{"id":291592,"date":"2018-01-18T15:29:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T20:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=291592"},"modified":"2022-02-05T10:57:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T15:57:05","slug":"rochester-team-casts-light-hidden-problem-domestic-violence-291592","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-team-casts-light-hidden-problem-domestic-violence-291592\/","title":{"rendered":"Rochester team casts light on a hidden problem in domestic violence cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"domestic<\/a>The domestic violence statistics are grim. Every minute across the United States 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner. That\u2019s more than 10 million women and men every year. One in 15 children will be an eyewitness to such domestic violence abuse. Reason enough for researchers to try to find ways to curb this public health problem.<\/p>\n

An important tool to reduce the recurrence of physical violence and abuse is a court order of protection. Part of that legal process entails the careful documentation of bruising and other injuries. But that\u2019s where it gets tricky: often bruises don\u2019t show up until a few days after the attack. Because time is of the essence in keeping the attacker at bay, some jurisdictions and agencies have been using alternative light source (ALS) lights that reveal bruising that the naked eye cannot (yet) see.<\/p>\n

But while existing ALS technology works well for light-skinned victims\u2014it\u2019s a lot less effective for people of color. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Rochester has set out to change that.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University\u2019s Susan B. Anthony Center<\/a> and the Institute of Optics<\/a> have received a $200,000 grant from the School of Medicine and Dentistry\u2019s Scientific Advisory Committee\u2019s (SAC) Incubator for pilot programs<\/a>. The two-year, community-based study brings together experts across a variety of fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to reduce racial disparities for these victims by improving bruising documentation and protection order rates for victims of color.\u201d<\/div>\n

Primary investigator Catherine Cerulli<\/a>, a professor of psychiatry and director of the University\u2019s Susan B. Anthony Center (SBAC), and the Laboratory of Interpersonal Violence and Victimization, heads up the team. Co-primary investigator is Andrew Berger<\/a>, an associate professor of optics and biomedical engineering. They are joined by co-investigators John Cullen<\/a>, assistant director of the SBAC, and director of diversity and inclusion for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the Medical Center, and James Zavislan<\/a>, associate dean for education and new initiatives at the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and associate professor of optics, biomedical engineering, and ophthalmology. Together they are working to take skin color out of the equation when it comes to processing these interpersonal domestic violence cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to reduce racial disparities for these victims by improving bruising documentation and protection order rates for victims of color,\u201d explains Cerulli.<\/p>\n

The study is the result of a multi-year effort between the University and a community partner, Lauren Deutsch, the executive director of the Rochester-based Healthy Baby Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have conducted preliminary work, which shows that helping professions\u2014such as doctors, nurses, lawyers, or police\u2014would benefit from better techniques to document bruising for all victims of domestic violence\u2014regardless of race, age, and ethnicity,\u201d Cerulli says.<\/p>\n

The first phase of the study compares victims\u2019 bruising documentation using traditional digital images against images acquired using ALS lights.<\/p>\n

In the second phase the scientists will develop a set of objective tools to identify evidence of abuse or injury independent of skin type. Ultimately, the team\u2019s goal is the development of technology that will improve bruising detection for all.<\/p>\n

In the news<\/strong><\/h3>\n