The mission of the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) is to advance the knowledge of interpersonal violence. IDVSA accomplishes this through research, education, and service in multi-disciplinary, strategic partnerships with researchers, educators, practitioners, policy makers, and other members of our community.
It is the vision of IDVSA that its multi-disciplinary, researcher-practitioner, collaborative approach will enhance the quality and relevance of research efforts and their application in service provision. That vision has been realized in our recent research focus in the areas of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and resiliency in service providers.
Our efforts are supported through generous contributions from the RGK Foundation, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the Shield-Ayres Foundation, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, and The University of Texas School of Social Work and the School of Law.
IDVSA is a collaboration of partners from The University of Texas at Austin – the School of Social Work, School of Law, and School of Nursing and the Bureau of Business Research. IDVSA’s Director and Principal Investigator is Noël Busch-Armendariz. The Co-Principal Investigators are Jeana Lungwitz, Regina Jones Johnson and Bruce Kellison. The Associate Director for Education and Communications is Karen Kalergis and the Associate Director for Research is Laurie Cook Heffron.
Current Research Focus
- Sexual Assault Needs Assessment in Texas: Documenting Existing Conditions and Striving Toward Preferred Outcomes (PDF)
- Statewide Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in Texas 2011 (PDF)
- The 34th Judicial District Attorney Takes on Family Violence Crime: An Evaluation of the 24 Hour Contact Initiative (PDF)
- Non-Report Sexual Assault Evidence Program: Forging New Victim-Centered Practices in Texas (PDF)
- Survivors Speak Out: A Research Study on Human Trafficking Victims 2009 (PDF)
- Understanding Human Trafficking: Development of Typologies of Human Traffickers Phase I (PDF)
- In Brief – Understanding Human Trafficking: Development of Typologies of Traffickers Phase II (PDF)
- Study on need for self-care programs in Texas (PDF)
What’s New on the Site
Daniel Ross named Chair of IDVSA Advisory Committee
“Sexual assault cases subject of scrutiny by UT researchers” – Daily Texan article
IDVSA publishes research on survivors of human trafficking, “Human Trafficking Victims and Their Children: Assessing Needs, Vulnerabilities, Strengths, and Survivorship.”