Global Perspectives on Sexual Violence Virtual Symposium

This virtual symposium will feature contributors to the September 2021 special issue of Psychology of Violence entitled, “Global perspectives on sexual violence: Understanding the experiences of marginalized populations and elucidating the role of sociocultural factors in sexual violence.”  Presenters will discuss sexual violence among marginalized and understudied populations including LGBTQ+ individuals and Arab Americans.  Presenters will also discuss sociocultural factors associated with victimization risk and recovery among survivors.  Finally, what is known about the prevalence of sexual violence in different global regions will be delineated.

Update
The symposium date has passed, but if you would like to watch the recording, it can be seen below. If you're curious to see biographies on the presenters, they can be found below the video. 

Topics and Presenter Bios

Global perspectives on sexual violence: Understanding the experiences of marginalized populations and elucidating the role of sociocultural factors in sexual violence (presenter- Heather Littleton)

Dr. Heather Littleton is the Director of Research Operations and Associate Professor at the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Her work focuses on social-cognitive and ecological factors in trauma recovery as well as the use of technology to deliver efficacious trauma prevention and intervention programming.  Although her work has focused on the experiences of survivors of a number of different types of trauma, the majority of her research focuses on the experiences of sexual assault survivors.

Physical and Sexual Victimization Class Membership and Alcohol Misuse and Consequences among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Female Youth (presenter- Jillian Scheer)

Dr. Jillian Scheer is the Cobb-Jones Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Syracuse University and a licensed counseling psychologist. Dr. Scheer’s research focuses on (1) examining co-occurring epidemics (e.g., sexual violence, stigma, alcohol misuse) surrounding sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations; (2) identifying biopsychosocial determinants of SGM people’s comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and alcohol use disorders; and (3) developing and implementing evidence-based mental and behavioral health interventions for trauma-exposed SGM people with a particular focus on sexual minority women. 

Minority stress and sexual partner violence victimization and perpetration among LGBQ+ college students: The moderating roles of hazardous drinking and social support (presenters- Stephanie Lim and Kayla Sall)

Kayla Sall is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Health Psychology at East Carolina University. Broadly, her research and clinical interests focus on sexual health and trauma using an intersectional feminist lens. Current research projects include examining internalized weight bias and sexual health among pregnant women, positive health behavior change within the field of cardio-obstetrics, and IPV among LGBQ+ students. 

Stephanie Lim is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a graduate research associate in the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory. She is interested in intersectional and feminist understandings of the causes and consequences of interpersonal violence and sexual assault.

Arab American women’s health following sexual victimization: An exploratory study of the moderating effects of bicultural identity harmony and social constraints (presenter- Jolin Yamin)

Jolin Yamin is a Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate at Wayne State University. Her work focuses on the interaction of psychosocial stress and health, as well as the development and testing of effective clinical training approaches with a focus on trauma-informed psychotherapy skills. Jolin is currently completing her pre-doctoral internship at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Sociocultural Correlates of Sexual and Physical Intimate Partner Violence across 98 Countries (presenters- Malachi Willis and Tiffany Marcantonio)

Malachi Willis is a research associate within the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow. He works as a data analyst for Britain's National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) and the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study (HBSC). Malachi's primary research trajectory investigates sexual consent—how people experience, communicate, and perceive willingness to engage in sexual behavior. Specifically, he considers how these aspects of sexual consent vary across contexts, such as relational characteristics or the involvement of alcohol and other drugs.

Tiffany Marcantonio is a doctoral candidate at the University of Arkansas in the Health, Human Performance, and Recreation Department and a Kinsey Institute Research Affiliate. Her research program focuses on the intersection of alcohol use and sexual violence. Specifically, she examines how alcohol use impacts consent communication and how alcohol use increases the likelihood of a sexual assault occurring. She also examines how young adults communicate sexual refusals.

Sociocultural influences on psychological recovery from sexual assault: A global perspective (presenter- Terri Weaver)

Dr. Terri Weaver is Professor of Psychology at the APA-accredited doctoral clinical psychology program at Saint Louis University. Her work focuses on the inter-relationships among the physical and mental health sequelae of interpersonal violence as well as the meaning-making processes that mediate these outcomes.  Her work is informed by cross-cutting theories and integrates areas of clinical, developmental, health, medical and legal psychology.  Outcomes of her research have policy and practice implications and address broader issues of social justice and violence prevention.

Child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in Spain: A descriptive study of abuse characteristics, victims’ faith and spirituality (presenter-Anna Segura)

Dr. Anna Segura is a postdoctoral research associate at the Center on Violence Against Women and Children at the Rutgers University School of Social Work. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Barcelona, where her dissertation highlighted the effects of poly-victimization on mental health problems, and risk and protective factors among adolescents in residential care in Catalonia. Her research focuses on the effects of victimization experiences and poly-victimization on children and adolescents, including resilience and risk and protective factors. She also examines the effectiveness of sexual and dating violence prevention programs and the implementation of services in child welfare systems internationally. 

The global prevalence of sexual assault: A systematic review of international research since 2010 (presenter- Emily Dworkin)

Dr. Emily R. Dworkin is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The central goal of her program of research is to improve recovery outcomes after sexual assault and other forms of trauma by targeting the social, community, and cultural contexts in which recovery unfolds.

Additional information on the publication can be found on APA PsycNet here.