Research Mission: 1. Contributing to the national research agenda on violence against women. 2. Actively engaging in research and expanding the research capacity at the University of Kentucky. 3. Conduct research in areas of concentration established by the Center's staff, faculty, and Advisory Committee What happens to children who witness violence in the home? How many rape cases are prosecuted? How is substance abuse linked to sexual violence? Should health care professionals ask women about violence when they come in for care? What can advocates tell researchers about violence against women? Are women safe on college campuses? What factors impact how the criminal justice system works for women? Is sex trafficking a problem in the United States?

The Center’s research effort includes three areas of emphasis:

Contributing to the national research agenda on violence against women

The Center works with other universities, federal agencies which fund research, advocates and other experts in the field to inform and strengthen research which addresses the causes and consequences of violence against women.

Specific activities in this area include coordination of research conferences, scientific meetings and think tanks, and the development of web-based resources

Actively engaging in research and expanding the research capacity at the University of Kentucky

Strengthen the research infrastructure at the University of Kentucky to promote scientific exploration in the violence against women area. The Center funds research projects; offers consultation to faculty in the preparation of research grants; facilitates access to data sets; coordinates research colloquia; and engages in other initiatives to support the research interests of senior and junior investigators at the University of Kentucky.

Conduct research in areas of concentration established by the Center’s staff, faculty, and Advisory Committee

The research agenda of the Center is designed to further an understanding of the extent and impact of violence against women. The Center’s areas of research concentration include:

The mental health and health effects of violence against women, and associated interventions;
The association between substance use, addictions and violence against women;
Risk and protective factors associated with rape, domestic violence, stalking and psychological maltreatment;
Offender typology and the clinical management of offenders;
The criminal and civil justice system response to violence against women; and
Historically underserved populations.

In each of these areas, emphasis is given to research efforts which strengthen the practice of professionals and advocates as they respond to women harmed by violence and abuse, and to initiatives which build a strong collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

Grant Opportunities

Research Resources for Faculty

The links below will provide faculty with general information about research in the area of violence against women. Included are sources for grants, research guides and summaries of key national prevalence studies. More detailed information and data sources are available to CRVAW Faculty Associates in a restricted section on the Center's website.

Research Guides

Measuring Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Perpetration: A Compendium of Assessment Tools - Publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Researching Violence Against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists - WHO guide by Mary Ellsberg and Lori Heise
Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Victimization Assessment Instruments for Use in Healthcare Settings - Publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Prevalence Studies and Research Summaries

VAWnet.org Applied Research Papers - Short summaries of research on selected topics written by top scholars in the field.
MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse - Online resources compiled by the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey – CDC report by Michele C. Black, Kathleen C. Basile, Matthew J. Breiding, and colleagues, 2011
Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey - NIJ report by Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, 2000
The Sexual Victimization of College Women - NIJ report by Bonnie Fisher, Francis Cullen, and Michael Turner, 2000
Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study - report prepared by Dean Kilpatrick, Heidi Resnick, Kenneth Ruggiero, Lauren Conoscenti, and Jenna McCauley, 2007, of the Medical University of South Carolina
Violence Against Women: Synthesis of Research for Law Enforcement Officials - NIJ report by David Hirschel and D.J. Dawson
NIJ Selected Research Results on Violence Against Women

For Faculty Associates

The special resources in this section of our website are only available to Faculty Associates and Endowed Faculty of the Center for Research on Violence Against Women. Resources include journals, EndNote files, and more. Click on the button below to enter the site.

Faculty Associates of the Center

The Center for Research on Violence Against Women is an interdisciplinary research center administratively positioned under the Vice President for Research. In order to strengthen ties to academic Colleges and to facilitate the ability of faculty in a variety of disciplines to engage in violence against women-related research, the Center has established three-year faculty associate positions. Center Faculty Associates bridge alliances with diverse academic units, provide access to a wealth of additional research expertise, and afford enhanced opportunities for innovative, interdisciplinary collaborations.

In 2010, the Center appointed sixteen Faculty Associates from across five colleges and eleven departments at UK. Benefits of being a Faculty Associate include:

Access to a Data Warehouse containing datasets from dozens of studies
Access to information about publishing in top Violence Against Women journals
Access to consultation for research methodologies related to the field
Opportunities to collaborate with Endowed Faculty and other VAW scholars
Invitations to participate in Center events, conferences, lecture series, and lunch meeting series
Access to the Center's role as liason to assist faculty with linkages to battered women’s shelters, rape crisis centers, criminal justice agencies, and other sites for research activities

Research on violence against women reaches its fullest scientific value when disseminated to the practice field where it can inform the work of advocates and other practitioners.

RESEARCH: Making Science Come to Life in the Hands of Advocates (2/9–10/07 Session II)
RESEARCH: Making Science Come to Life in the Hands of Advocates (2/8–9/07 Session I)

(2007 National Research to Practice Technical Assistance Program, Session 1 and Session 2 funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, Grant No. 2006-WT-AX-K013)

The Assessment and Treatment of Adult Trauma with John Briere, Ph.D. (8/17/05)
Researcher/Advocate Collaboration: Taking the Next Step (4/14–15/04)

Translational Research Initiatives

Open Doors: Incarcerated Battered Women's Advocacy Project

In 2009, the Center for Research on Violence Against Women partnered with the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association (KDVA) to explore issues affecting battered women who have also been incarcerated in Kentucky jails and prisons. KDVA sought the partnership with CRVAW to help collect data from incarcerated women about their experiences when seeking help from services like shelters, hospitals, and police when trying to escape domestic violence.

The Center for Research on Violence Against Women brought in qualitative research experts to train a collaborative team of advocates and UK researchers to plan, conduct, and analyze focus group interviews with Kentucky women who were currently in jail or prison, previously incarcerated, or at-risk for incarceration.

In total, 10 focus groups were conducted involving 96 women from across Kentucky. These women represented different stages of involvement in the criminal justice system, and from their experiences researchers and advocates were better able to understand the "pathways" from abuse to incarceration. This study identified the needs of battered women, the services they had accessed or attempted to access, and the barriers which had prevented them from receiving the help they needed.

Through this collaborative project, the Center for Research on Violence Against Women and the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association identified some of the reasons why these survivors of domestic violence in Kentucky ended up on the wrong side of the law. As one woman in the study put it:

"I had to actually get on the other side of the fence line; that means get in trouble in order to find out all of these resources that were out here that are available."

These brave women who shared their stories with the research team help advocates to better understand how to help battered women to gain access to helping services, and hoped that through sharing their stories they can help other women avoid abuse and incarceration.

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Last updated: 4/30/12