Vanessa Munro

Vanessa Munro is a Professor at the School of Law, University of Warwick, specializing in law and policy responses to gender-based violence, criminal justice processes, and asylum systems. Her work focuses on judicial and lay decision-making in criminal, asylum, and family courts, with an emphasis on sexual violence, domestic abuse, and jury deliberation dynamics.

Her research interests include domestic violence suicidality, coercive control legislation, rape trial outcomes, and the intersection of trauma with legal processes. She critiques legal frameworks through a feminist lens, advocating for victim-centered reforms and interdisciplinary approaches to justice systems.

Recent work explores the impact of the pandemic on sexual violence survivors' access to justice, reforms to Scotland's criminal justice system, and the role of feminist judgments in reimagining legal outcomes. Her articles emphasize systemic gaps in evidence handling, victim support, and judicial understanding of abuse dynamics.

Her scholarship bridges theory and practice, influencing policy through projects like Operation Soteria (CPS reform) and the Scottish Feminist Judgments Project. She has advised on legislative changes regarding coercive control and jury processes, contributing to national debates on legal accountability and victim rights.