At Nottingham Trent University (NTU), a brave approach to research is opening the door to bright new ideas and endless possibilities.
NTU professor Dr Irene Zempi's career undertakes leading impactful research on Disability Hate Crimes (DHC).
Raising awareness of disability hate crimes
According to Disability Rights UK, Disability Hate Crimes (DHC) are attacks against disabled people. These are often different from other hate offences in that these might be perpetrated by friends, family members or carers. This also means that disability hate crimes are less likely to be reported. Hostility against disabled people is happening in public, in the privacy of people’s homes and in care settings.
Despite a rise in the number of disability hate crimes (DHC) recorded, the amount of cases prosecuted is falling.
Featured in Policing Insight, Dr Zempi and fellow researchers outline the ongoing work to raise awareness of DHC, and providing resources for police, academics, practitioners and campaigners to help tackle this crime.
Read the full article in Policing Insight.
Representative for equality, diversity and inclusion
Dr Irene Zempi is an Associate Professor in Criminology in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at NTU. Dr Zempi is the Department's representative for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and sits on the School's EDI committee. Dr Zempi is a member of the Departmental Athena SWAN committee, co-leads the Criminology and Criminal Justice Research Seminars, and mentors NTU staff on the PGCAP/Apprenticeship course.
Experience working in higher education
Dr Zempi joined Nottingham Trent University as a Lecturer in Criminology in September 2015. Prior to this position, Dr Zempi worked as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Criminology, University of Leicester for five years. Dr Zempi has a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Nottingham Trent University), PhD in Criminology (University of Leicester), MSc in Criminology (University of Leicester) and BSc in Sociology (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences).
A highly-regarded expert in her field
Dr Zempi is the Chair of the British Society of Criminology (BSC) Hate Crime Network, a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal Sociological Research Online, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Dr Zempi is the external examiner for the courses: BSc (Hons) Criminology and Psychology, Bournemouth University and BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology, University of Bedfordshire.
Dr Zempi has published widely on issues of hate crime and researcher positionality. Dr Zempi has provided written and oral evidence to parliamentary committees, and has been invited by the Law Commission to provide advice for the review of Hate Crime Legislation in England and Wales. In 2022, Dr Zempi was appointed the Independent Chair of the Ethics Committee, Nottinghamshire Police.
Enjoy an impactful research career at NTU
At NTU, research is about more than writing papers and proposing new ideas. It’s about bringing together the brightest minds to re-imagine research and find the answers to the questions that really matter.
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