Leaving religion or belief can be a complex process, and people who leave stricter or higher demand groups can experience difficulties that are often not widely understood by those providing support services. This study is aiming to understand the experiences of people who leave their religion, what support they have needed, and what support was accessible. This could be from peer support networks, charities, health and wellbeing services or police and legal services. I would like to speak to people from a wide variety of backgrounds and with a range of experiences, positive or negative.

​

Background to the study

There has been little research so far on the experiences of apostates, and the particular barriers and challenges that they may face when trying to access justice or support. This research will help to build evidence, and make recommendations for policy makers and service providers that will help to make services more accessible and effective for apostates.

​

I am a PhD researcher at Sheffield Hallam University carrying out research into the experiences apostates have accessing support from a range of services, including the police or legal services. I am conducting my research in three phases; 
•    firstly interviewing charities who support apostates, drawing on the expertise they hold
•    secondly, interviewing apostates who may have had difficult experiences as a result of leaving their faith
•    and thirdly with police forces, through Freedom of Information requests, and interviews with specialist officers to understand how police forces might approach crimes against apostates

​

Can you take part?

I am looking for participants for phase 2 of my research. I would like to speak to apostates from a range of faith or belief backgrounds, to those were able to access support, and those who were not, those who had good experiences, and those who had negative experiences. Participants will need to be over 18 years of age, and located in England or Wales. 

The full Participant Information Sheet is linked in the menu above, and contains more detail about the study, and how the data will be used.

 

Contact

If you are interested in taking part in this research, or would like more information, please contact me by email  Ellen.J.Johnson@student.shu.ac.uk

Ellen Johnson, PhD researcher Department of Law and Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University