Broadly, my research focuses on investigating gender-based and family violence and subsequent system response and revictimization. Specifically, I investigate how systemic responses (e.g., child welfare, campus, legal) can perpetuate oppressive practices or injustice towards survivors of gender-based and family violence, and how that response can be addressed to reduce risk for revictimization. For example, a mother who purposely arrives late for child visitation to avoid her former abusive partner’s threats as he finishes his own visitation may be viewed negatively by the court, and may result in important consequences. How can we use research to understand the individual and social context underlying this mother’s decision? How can research be used to inform different practices?

Research approach: I value research that can inform policy and practice while also advancing our scientific understanding of gender-based and family violence. As such, I seek to build partnerships with community stakeholders who directly work with survivors, and together develop research questions. In this way, I hope that findings can help answer practical questions and inform sustainable and applicable recommendations.

In addition to community engaged, I also take an intersectional and feminist approach. This means that I believe that issues contributing to barriers in serving survivors to be multifaceted and intertwined, including, for example, those of systemic racism, sexism, and patriarchy. It also means that I use a mixed methods (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, administrative) approach to collecting data.