Rutgers Violence Against Women Consortium

Statement of problem: Though there has been much progress in research from a variety of disciplines about the wide impact that violence against women has on individuals, families and society, there are still gaps in the research and room to improve services for women who experience violence. These include developing a more nuanced understanding of the causes and consequences of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, teen dating violence and stalking. There is a need to address victimization, perpetration, prevention and intervention, and to recognize how these may be experienced differently by diverse groups.

Purpose: The overall purpose of the proposed Rutgers Violence Against Women Consortium is to work collaboratively with interdisciplinary researchers and National Institute of Justice (NIJ) research scientists to identify, implement, and disseminate research and evaluation projects that fill the gaps in our current knowledge on IPV, sexual violence, stalking, and TDV. The Consortium will build upon the strong foundation in place at the Center on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) and will expand to incorporate a branch dedicated to conducting cutting-edge research to address such gaps in conjunction with NIJ. There are several aspects of the proposed Consortium that make it poised for success, including the leadership and infrastructure, core guiding values, and workflow and communications plans.

Partnerships: The Rutgers Violence Against Women Consortium has assembled a team of 13 core faculty with expertise in the priority areas of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, teen dating violence and stalking. The consortium will draw upon the exceptional skills of core faculty and will also tap into their wide, diverse networks to help develop the most rigorous research projects assigned by NIJ.

Potential Impact: The findings from this project have the potential to significantly improve our understanding of the major criminal justice problems of IPV, sexual violence, stalking, TDV, and other forms of violence against women. In order to maximize the impact of the project, the Consortium will develop meaningful translations of research findings for those in the field of violence against women as well as the greater public. The goal will be to provide critical information on topics of violence against women to influence research, practice, and policy. The Consortium's translation of research will carefully consider both the type of the translational materials and the process of dissemination for each project. ca/ncf