About Paula
I am an experienced and passionate facilitator of change in the Field of Domestic Abuse, with a background of working with perpetrators, victims, children and training professional across the public and private sector.
Following my graduation from De Montfort University in Leicester, with a BA (Hons) in Community & Criminal Justice, I quickly chose to specialise in Domestic Abuse.
As a main grade Probation Officer I managed a case load of both perpetrators and victims in the community and custody setting for a number of years. I then successfully qualified as a facilitator for the group intervention programme
known as IDAP (the Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme).
For a number of years I delivered and subsequently treatment managed IDAP, facilitating the rehabilitation of male perpetrators convicted for DA offences.
I also qualified as trainer for Women’s Safety Officers who work directly with
victims of DA and a Train The Trainer for DASH (Domestic Abuse Stalking and Harassment Risk Assessment Tool). It became very apparent to me that to
influence further positive change in Domestic Abuse, I would need to establish
a more strategic position and successfully applied for promotion to a Senior Probation Officer role.
I became the strategic lead for Domestic Abuse for the Norfolk and Suffolk
Probation Trust, regularly chairing MARACs (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences) and an established member of various influential DA Boards.
Paula DeVaux
In 2015, I was seconded from the National Probation Service to Norfolk County Council to work as a Domestic Abuse Change Coordinator for Norfolk. The purpose of this role was to design and deliver Domestic Abuse Training across the County to front line professionals who would not ordinarily receive any specialist training in DA.
It was a privilege to play such an influential part in the development and delivery of the Norfolk Domestic Abuse Champions Network. Indeed, this has proven to be a huge success and I am in no doubt that the training provided over the years has had a direct impact upon enhancing the safety of victims and children.
So that’s my professional background. On a personal side I am a wife, a mother of a beautiful son and a Dachshund dog named Peggy! I am also a child witness of domestic abuse. Not only was my mother abused by my biological father, but also when she remarried when I was a young teen. Some may assume that my passion for working with DA started in my Probation work, but actually it was way back then – with determination to make a difference to the lives of victims and children like my mum and I.
I have focused my career on understanding the dynamics of domestic abuse, unpicking the beliefs and attitudes that underpin perpetrator behaviour and how to motivate change. I am particularly passionate about educating children and young people in healthy relationships, which I believe is a life skill for our next generation. My Mum never really understood how or why I chose to work with perpetrators of DA, given everything we had been through, but for me it’s about breaking the cycle. I fundamentally believe there is more good in the world than bad and this is my way of contributing to that.