U. professor presents research on campus violence in Ireland

Sarah McMahon, a professor in the School of Social Work and director of the Center for Research on Ending Violence (REV Center), recently presented research and information on violence prevention to colleagues at universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland, according to a post on social media platform X.

McMahon told The Daily Targum that she visited three universities during her Ireland trip: Trinity College Dublin during the week of September 29, University of Galway on October 4 and Queen's University of Belfast in Northern Ireland on October 7.

"They have a network of different universities and organizations that are doing work on campus sexual violence and harassment over in Ireland," she said. "They do a lot of work together."

She said that she talked to the other universities' representatives about how Rutgers is pursuing a whole school approach to violence and harm. This means that at Rutgers, the whole community has a responsibility to keep the campus safe.

McMahon said that Rutgers has the Enhancing Victims Services Project, which allows the REV Center to expand services and training to create a safe and inclusive environment.

She also said that due to funding from the New Jersey Office of Attorney General, the project helped develop Victim Prevention and Victim Assistance (VPVA) offices at Rutgers—Camden, Rutgers—Newark and Rutgers Health.

"We also were able to hire a faculty and staff training coordinator who trains faculty and staff on how to support students," she said. "So, my presentations were about the work that we've been doing at Rutgers."

She said that she was initially introduced to this network through a student at Trinity College Dublin while writing her dissertation about bystander intervention on college campuses when the student reached out to McMahon due to her research in that area. 

McMahon said that after meeting with the doctoral student and other individuals she works with, they came to the U.S. and presented with her at a summer conference. After this, she said they invited her to Ireland to discuss her campus violence research.

"So, really, the purpose was to learn more about how other people are doing this work of prevention and education on campus violence in ways that are interesting and innovative, and to share ideas," she said.

She said that Northern Ireland's government released a report about violence against women and girls in the region. So, she said, researchers from Queen's University of Belfast's Center on Public Health have made it a priority to make public spaces safer for women and girls. McMahon said that one of the researchers at the Center on Public Health reached out to her to visit the REV Center and discuss their work.

McMahon said that Trinity College Dublin has simulation labs that they use to train people on campus violence and bystander intervention.

"We do a lot of training related to bystander intervention and the prevention of campus violence, but it's not always engaging or interesting," she said. "So, I was really excited to learn more about what they're doing and how they're trying to find ways to get people involved."

McMahon said she learned many lessons during her trip to the three universities. She said one of them at the University of Galway was how different colleges and universities in Ireland have a network across the country to work together on issues such as active consent.

Then, she said that at Queen's University of Belfast, she learned that the school has a community advisory board where people with various expertise come together to develop ways to create safe spaces.

"It was really great to see that kind of collaboration that doesn't always happen," she said.

McMahon said she wants the Rutgers community to know that the REV Center is sharing research and evaluation and working to understand possible approaches to preventing and responding to interpersonal violence on campus.

"And if there is one thing I would want people to know about the work we're doing at Rutgers is that we have the VPVA offices on each of our four campuses available 24/7," she said.