The fellowship embodies the strong connections between the City St George’s, University of London and the City of London Corporation and will help us work together to support new research and innovation to create positive impacts across industry and society.
Past Lord Mayor’s Fellow
Inaugural Lord Mayor's Fellow 2024 - Professor Katrin Hohl OBE
Professor Katrin Hohl, OBE, has served as the inaugural Lord Mayor's Fellow in 2024, bringing her extensive expertise in researching policing and criminal justice responses to sexual violence and domestic abuse to this prestigious role.
In her Lord Mayor’s Fellow role, she has brought this academic background to bear to support the Lady Mayoress’ cause of prevention violence against women and girls within the City of London. Professor Hohl’s contribution to this cause has been recognized in the prestigious award the Freedom of the City by the Lord Mayor in October 2024.
Research and Publications
During her fellowship, Professor Hohl has made significant contributions to academic literature and policy development through are range of publications. She has authored a monograph (with Stanko) and co-authored two peer-reviewed journal articles that have advanced scholarly understanding of police response to and role in the prevention of sexual violence.
In November 2024, she published a landmark independent report on rape and sexual assault survivors' experiences with police in England and Wales (with Pullerits, Reid and Molisso). This groundbreaking research, based on extensive survey data, has provided crucial insights for policy reform and practice improvement in how the police respond to sexual violence cases.
‘Our Safer City’ Initiative Collaboration
A cornerstone of Professor Hohl's fellowship has been her close collaboration with Lady Mayoress Elisabeth Mainelli in supporting the work of the ‘Our Safer City’ initiative, focused on preventing violence against women in the City of London. Their partnership has resulted in numerous speaking engagements at roundtables and events hosted by the Lady Mayoress at Mansion House, where Professor Hohl has shared her expertise with diverse audiences.
Together, The Lady Mayoress and Professor Hohl presented at the International Women's Forum, reaching an influential international audience. Throughout their collaboration, Professor Hohl has provided strategic guidance to the direction and implementation of the Our Safer City initiative.
Public Engagement and Academic Outreach
Professor Hohl's commitment to public engagement and knowledge dissemination has been exemplified through a series of high-profile speaking engagements across the United Kingdom. As part of the Lord Mayor's initiatives, she delivered a notable lecture in the prestigious Knowledge Mile series and participated in numerous Mansion House events supporting the Safe City initiative.
During her Lord Mayors’ Fellowship year, Professor Hohl also delivered keynote speeches at invited public lectures at the Universities of Cambridge, Leeds, Cardiff and Manchester Metropolitan, the Centre for Policing Vulnerabilities (York and Leeds Universities), the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Women's Aid Conference, and the ViSION Consortium conference.
Professor Hohl presented at the European Society of Criminology Conference and was invited to deliver the opening keynote speech at the Spanish Society of Criminology conference. Through these diverse speaking engagements, she has shared invaluable insights from her research and fellowship work with audiences ranging from academics and practitioners to policy makers and the public, contributing to discussions about the policing and criminal justice reform in preventing (or at least responding to) violence against women and girls.
Impact and Recognition
As the inaugural holder of this fellowship, Professor Hohl has set a high standard for future fellows. Her work has been instrumental in establishing the role as a vital bridge between academic research, policy making, and public engagement in matters of criminal justice and policing. Through her multiple advisory roles, research contributions, and public engagement activities, she has demonstrated the remarkable potential for academic expertise to drive meaningful change in addressing critical social issues.
The award of an OBE in the 2024 Kings’ Birthday Honours for services to victims of sexual violence, and granting of the Freedom of the City serve as a testament to the significance and impact of her contributions in advancing the understanding of and response to sexual violence.