to it, her work creates opportunities to examine and respond to the impact of wider cultural and structural violence(s) across multiple dimensions of inequality. Her current research focuses on examining existing, and imagining future, infrastructures for victim/survivors of domestic and sexual violence, including those created through policy, institutions and community-building.
Kirsty’s teaching is predominantly focused on examining violence, seeking to understand its causes, manifestations and impacts, along with formal and informal responses to it.
Kirsty is available to supervise PhD projects relating to all forms of gender-based violence, and those seeking to understand the lived experience of violent crime and justice.
Current Doctoral Students
- Anna Wehren, ‘Exploring LGBT+ Perpetrator’s Experiences and Perspectives of Coercive Control’
- McGregor, K. (2023) LGBTQ+ Communities and Domestic Violence and Abuse. In P, Ali., and MM, Rogers (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Gender-Based Violence. Springer-Nature doi: