Tracy Evanson re-elected vice president for international nursing organization Tracy Evanson, assistant professor of nursing, has been re-elected to a second term of vice president at the most recent Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International (NNVAWI) conference, held in London, Ontario, Canada, in October 2007. The abuse and exploitation of women is a social problem of epidemic proportions which adversely affects the health of millions of women each year. NNVAWI's ethic fosters the ideal of nursing practice designed to provide assistance and support to women in the process of achieving their own personal empowerment. “As vice president I am pleased to be able to provide leadership in advancing nursing education, research and practice in violence against women,” said Dr. Evanson. International conferences, held approximately every 18 months, bring together academicians and practitioners from all over the world to share cutting-edge research, as well as hopeful and successful prevention and intervention programs. Their elected officers and board members now include representatives from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Evanson's research focuses on the role of home-visiting nurses in intimate partner violence prevention and intervention. “My goal in this leadership role is to help unite nurses, regardless of location or practice setting, to understand violence as a health care issue and to become skilled and committed to providing intimate partner violence screening and intervention as a routine part of nursing practice.” Statistics on violence against women in the United States are staggering. According to the National Organization for Women: • Every year approximately 132,000 women report that they have been victims of rape or attempted rape, and more than half of them knew their attackers. • Every year 1.2 million women are forcibly raped by their current or former male partners, some more than once. • Every day four women die in this country as a result of domestic violence, the euphemism for murders and assaults by husbands and boyfriends. That's approximately 1,400 women a year, according to the FBI. The number of women who have been murdered by their intimate partners is greater than the number of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. The Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International (NNVAWI) was formed to encourage the development of a nursing practice that focuses on health issues relating to the effects of violence on women's lives. The ultimate goal of NNVAWI is to provide a nursing presence in the struggle to end violence in women's lives. NNVAWI includes membership of nurses and others from countries throughout the world, who are committed to research, education, and practice that will end violence against women around the globe. For more information on NNVAWI, visit www.nnvawi.org -- Becky Cournia, Alumni & Development Officer, Nursing, beckycournia@mail.und.edu, 777-4526