A WCW research team developed a checklist to aid institutions in designing and maintaining user-friendly website content related to the prevention of and response to sexual violence.
May 26, 2020
A report on campus sexual assault by our Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative was published days before new Title IX rules were issued by the Department of Education.
Assumptions about a potential jury’s social biases are tied to sexual assault cases dropping out of the criminal justice system.
Linda Williams, Ph.D., WCW senior research scientist and director of the Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative, presented with Melissa Morabito, Ph.D., associate professor at University Massachusetts annual report 2018 Lowell (UMass-Lowell), and April Pattavina, Ph.D., WCW senior scholar and professor at UMass-Lowell, “Sexual Assault Case attrition: Key findings from the UML-WCW NIJfunded Research” at the American Society of Criminology (ASC) Annual Meeting
April Pattavina, Ph.D., senior scholar, Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative, Wellesley Centers for Women
Victims of Domestic Violence Often Face Housing Problems
The physical, psychological, and economic consequences for victims of domestic violence (DV) and their families have been well documented, and although recent federal legislation provides certain housing protections for some DV victims, many women and their families remain at great risk for homelessness and ongoing violence.
Research & Action Report, Fall/Winter 2015
By April Pattavina, Ph.D. and Linda M. Williams, Ph.D.
The Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative
The Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative, led by Co-Directors Linda M. Williams, Ph.D., and April Pattavina, Ph.D., senior research scientists, was recently launched at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). Longtime followers of the Centers may recognize Williams, who was director of research at the Stone Center at WCW from 1996 to 2005. In that role, she led the Navy Family Study, a comprehensive approach to understanding the factors that affect successful and unsuccessful outcomes for Navy families involved with the family advocacy office, as well as the outcomes for adults and children exposed to domestic violence, child physical abuse, or child sexual abuse. Williams co-directed the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center and continued her research on the long-term consequences and memories of child sexual abuse. Pattavina comes to WCW from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where she collaborated with Williams and colleague Melissa S. Morabito, Ph.D., associate professor, on the national multi-site study of sexual assault case attrition through the criminal justice system that is described in the following interview. She brings an interest in applying advances in information and computer technology to the study of social problems. She has been invited to give presentations and workshops on the use of administrative data for policy analysis and received an award from The Boston Foundation for using data to drive community change.
In fall 2015, the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) launched the Justice and Gender- Based Violence Research (JGBVR) Initiative to build on its work advancing the role that research plays in improving the lives of women and girls, families and communities. Led by Senior Research Scientist Linda M. Williams, Ph.D., and an interdisciplinary group of collaborators, the JGBVR team conducts and disseminates research that meaningfully addresses the causes and consequences of gender-based violence and the social, health, and justice system responses to violent crime and victimization. To do this work, the initiative builds relationships with partners in the community, the criminal justice system, governmental and non-governmental organizations, international partners, and other researchers and institutes. Nine months later, the team has made great strides in linking its high-quality, gender-informed research with real action to improve the lives of women and girls in all roles of the criminal justice system—victims, offenders, workers, and policymakers.
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