Our collaborators
MenAsWell is a Dutch organization that focuses on men and LGBTIQ+ individuals who have experienced sexual violence, partner violence, or (sexual) harassment. They provide free, confidential, and professional support for male victims of sexual violence.
Fonds Slachtofferhulp is a Dutch organization that raises funds and provides grants to organizations working on supporting victims after traumatic experiences.
Our research team
Dr Carl Bonner-Thompson (project leader)
Carl is an Assistant Professor of Urban Injustice in the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning at Utrecht University. His work explores the relationships between masculinity, violence, and care. Carl often focuses on emotions in his work, particularly in his research about men. He is interested in the way that men ‘care’, whilst challenging longstanding assumptions that men are unable to be vulnerable. He worked with Jason and Kirsty on a project on men’s unwanted sexual experiences in the UK, focusing on the ways men were not able to find help and support in their everyday lives. Carl is learning Dutch, but can only conduct interviews in English. Read more here.
Dr Kirsty McGregor
Kirsty is a Lecturer in Criminology at Loughborough University. Her work examines how intersecting power dynamics at individual, cultural, and societal levels shape the conditions in which violence occurs. Drawing on intersectional feminist and queer frameworks, she explores how people experience and navigate relationships with one another, including within digital environments. Methodologically, she works across qualitative and mixed methods approaches and uses participatory and creative research practices. Kirsty can conduct interviews in English. Read more here.
Dr Jason Preston
Jason is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Brighton, interested in masculinity and ethics of care. Jason is interested in the ways that cultural norms and expectations can shape everyday lives, particularly in relation to men’s interpretations of emotions, vulnerability, and care. He uses qualitative methods, including interviews and observations, to understand the contexts of everyday lives, exploring how individual circumstances can influence men’s behaviour, perspectives, and well-being. Jason can conduct interviews in English.
Dr Rik Huizinga
Rik Huizinga (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in Urban Geography at the Human Geography and Spatial Planning Department of Utrecht University. His research draws upon debates in urban social and cultural geography to investigate new and problematic social and cultural relations in the context of globalisation, migration, and societal change. Rik’s main areas of research include topics around gender, masculinity and intersectionality; refugees, migration and settlement; and young people, identity and equality. He is also interested in issues related to qualitative and participatory methods such as positionality, reflexivity, and research ethics. His work draws attention to the ways in which structural forms of marginalisation (ageism, racism, sexism, capitalism) shape people’s everyday lives and highlights the variegated forms of resistance people display to counter exclusionary practices. Rik can conduct interviews in both Dutch and English.
