Current Research
Overview
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Gender-Based Violence values all types of research, and as such is actively involved in research at all levels—from grant-funded, large-scale projects to community-based research and research conducted by students in classes or through independent projects.
In addition to supporting faculty, practitioners and students conducting research on a variety of aspects of gender-based violence, Center members also disseminate calls for proposals, research opportunities, research reports and publications.
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UD Sexual Violence Prevention Program
The Center is partnering with the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV) to expand domestic violence and sexual assault prevention training at UD and Delaware State University. As part of DCADV’s Rape Prevention and Education Project, the DCADV and the Center are collaborating to expand the Domestic Violence Prevention and Services Program’s workforce development activities to include an explicit focus on sexual violence. These enhancements include a sexual violence prevention practicum that will serve as a foundation for future field experiences focused on sexual assault.
The Center is also working with DCADV and Delaware State University to design a curriculum similar to UDs DVPS program at DSU. The model program, developed at UD, integrates required training topics into existing curriculums leading to specialized certifications and workforce development in these fields. Establishing a similar program at DSU creates exciting opportunities for interactions among students and faculty at both universities. This inter-university collaboration with the DCADV increases Delaware’s capacity to prevent violence while training advocates and prevention specialists in the state. It highlights Delaware’s commitment to gender-based violence education and prevention.
- Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence -Community Health Worker (DV-CHW) Collaborative Project
Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence -Community Health Worker (DV-CHW) Collaborative Project
The Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence -Community Health Worker (DV-CHW) Collaborative Project aims to improve access and quality of health care and services to survivors of domestic violence, build community relationships and reduce health disparities. The program involves a partnership with Christiana Care, Child Inc., and Westside Family Health Care to streamline care for survivors, in which the healthcare provider screens for domestic violence, any positive screen results in a warm referral to a community health advocate, and the advocate meets with the survivor face-to-face at an agency, their home or anywhere in the community that they are comfortable. Warm referrals consist of healthcare providers calling local agencies on behalf of the patient or referring the survivor to an onsite advocate. Community health advocates are specifically trained in intimate partner violence/domestic violence and trauma-informed care to help with safety planning, emergency needs including shelter, food and clothing, and facilitate scheduling and transportation to appointments.
The purpose of the DV-CHW evaluation study is to identify successes and barriers experienced by healthcare providers, community health advocates and survivors who have participated in the program in its first year of implementation. The DV-CHW Program Evaluation is an interdisciplinary collaboration of UD faculty from the Departments of Women & Gender Studies, Human Development & Family Studies, and Behavioral Health and Nutrition; and a graduate student and undergraduate student research assistant. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach including interviews with healthcare providers, community health workers and survivors who have participated in the program, and administrative data of baseline surveys and program information. Findings from this study will inform best practices for advocates and healthcare providers, offer recommendations for program development and facilitate communication between the Coalition and involved partners to better improve the quality of service delivery for survivors.
State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP)
“Leveraging Delaware’s Rape Prevention Education Program to Integrated Sexual Violence Prevention into Delaware’s State Health Improvement Plan through Engaged Scholarship”
Team Members: Jennifer Naccarelli (PI); Grad RA Hadja Toure; UGST SHIP Fellows: Julia Turk, Jennifer Conklin, Isabele Spoto; UD Partner Noel Duckworth Partnership for Healthy Communities
Purpose: Increase State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) stakeholders’ understanding and capacity to recognize gender-based violence as a public health issue; identify and address root causes of gender-based violence; and contribute to the prevention of gender-based violence state-wide.
