Sue Westwood

Profile

Biography

Dr Sue Westwood

Reader and Deputy Head of Department (Strategy)

I am Reader and Deputy Head of Department (Strategy) at York Law School (YLS), the YLS Athena SWAN Departmental Representative, and a member of the YLS Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Career

I joined York Law School as a Lecturer in 2018, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021, and Reader in 2024. I was also made Deputy Head of Department (Strategy) in 2023.

I had previously been a research fellow/research associate at several universities, including the University of Oxford, University of Leeds, and the University of Surrey, where I was a member of the Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender (CRAG).

I have also taught law at Keele University, Coventry University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I was a Visiting Scholar at the Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative, Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, USA. 

Research

Overview

My interdisciplinary research relates to two themes. Firstly, age(ing), gender and equality, in regulatory contexts. I combine my qualifications in both law and gerontology to explore older LGBTQ people’s rights, and older women’s rights.

My second research arm relates to sexual harassment and violence in higher education, and the role of gendered inequalities in legal pedagogies and curricula.

My approaches are feminist and intersectional, with a particular focus on social justice, and affective equality.

Publications

Selected publications

For a full list of publications see York research database.

Journal articles

Westwood, S. (2024) A bloody mess? UK regulation of menopause discrimination and the need for legal reform. Journal of Law and Society, 1, 1-16, http://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12469 

Westwood, S., Hafford-Letchfield, T. & James, J. (2024) Older LGBTQ people and religious abuse: implications for the UK regulation of care provision in later life. Special Issue: ‘Abuse in the LGBT Community: A Hidden Problem’, OBM Geriatrics 8(1), 270. https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.2401270 

Westwood, S. (2023) Starting gendered career pathways early? Differences between women and men students in optional module composition among UK law school undergraduates. The Law Teacher https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2023.2246347 

Westwood, S., James, J. and Hafford-Letchfield, T. (2023) He’s a gay, he’s going to go to Hell” - Negative nurse attitudes towards LGBTQ people on a UK hospital ward: A single case study analysed in regulatory contexts. Ethics and Social Welfare. https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2023.2223786 

Westwood, S. (2022). Can religious social workers practice affirmatively with LGBTQ service recipients? An exploration within the regulatory context. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 44(2), 205-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2022.2067652 

Westwood, S. (2017) Older Lesbians, Gay Men and the ‘Right to Die’ debate - ‘I always keep a lethal dose of something, because I don’t want to become an elderly isolated person’. Social and Legal Studies, 26(5), 606-628, https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663917693916 

Books

Westwood, S. and Knauer, N. (Eds) (forthcoming). Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing. Edward Elgar.

Westwood, S. (Ed) (2021) Regulating the end of life: Death Rights. Routledge.

Westwood, S. (Ed) (2018). Ageing, Diversity and Equality: Social Justice Perspectives. Routledge.

Westwood, S. (2016) Ageing, Gender and Sexuality: Equality in Later Life. Abingdon: Routledge. 

Book chapters

Westwood, S. and Ward, L. (2024). Older people, care deficiencies and an ethic of care. In Westwood, S. and Knauer, N. (Eds) Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, Edward Elgar.

Westwood, S. (2024). Older women’s rights in international law. In Westwood, S. and Knauer, N. (Eds) Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing. Edward Elgar.

Westwood, S. (2020). Older Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People: Socio- legal perspectives on healthcare inequalities in later life. In M.A. Jacob and A. Kirkland (Eds) Research Handbook for Socio-Legal Studies of Medicine and Health. Edward Elgar.

External activities

Overview

I am a member of the Socio Legal Studies Association and the Law and Society Association.

I have collaborated with a wide range of external organisations, including Age UK; Alzheimer's Society; Brighton and Hove Switchboard; Carers UK; City of York Council; International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK); Leeds Bereavement Centre; LGBT Foundation; Opening Doors London; Public Health England; LGBT SAND (Safe Ageing, No Discrimination); Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care; Stonewall; York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and Yorkshire MESMAC.

In 2022, I was an invited expert at a World Health Organisation (WHO) international consultation event to inform its report, Tackling Elder Abuse: Priorities for the Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021 – 2030.

Editorial duties

I have been an invited reviewer for the following

Peer review journals

• Age and Ageing
• Ageing and Society
• American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementia
• Canadian Journal for Law and Society
• Clinical Gerontologist
• Culture, Health and Sexuality
• European Geriatric Medicine
• Gerontologist; Health and Social Care in the Community
• Health Promotion Journal of Australia
• Housing Studies
• International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
• Journal of Academic Development and Education (JADE)
• Journal of Human Rights Practice
• Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work
• NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research)
• OBM Geriatrics
• PLOS ONE
• Psychology and Sexuality
• Psychology of Sexualities Review
• Research on Ageing
• Social Epidemiology
• Social Science and Medicine
• Social Theory and Health
• The British Journal of Sociology
• The Journal of Medical Ethics
• The Journal of Nursing Ethics
• The Sociological Review

Book publishers

• Policy Press
• Routledge

Grant-making bodies

• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
• Swiss Nationale Foundation (SNF)

Teaching

Undergraduate

A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, I am a member of York Law School’s Learning and Teaching Development Team, and its Staff-Student Forum. I teach on the following undergraduate modules:  

• LLB Year 1: Introduction to Law and Society (2018-22); Legal Concepts (2021-2 )
• LLB Years 1 and 2: Foundations in Law, Obligations (2018-)
• LLB Year 3 optional modules:
  • Law, Gender & Sexuality (designer & module leader) (2019-)
  • Law and Emotion (designer and module leader) (2022-)
  • Year 3 Dissertation (dissertation supervisor 2018-) (co-module leader 2022-3)

Postgraduate

I teach on the following postgraduate modules:

• LLM optional module Law, Gender & Sexuality (designer and module leader) (2020-22, 2023-)
• LLM Dissertation (dissertation supervisor 2023-)