[12] Westmarland has sat on both governmental and non-governmental advisory panels, and chaired Rape Crisis (England and Wales) for five years.

Following her time in Bristol, Westmarland returned to the North East to take up a position as Lecturer in Criminology at Durham University.

Overall the study found that the support provided by rape crisis centres was associated with a reduction on all measures of distress created by sexual assault.

Research carried out in 2012 by Westmarland and colleagues[17] found that women do not think that the police take rape, domestic violence and stalking as seriously as they should.

[17] Women who said that they would not report these crimes cited various reasons; including lack of trust in the police, fear of re-victimisation by the Criminal Justice System, and the emotional impact of pursuing a prosecution.

[25] Westmarland noted: We know that the police have put additional resources and effort into improving both victim care and investigations.

[17]In 2009, Westmarland was among a team of academics commissioned to provide information for The Stern Review, an independent investigation into the ways in which public authorities respond to rape complaints.

[26] Along with Jennifer Brown, Miranda Horvath and Liz Kelly, Westmarland authored a research review[27] which summarised information about rape in the UK, including its prevalence, the support available to victim-survivors, the responses of the health and criminal justice services, and the effect of policy changes.

[29] Domestic violence perpetrator programmes aim to change men's abusive behaviour through a combination of therapeutic intervention and facilitating awareness of the consequences of their actions.

Though they are common within the criminal justice system, community based programmes are rare, partly due to a lack of evidence as to their efficacy.

[29] Westmarland and her research team at Durham University's Crime, Violence and Abuse group are collaborating with Liz Kelly and colleagues at the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University and Charlotte Watts at the Gender Violence and Health Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to assess the impact of community domestic violence perpetrator programmes on women and children's safety, as well as investigating related questions such as which specific factors enable violent men to change their behaviour.

[30] Westmarland's first book, International Approaches to Prostitution: Law and Policy in Europe and Asia,[3] was co-edited with Geetajanli Gangoli and published in 2006.

The book addresses prostitution in various European and Asian countries, including England, Sweden, Pakistan and Thailand.