MEET THE TEAM

This project is run by Dr. Savin Bapir-Tardy and Dr. Windy Grendele at the University of Roehampton, with ethical approval from the Roehampton Ethics Committee (Ref: PSYC 24-489). The study follows GDPR and data protection standards and is trauma-informed and survivor-respectful by design.

DR. SAVIN BAPIR-TARDY

Co-Principal Investigator, Senior Lecturer in Counselling Psychology, Chartered Counselling Psychologist, University of Roehampton (Department of Psychology)

Dr. Savin Bapir-Tardy is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton, where she co-leads The No Longer Silent Project—a research initiative investigating mandated shunning and coercive control in high-control religious communities. Her work examines how systemic exclusion and community-based ostracism impact psychological wellbeing, with a focus on developing evidence-based tools for support, intervention, and policy change.

Savin’s academic and clinical interests centre around trauma, coercive control, and abuse that is legitimised—or hidden—within cultural, religious, or institutional frameworks. Her doctoral research explored trauma and post-traumatic growth, and she has since spent over 17 years working with survivors of complex trauma, including those affected by religious abuse, "Honour"-Based Violence/Abuse (HBV/A), Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and forced marriage.

Before entering academia, she worked as a counselling psychologist in a women’s rights organisation, providing psychological assessments and therapy for women and girls affected by honour-based abuse. Today, she combines clinical insight with research expertise, supervising doctoral students, leading research methods training, and teaching across postgraduate programmes in counselling and forensic psychology.

Dr. Savin is also active in policy and advocacy. She has contributed to UK parliamentary discussions on honour-based violence, worked with the One Law for All campaign, and appeared in public media, including BBC podcasts, to raise awareness of group-based abuse. She runs peer-led support groups for ex-Muslims through the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), helping those navigating the complex emotional, cultural, and social challenges of leaving high-control faith environments.

DR. WINDY GRENDALE

Co-Principal Investigator, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Roehampton (Department of Psychology)

Dr. Windy Grendele is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Roehampton, where she serves as Co-Principal Investigator on a research project examining the psychological, social, and legal dimensions of mandated shunning across high-control religious groups.

Her academic career has centred on the psychological and social consequences of coercive control within faith-based settings. Her master’s research investigated the lived experiences of individuals shunned from the Jehovah’s Witness community, laying the groundwork for her doctoral study, which explored the exit process, the psychological effects of shunning, and the strategies individuals adopt to rebuild their lives after leaving.

Her current research seeks to develop an integrated theoretical framework for understanding mandated shunning, quantify its psychological impact, and advocate for its recognition as a human rights violation. At Roehampton, she also serves as Programme Leader for Psychology (Forensic and Criminal) and Module Leader for Forensic Psychology, where her teaching focuses on the intersection of psychology, law, and social justice.