Florida International University’s New Effort to Prevent Domestic Violence

The United Nations reports that nearly one in three women worldwide will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. In Asia and Africa domestic violence strikes nearly two thirds of all women.

The Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at Florida International University in Miami has launched a new effort to prevent domestic violence. The International Women, Gender, and Violence Initiative is focused on prevention and education on the issues related to domestic violence on the local, national, and global scale.

Suzanna Rose, founding associate provost for the Office to Advance Women, Equity & Diversity and affiliate faculty member with the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at Florida International University, stated “the safety of women from violence is an indicator of a nation’s stability. The estimated cost of intimate partner violence in the U.S. is estimated to be close to $6 billion annually. Violence against women is a national and international heath and safety issue that we no longer can afford to ignore.”

Professor Rose joined the faculty at Florida International University in 2000 after teaching at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Dr. Rose hold bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, all from the University of Pittsburgh.

The new initiative will sponsor several conferences that will focus on research relating to the barriers to reporting incidents of violence and abuse. As a result, practitioners will have the latest information on ways to prevent violence and to help women who have become victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.