Domestic Violence Prevention & Services

​The Women & Gender Studies Department offers the Domestic Violence Prevention & Services Concentration and Minor, which prepare students for a range of careers focused on domestic violence advocacy and prevention. The only one of its kind available to undergraduates in the United States, the DVPS program trains students to become advocates for domestic violence survivors. The DVPS concentration combines coursework with practical experience by partnering with local domestic violence service agencies to offer concentration students the opportunity to serve victims and survivors of domestic violence as they participate in a ten-week summer practicum. Developed in conjunction with the certification and training curriculum of the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the course work for the program is interdisciplinary in nature and includes Women & Gender Studies, Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Human Development and Family Studies.

Launched in 2011 our Domestic Violence Prevention & Services Program, created with a $187,000 3-year grant from the Verizon Foundation, is the only undergraduate program of its kind available in the United States.

Women's Studies at the University of Delaware has a rich heritage of teaching in the area of gender violence. One of the earliest courses we developed in the 1970's addressed the psychological effects of domestic violence. UD has continued to sponsor a broad range of courses on various aspects of the subject from criminological, sociological, human services, literary, historical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Our faculty includes nationally recognized scholars of gender violence.

This project has national significance as our students graduate and seek jobs, and disseminate their knowledge to service providers and domestic violence survivors across the country. Students graduate prepared to work in the field of violence against women, to train others and to offer valuable information and resources to domestic violence survivors.

This program brings together knowledge of best practices from our faculty, the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, regional community service providers, state agencies and the generous support of the Verizon Foundation to combat the problem of violence against women. We are therefore positioned to become a national leader in scholarship and training in the field.