Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of nurses, physicians, and other health and legal professionals involved in the treatment and care of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Statement of Need/Program Overview

This webinar will focus on the intersection of women’s experiences of sexual and physical violence in their intimate partnerships. Common patterns of women’s experiences, prevalence, and the causes and consequences of this frequently overlooked form of violence against women will be addressed. Particular attention will be given to discussing the challenges women face in disclosing their experiences, barriers to service provision and best practices in providing resources to women who have been physically and sexually abused by their intimate partners.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

1. Discuss the prevalence of sexual and physical violence in intimate partnerships.

2. Describe the various types of IPSV and DV and how survivors are affected by IPSV.

3. Identify the causal factors and consequences of IPSV and DV.

4. Develop strategies to discuss sexual and domestic violence with patients and provide support to survivors

Faculty

Raquel Kennedy Bergen, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA

Faculty Bio

Raquel Kennedy Bergen is a Professor of Sociology. She is a fellow in the Institute for Violence Research and Prevention at Saint Joseph’s University. A graduate of Saint Joseph’s, she received her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the faculty of Saint Joseph’s in 1993. She is the author or co-author of numerous scholarly publications and five books on violence against women including, Wife Rape: Understanding the Response of Survivors and Service Providers; and Issues in Intimate Violence (Sage Publications). With Claire Renzetti and Jeff Edleson she edited, Sourcebook on Violence Against Women (Sage Publications) and the recently published anthology, Violence Against Women: Classic Statement (Allyn and Bacon); and Violence Against Women: Readings from Social Problems (Rowman Littlefield). Her area of expertise is intimate partner sexual violence and her current research explores women’s experiences of sexual and physical violence during pregnancy. In 2004 she was appointed by the Honorable Governor Edward Rendell to the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission. She is currently the only woman to serve on this Commission. Raquel Kennedy Bergen has worked with battered women and sexual assault survivors for the past 18 years. She routinely travels the country to educate advocates for battered women and sexual assault survivors on intimate partner sexual violence. She is also the faculty moderator of REPP — the Rape Education Prevention Program at Saint Joseph’s University.