FEMICIDE
UCF research to help inform statewide efforts to stop domestic violence and improve care for survivors
Interdisciplinary researchers from UCF’s Violence Against Women faculty cluster are evaluating the state’s domestic violence resources to help make a safer Florida
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Dr. Karina Villalba specializes in researching substance use and physical trauma. She lent her expertise with Spanish-speaking communities to this project.
view moreCredit: Photo by UCF College of Medicine
Florida is turning to UCF experts to find better ways to prevent domestic violence and give survivors a stronger voice in the services they need.
Through a $257,384 two-year grant from the Florida Partnership to End Domestic Violence, faculty from UCF’s Violence Against Women research cluster are conducting a statewide domestic violence needs assessment. Their findings will help policymakers and local agencies develop better strategies to fund and support domestic violence prevention programs that empower survivors.
“The collective goal of our work is to give people working in these programs and people using these services a voice,” said Dr. Bethany Backes, associate professor of social work at UCF’s College of Health Professions and Sciences, who leads the Violence Against Women cluster and is the project’s principal investigator. “Having research that practitioners can understand and interpret in a way that’s helpful is important to us. What we’re creating now is hopefully something that can be used for years to come.”
The World’s Women
Violence against women is a global issue. According to UN Women, nearly one in three women worldwide have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life. In 2024, around 50,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members.
UCF’s faculty cluster — working across the disciplines of education, social work, criminal justice, sociology and medicine — was created a decade ago to help change these outcomes.
“We know how complex this social problem is,” said Dr. Kim Anderson, a professor of social work and cluster member. “We’re looking at criminal justice, sociology, health, and so much more that altogether could create solutions beyond any one discipline.”
Informing Florida’s Strategy
The researchers have already identified some key needs for the state to examine.
“For example, we’re seeing people facing abuse who are having to spend more on food or other necessities as they navigate shifts in funding for certain assistance programs,” Dr. Backes said. “What we’re also seeing is the effect of population booms, and how rapid growth and rapid decline in some areas affects the need for services.”
The researchers are analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Florida’s Departments of Law Enforcement and Children and Families and are surveying organizations that provide domestic violence services. They are interviewing survivors who sought services and those who didn’t to understand access to care and risk factors.
Creating opportunities where more people feel comfortable sharing their domestic violence experiences is cluster member Dr. Karina Villalba’s expertise.
“My focus is on intimate partner violence, specifically within the Hispanic community,” said Dr. Villalba, an assistant professor in the UCF College of Medicine’s Population Health Sciences Division. “There are certain beliefs, like the concept of ‘machismo’, that may give an avenue for some men to pursue this kind of violence. Because it can be part of the cultural acceptance, it might not even be seen as violence by the survivors.”
She hopes efforts to prevent domestic violence in the U.S. will have impact globally.
“You’re seeing a ripple effect in countries in Latin America where people are becoming more aware,” Dr. Villalba said. “It helps us keep pushing forward with our work so we cannot just be a beacon here in Florida and the United States, but to show the world what we can do.”
Keys to Preventing Violence
Preventing domestic violence means identifying early warning signs and behaviors and providing services to lower the risk of continuing violence, Dr. Backes said.
Domestic violence is “not always physical and it’s not just seeing someone with a black eye,” she said. “Physical violence can happen after there’s been psychological abuse such as coercion, controlling, isolation or stalking.”
Cluster member Dr. Alison Cares, associate professor of sociology at UCF’s College of Sciences, says preventing domestic abuse involves changing misconceptions.
“There’s this expectation of how abusers or survivors look. It’s easy to think the people doing this abuse look like monsters,” she said. “But the reality is these are people we know. They can be friends or family members or people we work with.”
The researchers said they are encouraged by the resilience of the survivors and service providers they have met. “We see incredible bravery of people who talk to a support person,” Dr. Anderson said. “We’re hoping that information we get from this assessment can elevate the voices of staff and survivors
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