As Domestic Violence Awareness month comes to a close, UCF’s Violence Against Women Cluster continues to produce outstanding research regarding domestic violence, as well as other types of violence and abuse. Founded in 2017, the VAWC is one of seven research-focused clusters and is made up of 11 faculty members. They conduct interdisciplinary research that can be applied to reduce rates of physical, sexual, and emotional violence and better support survivors.
While they do not offer resources to survivors of domestic violence, members across the disciplines of social work, psychology, forensic science, criminal justice, sociology, and public health work together on research to “guide policymaking designed to reduce the experience and impact of violence toward women.”
Some of the VAWC’s current research projects include “Safe Transitions: Longitudinal Examination of Domestic Violence Transitional Housing Models on Survivor Outcomes” and “Enhancing the Public Health Response to Domestic Violence.” Recent publications include “Are We Making an Impact: Perspectives on Providing Interpersonal Violence Prevention Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S” and “Utilization of Services at Community-based Intimate Partner Violence Agencies: Associations with Sociodemographic and Victimization Factors.”
Since its creation, the cluster has researched relentlessly to produce knowledge that can be used to reduce rates of violence against women. One VAWC member, Dr. Alison Cares, works as an associate professor in UCF’s Department of Sociology and has dedicated over 25 years to ending violence against women through community outreach, domestic violence services agencies, and research. Dr. Cares is particularly excited about a tentative research project with the Victim Services Center and Orlando Ballet.
“Victim Service Center, an agency in Orlando that includes services for those who have experienced violence and trauma, including many who have experienced sexual assault, is an organization I work with a lot,” Dr. Cares said.
The Victim Service Center and Orlando Ballet have developed a program called Emotions in Motion, which is a 10-week group therapeutic movement and dance program for survivors of trauma and victimization. It is co-facilitated by two dance instructors and three licensed therapists.
Dr. Cares shared that, “participants have loved it, but we would really like to do a rigorous evaluation to see how it impacts mental health and overall well-being for participants.”
While their application for federal funding is temporarily on hold due to the government shutdown, VSC and Orlando Ballet are determined to keep the project moving, regardless of the funding outcome.
So, what can you do as a student to contribute to UCF’s Violence Against Women Cluster? If you’re interested in making an impact in similar research, you can get involved in VAWC member Dr. Jackie Woerner’s Social Theory, Relationships, & Interpersonal Violence Exposure (STRIVE) Laboratory. Dr. Leanna Papp, another member of the cluster, also has several lab opportunities available for undergraduate and graduate students, including the Social Experiences Across Time Study and the Sorority Responses to Campus Sexual Violence study.
“I want UCF students to know that dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are things that can happen to anyone, but it does not have to be this way.”
Dr. Alison Cares, associate professor at UCF
While the facts can often feel disheartening, there are ways that you can make a direct impact in your community to stop violence against women.
“There are things we can do and commitments we can make about how we live our lives in our friendships, dating relationships, communities, social, family, and work lives that lessen violence and abuse, better support survivors, and help everyone reach their potential and live healthy lives,” Dr. Cares said. “People being safe in relationships is everyone’s business, because it hurts us all if people are not. The human costs are staggering, as are the economic costs of responding. We can have better policies and structures in our communities to lessen violence.”
As Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close, Dr. Cares’s words couldn’t ring truer. Organizations like UCF’s Violence Against Women Cluster help remind us of our responsibility to each other to create enriching living situations for all.