UConn Unveils New Center Focused On Preventing Sexual Violence On Campus

STORRS, CT — The University of Connecticut has unveiled a new research center that will focus on preventing sexual violence on college campuses, a move the university says underscores its commitment to the issue.

The new Center for Research on Sexual Violence and Empowerment was recommended by UConn President Radenka Maric’s 2022 Task Force for Combating Sexual Violence and Supporting Our Students.

The task force included 22 members made up of students, faculty, and staff from existing campus organizations involved in UConn’s approach to preventing sexual violence. According to the university, the new center will be housed at the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, known as InCHIP.

Lisa A. Eaton has been named director of the center. Eaton is principal investigator at InCHIP and a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences in UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Under Eaton’s leadership, according to the university, the center will advance UConn’s research expertise in sexual violence and develop interventions at the individual, community, and policy levels to combat sexual violence at UConn and beyond.

The university said Eaton plans to work with students and faculty across departments and campuses to shape the center’s research agenda. She also plans to evaluate and implement recommendations from the president’s task force. Ryan J. Watson will serve as the center’s associate director. Watson is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and studies sexual and gender diverse young adult health disparities.

According to the university, the center will also engage in scholarship activism. That work will focus on translating research findings to inform policy, practice, and interventions at the individual, community, and policy levels.

The center’s launch ties directly to the recommendations made by the 2022 task force, which was created to address sexual violence and student support at UConn. The university did not provide a public opening date beyond announcing that the center has been unveiled, but said the effort is intended to strengthen research and prevention work on campus and contribute to efforts beyond UConn.

The center will be led by faculty in Human Development and Family Sciences and based at InCHIP as it begins its work on research, intervention development, and task force recommendations.