Interdisciplinary Journal on Violence Commemorates 25 Years of Excellence

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 2, 2019) — How does a journal unravel the threat of violence against women and the many forms of violence in women's lives throughout the world?

The Violence Against Women journal tackles this complex topic by shedding light not only on the forms of violence that are widely discussed, but also on the lesser known forms of violence. After 25 years of publications, this international journal is now ranked ninth among journals focusing on women's studies and cited more than 3,400 times.

Claire Renzetti, chair of the University of Kentucky Department of Sociology and Judi Conway Patton Endowed Chair in the UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women, founded the interdisciplinary journal in March 1995 and currently serves as its editor. Under her direction, the journal increased its number of issues from two to 16 per year. Despite this expansion, the journal continues to maintain a low 12 percent acceptance rate.

"When I established the journal 25 years ago, there was no publication venue devoted entirely to research on the multiple issues related to the problem of violence against women," Renzetti said. "Researchers around the world were generating significant findings from rigorous empirical studies on different types of violence, risk factors, the consequences of victimization, and prevention and intervention programs, but this work was being published across a range of journals.

"The research published in the journal provides accurate, empirically based knowledge that refutes or debunks widely held, popular myths about intimate partner violence, sexual assault and other forms of violence against women."

As the Violence Against Women journal celebrates its 25th anniversary, the journal will publish two special anniversary issues in January and December. These issues will feature pieces from former and current members of the editorial board reflecting on the state of the field and the journal's contribution.

The journal's editorial board includes faculty and students from universities in the United States and abroad. Two UK faculty members, Edward Morris and Diane Follingstad, serve on the editorial board. Margaret Campe and Rachel Davis, two UK graduate students, contribute as social media editors.

Violence Against Women is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that focuses on gender-based violence against women in all forms and across cultural and national boundaries and publishes a wide array of articles. Topics covered include domestic violence, sexual assault, incest, sexual harassment, female infanticide, female circumcision and female sexual slavery among other important issues.