香港六合彩开奖结果

It鈥檚 5:30 p.m. on a Monday, and a thin red banner appears on the TV screen: Breaking News. It seems like we鈥檝e seen this story before. A former pro football player has just been arrested for aggravated battery. The victim? A young woman, the mother of the player鈥檚 months-old son. The woman is concerned for the safety of herself and her baby because the perpetrator will inevitably bond out of jail.

There鈥檚 a surveillance video, too.

The footage is hard to watch, impossible to ignore 鈥� the woman is hit repeatedly and thrown into a TV before it crashes onto her. Within hours, however, the football player says the woman was at fault. Media outlets publish new headlines. The cycle turns to victim-blaming.

As difficult as it is to even read about this incident, the harsh truth is this: Violence against women is happening at this very moment. In 2021, the World Health Organization reported that nearly 1 of every 3 women worldwide has been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence. The number is even higher among LGBTQ+ individuals and women of color.

鈥淭he statistics are staggering, but honestly? We鈥檙e at a point where we don鈥檛 need another prevalence study to prove what鈥檚 going on,鈥� says Bethany Backes, assistant professor in UCF鈥檚 Department of Criminal Justice and a member of the Violence Against Women [VAW] faculty cluster. 鈥淚 want to think big. Violence against women affects all of us. It鈥檚 time we all do something about it.鈥�

Backes and her teammates in the VAW cluster came to 香港六合彩开奖结果 for that very purpose 鈥� and to also combat violence against all people. They bring expertise from fields like criminal justice, psychology, social work, public health and sociology. They collaborate with colleagues in computer science, economics and medicine. They pinpoint social programs that work and those that don鈥檛 work. And they challenge cultural attitudes and dig for the roots of violent behavior toward women so they can pull them out for all to see.

鈥淥ur ultimate goal is to work ourselves out of a job,鈥� says Assistant Professor of Social Work and VAW researcher Julia O鈥機onnor. 鈥淲e believe we can end this. There鈥檚 too much at stake.鈥�

Abuse affects our healthcare system, our neighborhoods, our economy and lives forever. It鈥檚 too easy to look the other way until news breaks or a video surfaces. What about the millions of women who have been, will be or are being abused out of sight?

Years before joining the VAW cluster at UCF in 2019, O鈥機onnor saw survivors every day in shelters for women escaping abusive relationships. 鈥淭he work was meaningful but exhausting. We鈥檇 care for one woman, knowing that two more would be right behind her.鈥�

O鈥機onnor agreed to come to 香港六合彩开奖结果 for two main reasons: 鈥淏ecause the university is one of the few institutions in the country committed to this,鈥� and 鈥淚 knew I鈥檇 be working alongside a group of researchers determined to push back against the tide.鈥�

Backes left a great career with the U.S. Department of Justice for the same reasons. Or, as she describes with measures of wisdom and bluntness: 鈥淚 wanted to join this group of kick-ass people who are driven to get something done.鈥�

Backes wants to talk about college football. She has a favorite team, and she converses for 15 minutes about coaches, players and game plans. But you can sense the tension in her voice when the conversation shifts to the treatment of women in so-called 鈥渕anly environments.鈥�

鈥淢asculinity can be toxic. Our research finds it in oil towns with transient male populations, the media and in the patriarchy of sports,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e should never revere a person with an assault allegation. Never. When we do that, it only makes us insensitive about all violence against women.鈥�

The news about the girlfriend abused at the hands of the ex-NFL player will fade, but for the girlfriend it鈥檚 a forever moment. She鈥檚 a mother, a daughter, a neighbor. She鈥檚 a survivor. We all know women like her, even if there are no visible bruises or pictures to prove what she survived.

Online sites such as help victims of domestic violence find temporary housing and a safe bed. Since it began in 2014, the total number of visits at just that one site are approaching 15 million.

It鈥檚 just one page on the internet.

鈥淭he numbers are daunting, and worse, they鈥檙e underreported,鈥� says O鈥機onnor. 鈥淎 lot of survivors say nothing out of fear. They don鈥檛 want the attention, they don鈥檛 want to be victim-shamed, they may not want police involvement, they don鈥檛 want the person who perpetrated the abuse to do it again. And keep in mind, abuse has no social, economic or generational boundaries.鈥�

A victim is probably sitting in class. She may be getting coffee in the breakroom. We have no idea.

鈥淥ne of the first steps we can do to change this,鈥� says Backes, 鈥渋s to listen. Not fix or question. A victim needs someone 鈥� this is important 鈥� she needs someone to believe [her].鈥�

“Abuse has no social, economic or generational boundaries.”

As an undergraduate student in college, Backes served as a resident advisor. Several young women quietly came to her after being assaulted because they knew of the tendency, even among friends, to doubt.

O鈥機onnor remembers reading through daily police reports of violence against women while working in a prosecuting attorney鈥檚 office. She served as a victim advocate in court.

鈥淭he cases came day after day. I felt like a Band-Aid on a gushing wound,鈥� she says.

One morning, O鈥機onnor called a woman whose husband had been arrested the previous night.

鈥淛ulia, do you know who you鈥檙e talking with?鈥� the woman on the phone asked.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe it,鈥� O鈥機onnor says now. 鈥淪he was an attorney connected with our office, and she was concerned as much for her job as for her safety. All of her professional [colleagues] were about to know all of her private life.鈥�

It鈥檚 among the many complexities a woman considers after being abused. Who will listen? Where can I go? What will happen to him? What will happen to me?

鈥淭his is what gets me up in the morning,鈥� says O鈥機onnor. 鈥淚鈥檓 optimistic because UCF has made real investments to solve this. The university chose to recruit this team of researchers. We keep each other going whenever one of us hits a dark spot because the statistics can seem overwhelming.鈥�

One in 3 women. Someone has to reverse the trend.

The tone in Pam Wisniewski鈥檚 voice is calm and peaceful, the trademark of a self-described 鈥渃omputer science nerd.鈥� Don鈥檛 be naive enough to question her resolve, though.

The VAW research team cannot change the behaviors of a society in a bubble, so teachers like Wisniewski, an associate professor of computer science, gladly add their expertise and background. In particular, she鈥檚 studying the ways private online messages can indicate the spiral into an abusive relationship.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at how we might create early warning mechanisms that girls can easily recognize on their devices,鈥� Wisniewski says. 鈥淥nce we put together a village of researchers, clinicians and entrepreneurs, I can see us breaking specific cycles of abuse.鈥�

Wisniewski has a resume steeped in research interests. She also mentors women at UCF. She openly shares her story of growing up because it stokes the fire in her spirit. Her mother was abused as a girl. So was Wisniewski, who says her mother鈥檚 boyfriend molested her starting when she was in middle school.

鈥淎s much as I love science, this topic is near and dear to my heart,鈥� says Wisniewski. 鈥淏elieve me, it hasn鈥檛 been an easy path to get where I am.鈥�

In high school, Wisniewski left home, moved into an apartment and worked at a Jiffy Lube to support herself. She channeled her energy into becoming salutatorian of her senior class because the classwork gave her a place to escape.

鈥淲e struggle our entire lives with PTSD and self-doubt,鈥� Wisniewski says of every survivor. 鈥淪o, I consider myself blessed to be doing what I鈥檓 doing. It doesn鈥檛 always turn out this way.鈥�

Once we put together a village of researchers, clinicians and entrepreneurs, I can see us breaking specific cycles of abuse.”

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8 million days of paid work each year. As many as 60% of victims lose their jobs. The individual cost for each woman averages more than $100,000 over a lifetime. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the costs of lost productivity, medical services and other factors from domestic violence drain $3.6 trillion from the U.S. economy.

鈥淭he numbers are inspiration enough [to take action],鈥� says Associate Professor of Economics Melanie Guldi. 鈥淓veryone should be interested in this because violence affects so much of our society.鈥�

As startling as the economic projections are, no financial study can calculate the cost of lost dreams. The words 鈥測ou can be anything you want鈥� vanish in a fog of very real conditions like insomnia, headaches, anxiety and early onset dementia. One of the earliest problems for survivors is difficulty focusing. Women in school might be placed on academic probation. They might drop out altogether, change jobs or move away.

鈥淭hen comes the narrative that a woman is unstable or unreliable,鈥� says Backes. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what is really frustrating. If you were abused and lived in fear, would you just go about your day as if everything is normal?鈥�

She鈥檚 done a deep investigation into a major tipping point: affordable and safe housing. Nearly 39,000 women and children enter a safe shelter on any given day. Many more, however, will go no further than thinking about it.

鈥淯nfortunately, the fear of homelessness, especially for those with children, can be greater than the fear of living with an abuser,鈥� says Backes. 鈥淰ictims have to weigh multiple factors to make the decision they think is best for themselves.鈥�

To make the decision more difficult, abusers often use control tactics to keep victims trapped 鈥� financially and emotionally. With no transportation, no adequate income to support herself and her children, and no alternative place to live, a woman can feel like there鈥檚 nowhere to turn.

The VAW cluster, which is lead by Professor of Sociology Jana Jasinski, is working to build evidence to not only prevent violence from occurring in the first place but to improve responses to survivors.

鈥淓very situation is different,鈥� says Backes. 鈥淪ometimes [survivors] need financial support to pay off debt or to pay for education. Others need long-term housing and supportive services. If we can prove the effectiveness of specific programs 鈥� like transitional housing 鈥� to provide that kind of help, more survivors will be able to obtain safety and access to the resources that work for them.鈥�

Expanding programs and housing is vital, but the VAW cluster recognizes it鈥檚 still a response after violent acts have happened. To really end abuse, they鈥檙e looking at a much bigger picture. They鈥檙e looking at us.

The professors want their jobs to be history. As in, finished. Part of an uneasy past. 鈥淚t might not happen in my lifetime,鈥� says Backes of making the VAW cluster obsolete, 鈥渂ut we can make enough progress for the next generation to do it.鈥�

If the statistics and stories about violence against women disturb us, then we must be paying attention. That鈥檚 a sign of progress. The next step: taking a stand and changing cultural elements that need to be addressed in ways we might not notice as easily as a news report.

The women who helped establish the VAW team of researchers would say that every single woman has endured some type of harassment. Cat calls. Unwanted touches. A culture that accepts any of this as normal behavior (such as a college campus) is ignoring early warning signs of potential abuse.

A symptom of our current culture is that only 20% of college women who are sexually assaulted or raped report the incident to law enforcement.

Can a dozen or so women at UCF really change all of this?

鈥淲e have reasons to be optimistic,鈥� says O鈥機onnor, 鈥渂ecause the university is fully with us. More people are giving it the attention it demands.鈥�

Campus resources, like Victim Services, provide students the secure space to disclose their stories of abuse. The VAW cluster is working with Student Health Services to develop questions that will help identify recent or ongoing abuse, and to immediately connect students with an advocate. Prevention and identification of abuse are mandatory discussions at orientation. Serious questions are asked: What鈥檚 a healthy relationship? How would you respond when you see someone berating another student?

For the rest of us, ask yourself the following questions. The answers will say a lot about how far we鈥檝e really come 鈥� and how far we still need to go:

Honestly, if you could sexually assault someone and get away with it 鈥� would you do it?

What if there鈥檚 no video of abuse 鈥� will you believe the survivor?

Are you willing to push against accepted societal culture, to support survivors?

鈥淲e鈥檙e getting closer to the point where we no longer say, 鈥業t isn鈥檛 my problem,鈥� 鈥� says Backes. 鈥淚t belongs to all of us. So the solution has to include everyone.鈥�

That last question about changing societal culture points back to what Backes admits is one big gap in the VAW cluster: They need some kick-ass men to join these kick-ass women.

鈥淲e cannot fully address this without the impactful voices of men,鈥� Backes says.

One in 3 women. Backes thinks about it every day because her greatest fear is also her greatest motivator. 鈥淢y daughter tells me, 鈥楽omeday I want to help women, just like you do,鈥� 鈥� she says.

Backes daughter is 8 years old. Full of dreams. Full of potential. She鈥檚 all around us. She wants to end this, too.