Understanding Violence Against Women

The papers were prepared at the direction of Congress in the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 by the Panel on Research on Violence Against Women of the National Research Council. The panel examined literature on battering, rape, and sexual assault. It concluded that significant gaps exist in understanding the extent and causes of violence against women and the impact and effectiveness of preventive and treatment interventions. It also concluded that to significantly reduce violence against women, the focus must be on prevention. Research methods must improve to overcome the current problems of small sample sizes, lack of control group, and weak instrumentation. Research topics should include analyses of violence against specific subgroups of women and on women's experiences rather than only on categories of abuse. Tables, chapter notes, index, appended author biographies, and approximately 600 references