Linda M. Williams
Senior Research Scientist
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
- linda.williams@wellesley[dot]edu
- CV
Co-founder of Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative; Focuses on sexual exploitation of women and children, sexual violence, human trafficking, child abuse
Linda M. Williams, Ph.D., is a senior research scientist and director of the Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative at the Wellesley Centers for Women. For more than 40 years, Williams has directed research on violence against women, sexual exploitation of children, sex offenders, and the consequences of child abuse, including several longitudinal studies and recent qualitative work. The focus of her current work is on justice system response to sexual violence, commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, human trafficking, intimate partner violence, and child maltreatment. Her work strives to ensure that the voices of women and children are heard. Williams served as professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell from 2005-2015, and now serves as Professor Emerita there.
