Violence Against Women Research Consortium
Bringing together experts to identify, implement, and disseminate projects that fill the gaps in our current knowledge on Violence Against Women.
Coffee Chats
Ever wanted to sit down with your favorite researcher or practitioner and chat about all the cool things they do? Well look no further than our Coffee Chats with Researchers series! We’re traveling around to sit with some coffee and take a few minutes to discuss the awesome work happening in the field of violence against women and gaps in work that still exist.
Listen Now — Available on Apple & Spotify!
Content/Trigger Warning: Please note, content discussed in these conversations are related to violence, abuse, and victimization. Descriptions included below are inclusive of topics that are sensitive in nature. Please read, listen and engage at your discretion. Episodes often contain content that may be alarming to some listeners. Please check the show notes for more detailed descriptions of the topic and take care of yourself.
Season 1:
Catie interviews Dr. Patrick Brady, a criminologist researching co-occurring offenses of IPV. They discuss strangulation cases and the process of an IPV case going through the criminal justice system. As well, Dr. Brady talks about how IPV can affect the children of the aggressor and/or survivor.
In this conversation with Dr. Carlos Cuevas, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University and one of the directors of the Violence and Criminal Justice Research Lab, we discuss his studies on the increasing violence against Latinos and adolescent dating violence.
We talk with Dr. Nada Elias–Lambert, an associate professor of social work at Texas Christian University, about sexual violence prevention and bystander/upstander intervention research. They speak on what to do in a work and/or academic setting if sexism occurs, as well as the struggle of innovation vs. evidence informed.
Enjoy this interview with Dr. Megan Greeson, associate professor of psychology at DePaul University. They speak about how different systems respond to victims of violence and the coordination of sexual assault response teams.
Dr. Melissa Morabito, criminologist and associate professor at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell, discusses police response around vulnerable populations and the changes that need to be made when approaching these cases
Join, Dr. Sharon Potter, professor of women and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire, as well as the Co-Founder and Director of Research at the Prevention Innovation Research Center. Dr. Potter is currently working on a sexual violence prevention and response application, which is going through testing phases at the time of recording.
Catie discusses intimate partner violence longitudinal studies with Dr. Jeff Temple, a licensed psychologist and professor at University of Texas, Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. The duo also examines the effect of parental conflict on children and how future relationships are shaped.
Tune in as we interview Toby Shulruff, a writer, a technology safety project manager, and a graduate student in the new Public Interest Technology program at Arizona State University. The duo discuss Shulruff’s return to the classroom and how years of clinical work shape her view of research and the need the field has.
Catie interviews Dr. Leila Wood, associate professor and Director of Evaluation at the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In this interview, Dr. Wood talks with Catie about research ethics and exploitation, IPV prevention and intervention, and the greater understanding of what is accessible survivor advocacy.
Catie discusses academic IPV support, and the changes needed with Dr. Rachel Voth Schrag, an assistant professor of social work at University of Texas at Arlington who has spent her entire career in domestic violence prevention work.
Drs. Sameena Mulla and Heather Hlavka
Catie sits down with Sameena Mulla, author and anthropologist, who focuses on ethnographically based research and sexual assault intervention, and Heather Hlavka, about sexual assault intervention and the complicated reality of trials.
Join our converation with former social worker and associate professor of law, justice, and criminology at American University, Dr. Jane Palmer. Dr. Palmer discusses her experiences in the field, the harm that policies have done, and her research in domestic and interpersonal violence.
Drs. Judy Postmus and Jenn Glinski
Catie interviews Dr. Judy Postmus, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Rutgers University, School of Social Work, and Jen Glinski, a PhD candidate from University of Glascow and a visiting scholar to Rutgers. The trio talks about economic abuse and how it is being addressed internationally.
Season 2:
Catie interviews Dr. Rebecca Campbell, Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University, who researches victim disclosure practices and help-seeking experiences. Dr. Campbell speaks to her experience serving as Presidential Advisor, Relationship Violence & Sexual Misconduct, in which she assisted Michigan State University administration in improving the process for survivors on their campus in response to former doctor Larry Nassar’s abuse of patients. Dr. Campbell and Catie discuss the importance and challenges of the role of “researchers as activists” while Dr. Campbell shares her dedication to changing systems by impacting policy and practice and ultimately improving the survivor experience.
Catie interviews Dr. April Zeoli, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, a firearm violence researcher studying intimate partner homicide and examining extreme-risk protection order laws and their implementation. She and Catie discuss the challenges of accessing data and records around gun violence in intimate partner cases as well as the ways implementation of “red flag laws” can improve to ensure gun relinquishment occurs. And most importantly, Dr. Zeoli shares that the research indeed suggests “that we can prevent gun violence and reduce homicide through laws that restrict dangerous people from having guns”.
Catie interviews Dr. Chiara Sabina, Associate Professor in the Rutgers University School of Social Work and Associate Director of the Center for Research on Ending Violence in the Rutgers University School of Social Work. Dr. Sabina, whose work primarily focuses on the Latinx population, shares with Catie her passion for bringing more diversity into the field of gender-based violence. The two discuss the importance of prevention and intervention that account for the intersections of identity and reach populations that have been historically oppressed and underserved. Dr. Sabina also discusses the potential long-term implications of her current study with local domestic violence survivors in Quito, Ecuador using integrative community therapy, which she describes as a culturally congruent, non-hierarchical dialogue circle, group-based approach.
Catie interviews Professor Leigh Goodmark, JD, who serves as the Marjorie Cooke Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law where she directs the Gender Violence Clinic. Professor Goodmark represents criminalized survivors of domestic violence and trains students to represent victims of violence. She and Catie discuss how the criminal and legal system can harm victims and further the perpetration of violence. Professor Goodmark discusses how her passion to mitigate further trauma and harm to criminalized survivors led her on a journey to identifying as an abolitionist.
Catie interviews Dr. Kaitlin Boyle, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the University of South Carolina, who uses social psychology and sociological perspectives to study how social inequalities and power dynamics shape the socialization processes that enable environments in which violence occurs. She and Catie discuss her approach to research as looking at violence as both a reflection of and reinforcer of inequality and its influence on her varied research interests, including looking at the role gender plays in mass gun violence. And finally, Dr. Boyle shares more about the process of moving her Violence and (In)justice Lecture Series to a working group, thereby building professional networks across the many fields addressing interpersonal violence and encouraging interdisciplinary research collaborations.
Catie interviews Dr. Claire M. Renzetti, Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Kentucky; the Judy Conway Patton Endowed Chair for Studies on Violence Against Women in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women; Editor, Violence Against Women: An International, Interdisciplinary Journal (SAGE); Editor, Gender & Justice Series (University of California Press); Co-Editor, Interpersonal Violence Series (Oxford University Press); and Editor, Family & Gender-Based Violence Series (Cognella). Dr. Renzetti starts by sharing her excitement for her research of the OVW-funded evaluation of the therapeutic horticulture program at the Greenhouse 17 shelter and its implications for improvement in self-esteem and self-efficacy for women participating in therapeutic horticulture shelter programs. The two discuss the value of funding innovative research in the field of violence against women and the impacts of what Dr. Renzetti calls “purposive research”, which she defines as data collection that is making a difference and producing usable knowledge.
Catie interviews Dr. Anne DePrince, Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver and Director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Group. Dr. DePrince also serves as Associate Vice Provost for Public Good Strategy and Research at the University of Denver, where she supports University research collaborations that impact community responses to violence and public problems. She and Catie discuss the responsibility of researchers to center community in their research and how interdisciplinary collaborations within communities can impact trauma-informed policies and services. They also discuss the practical implications of her recently published book, Every 90 Seconds: Our Common Cause Ending Violence Against Women, which Dr. DePrince shares “connects the ways that violence against women is tangled up with education reform, legal reform, healthcare access, and economic inequities and makes the case that all members of a community share a stake in working together to prevent violence”.
Catie interviews Dr. Lisa Fedina, Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan, whose research focuses on understanding the social, economic, and health consequences of violence experienced across the lifespan, particularly in historically oppressed and underserved communities. Dr. Fedina shares how a person-centered approach to her research impacts survivor outcomes by encouraging specified approaches to community response and prevention. The pair also discuss how response systems are influenced by power and the ways structural power imbalances contribute to the root causes of violence.
Dr. Eli Silva Martinez
Catie interviews Dr. Eli Silva-Martinez, Associate Professor at University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and Co-Director of the campus organization, Siempre Vivas, which works with survivors of intimate partner violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Dr. Silva-Martinez shares with Catie how her work “honors the voices of women”, particularly Latina women, from an ethnographic perspective. She and Catie discuss the importance of amplifying the voices of Latinas and immigrants in the field of intimate partner violence and sexual violence and how Dr. Silva-Martinez’s story shaped her work. They also discuss the creative ways Dr. Silva-Martinez disseminates her work, which includes her experience working with community partners to research and produce an award-winning documentary, Desempacando.
Catie interviews Dr. Abha Rai, Assistant Professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work and Associate Director for the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Accompaniment at the Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work. They speak about culturally-responsive ways of connecting with immigrant communities and the importance of using or creating culturally-responsive instruments to collect prevalence rates of domestic violence. Dr. Rai discusses her research on in-law abuse in South Asian communities as well as the role of bystander intervention in immigrant communities.
The research referenced in this website was funded by the National Institute of Justice (2016-MU-CX-K011). Points of view on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.