Staff profile

Holly is a part-time PhD researcher on human rights approaches to harmful behaviour in the global parliamentary workplace (starting October 2024), supervised by Professor Nicole Westmarland and Professor Clare McGlynn.

Holly is interested in how parliaments around the world are grappling with the problem of harmful behaviours such as bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct which not only impacts individual victims and wider workplace cultures, but also damages the functioning and reputation of parliaments as democratic bodies whose role it is to legislate on the safety and security of the communities they represent. 

As both democratic institutions and workplaces, parliaments are at the intersection of human rights on work, safety and democracy. The aim of her research is to investigate how international human rights obligations can offer a universal approach for addressing harmful behaviour in the global parliamentary workplace, taking account of its distinct characteristics and constitutional function.

Her interest in this subject is drawn from her role in the UK Parliament where she leads a programme of work embedding the Behaviour Code across the parliamentary community including MPs and their staff, administration staff and contractors.

Her previous roles in Parliament include leading the Steering Group for Change in the House of Lords, advising the Lords Commission on culture change, initiating the first specialist training for staff on domestic abuse in the workplace and managing a research project on gender equality for the Commons Executive Board. She started her career in Parliament as a specialist for the Women and Equalities Committee in 2016 where she managed inquiries on sexual harassment, male violence and culture change and abortion law in Northern Ireland. She was lead liaison for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Events

2025

'Gender, agency and the institutional regime: Women's experiences of the Westminster Parliament in the 20th and 21st Century' (Chair). Lived experiences of the Westminster Parliament in history. March. University of Warwick

‘Culture in parliaments’. UK Parliament Study Programme. May. London. UK Parliament. 

2024

‘Culture in parliaments’. UK Parliament Study Programme. May. London. UK Parliament. 

‘Respectful working relations in Parliament’. Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments. March. London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK.

2023

‘Respectful working relations in Parliament’. Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments. March. London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK.

‘Understanding gender equality: views from the US, EU and UK’. Jean Monnet Center of Excellence Forum. 13 November. Gainesville, University of Florida.  

Previous events

Culture and gender equality in parliament’. Westminster Seminar on Evolving Parliaments. 14-18 March, 2022. London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK.

UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Seventy-second session. February 2019. Geneva: United Nations. [Observer for the Women and Equalities Select Committee.]

Publications

Coy, M., Kelly, L. & Dustin, H. (2015) ‘A feminist “epistemic community” reshaping public policy: a case study of the End Violence Against Women Coalition. In H. Johnson, B.S. Fisher & V. Jaquier (eds.) Critical issues on violence against women: international perspectives and promising strategies. London: Routledge, pp. 244–257.

Dustin, H. (2004) Women and the criminal justice system: a report of the Fawcett Society’s Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System. London: Fawcett Society. Available at: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=da9130a4-6e24-4717-b770-3efee1d351aa (Accessed: 19 January 2024). *Nominated for the Prospect Magazine Award

Dustin, H. (2006) Understanding your duty: report on the gender equality duty and criminal justice system and Doing your duty: guide to the gender equality duty. London: Fawcett Society

Dustin, H., Mott, H. & Waterworth, N. (2016). Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls: meeting the challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals. London: The British Council. Available at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/gender_equality_and_empowerment_in_the_uk.pdf (Accessed: 19 January 2024).

Dustin, H. & Shepherd, H. (2013) Deeds or words? Analysis of Westminster government action to prevent violence against women and girls. London: End Violence Against Women. 

McKinnon, M. & Dustin, H. (2021) ‘The impact on select committee witness diversity and accessibility in the House of Commons’, in Parliaments and the pandemic. London: Study of Parliament Group, pp. 57-61.   Available at: https://studyofparliamentgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Parliaments-and-the-Pandemic.pdf  (Accessed: 19 January 2024).

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2017). Ensuring strong equalities legislation after the EU exit. Seventh Report of Session 2016–17 (HC 799, 28 February). London: House of Commons. [co-author]

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2017). Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the UK. Eighth Report of Session 2016–17 (HC 885, 14 March). London: House of Commons. [contributor]

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2018). Fathers and the workplace. First report of session 2017-19 (HC 358, 20 March). London: House of Commons. 

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2018). Sexual harassment of women and girls in public places. Sixth report of session 2017-19 (HC 701, 23 October). London: House of Commons. 

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2019). Abortion law in Northern Ireland. Eighth report of session 2017-19 (HC 1584, 25 April). London: House of Commons. 

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2022). Equality in the heart of democracy: a gender sensitive House of Commons. Fifth report of session 2021-22 (HC 131, 2 March). London: House of Commons. [co-author]

Whitfield, L. & Dustin, H. (2015) Spotted: obligations to protect women students’ safety and equality. London: End Violence Against Women. Available at: https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Spotted-Obligations-to-Protect-Women-StudentsEy-Safety-Equality-1.pdf (Accessed: 19 January 2024).