Richards participates in congressional briefing on justice issues for women and girls
- published: 2018/12/11
- contact: Gaylene Armstrong - School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- phone: 402.554.2610
- email: garmstrong@unomaha.edu
Omaha – On October 11, 2018, Tara Richards, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, participated in the U.S. Congressional Briefing, “Translating Research to Policy: Improving Justice for Women and Girls,” hosted by the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women and Crime and held in Washington, DC.
Richards and other feminist criminologists offered suggestions for strengthening existing programs and policies; modifying current legislation and executive decisions; and establishing new legislative and funding initiatives. The audience included legislative aides, federal agency representatives, justice system practitioners, and faculty and students from nearby universities.
As researchers, we need to do a better job of making our research accessible and easily digestible for policymakers."
Richards drew on her research on campus, gender-based violence to make recommendations for improving the implementation of Title IX, Clery Act, and Campus SaVE Act requirements and for revisions to campus annual security reports.
She noted that “the panel provided a unique forum to talk directly to policy makers and agency staff”. She recognized that, “as researchers, we need to do a better job of making our research accessible and easily digestible for policymakers who can translate our findings into action. These are busy people who will never read our journal articles or be in the audience at an academic conference, but they were happy to have a conversation about how our research can improve the lives of their constituents.”
The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice plans to work with the Center of Public Affairs Research and other units of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service to host research-to-action events on campus in the upcoming academic year. Similar to other professional development conferences and workshops hosted last year, upcoming events will capitalize on the growing SCCJ Signature Area of Excellence in Victimology. Events in the victimology area will bring together Nebraska policy-makers, non-profit agencies, students, and community members to discuss how we can work together to make Nebraska’s communities safer and better serve students who experience gender-based violence.