A Binghamton University researcher, professor and alumna received a $1.2 million grant to study sexual violence screening on college campuses in a study called “Multi-level Influences of Violence Screening in College Health Centers.”

The objective of the study is to improve the health of women attending college by advancing intimate partner and sexual violence screening.

Melissa Sutherland, ’97, M.S. ’01, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing from BU and holds a doctorate in nursing science from the University of Virginia. Sutherland is a professor in the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the director of the Kresge Center for Nursing Research (KCNR), the main research resource in Decker College.

Sutherland and her colleague, Katherine Hutchinson, associate dean of graduate programs and research at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Nursing, received a Research Project (R01) Grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a federal agency that strives to improve America’s health care system with data and evidence. BU’s Bing Si, assistant professor of systems science and industrial engineering department in the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science, will serve as another investigator in this study.

According to Sutherland, they will study the sexual violence screening that colleges and universities in the United States administer over the next four years.

“We will be conducting a national survey of college health care providers (working in college health centers), examining facilitators and barriers of intimate partner and sexual violence screening,” Sutherland wrote. “We will also be conducting focus groups with college women to ask about their experiences with screening in college health centers.”

Sutherland is focused on the screening of college women since they are especially at risk of intimate partner and sexual violence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five women will or have already experienced some form of sexual assault in college.

Sutherland believes that interpersonal violence is a public health issue and that implementing sexual violence screening in colleges could be a preventive measure.

“The National Academy of Medicine and other national organizations recommend that health care providers screen and counsel all women for current and past experiences of intimate partner and sexual violence,” Sutherland wrote. “College health centers, therefore, represent unique opportunities to screen college women and mitigate their risk for further violence and adverse outcomes.”

Sutherland noted that this study will enable her and her colleagues to discover why some colleges offer intimate partner and sexual violence screening while others do not.

“Screening can facilitate timely treatment for injuries, crisis intervention, counseling, safety planning and referral for services,” Sutherland wrote. “We are hopeful that this study will provide answers and a thorough understanding of the patient characteristics and provider, organization and state-level factors that promote or inhibit intimate partner and sexual violence screening in college health centers.”

Faith Medina, a senior double-majoring in human development and English, discussed the benefits and challenges of sexual violence screening.

“On one hand, it can be really hard for victims to bring up that subject on their own, so the screening is beneficial and allows for a safe space to be opened up if needed,” Medina wrote. “On the other hand, it can make victims relive past traumas and make situations really awkward if they’re having a regular check-up or something, and then it gets brought up unexpectedly.”

Dominique Jackson, a junior majoring in Africana studies, understands the importance of sexual violence screening but worries that it may not be effective.

“I do think it’s important that colleges have sexual violence screenings, but the success of these screenings may be based on an individual’s willingness to be open about discussing their experiences with sexual violence,” Jackson wrote. “I’ve filled out wellness screenings before at the doctor’s office about my current mental health, and I answer as honestly as possible. But, if someone doesn’t fill out these sexual violence screenings honestly, they lose their benefit.”

Elizabeth Kamerman, treasurer of the Women’s Student Union (WSU) and a junior majoring in environmental studies, wrote that in order to identify and prevent more students from becoming victims of intimate partner and sexual violence, colleges should provide more than a sexual violence screening.

“There’s a long history at BU and colleges everywhere of survivors of sexual violence being underserved or silenced,” Kamerman wrote. “A widespread screening process like this isn’t something I’ve seen before, and there needs to be a prioritization of a survivor’s right to choose how and if they seek this kind of support. I think that before anything else there needs to be an overhaul of how the University treats survivors. This happens through bringing in more properly trained counselors, centralizing new resources on campus with the introduction of the Violence, Abuse and Rape Crisis Center (VARCC), an organization that will centralize resources for survivors which WSU is pushing the BU administration to introduce on campus without the involvement of [the Binghamton’s New York State University Police], abolishing Greek life and more.”

If you believe you or a friend are experiencing intimate partner or sexual violence, visit here.