Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives: Exhibition

The Health Science Center Library (HSCL) is proud to host “Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives,” a traveling exhibit from the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

The image is a promotional poster for an exhibit titled "Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives." The background consists of illustrations of diverse individuals of various ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds, overlaid with muted tones of orange, green, and beige. People depicted include women and men in various, possibly determined to be professional or casual, settings, with neutral and serious expressions. The top half of the poster features the title, split into three sections: the word "CONFRONTING" in white bold letters on an orange background, "VIOLENCE" in large gray letters against a beige background, and "IMPROVING WOMEN'S LIVES" in smaller black letters next to both. Beneath the title, there is additional information about the exhibit, including dates, location, and a URL, accompanied by a QR code.

Activists and reformers in the United States have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were battered.

During the late 20th century, nurses took up the call. With passion and persistence they worked to reform a medical profession that overwhelmingly failed to acknowledge violence against women as a serious health issue. Beginning in the late 1970s, nurses were in the vanguard as they pushed the larger medical community to identify victims, adequately respond to their needs, and work towards the prevention of domestic violence. This is their story.

The exhibit runs from from August 26 – October 5, 2024.


Additional programming highlights include:

From Private Matter to Public Health Crisis: Nursing & the Intervention into Domestic Violence

Catherine O. Jacquet portrait. She has short spiky hair, glasses, and is smiling in a gray sweater.

A Plenary Talk by Catherine Jacquet, Curator of the Confronting Violence Exhibit

Monday, September 9th, 2024
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Location: Communicore Building, C1-004


Catherine O. Jacquet is the Luke V. Guarisco Distinguished Associate Professor of History at Louisiana State University where she holds a joint appointment in History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. At LSU she teaches courses in US history, women’s history, the history of sexuality, LGBTQ activism, and history of prisons. Her book The Injustices of Rape: How Activists Responded to Sexual Violence, 1950-1980 was published with the University of North Carolina Press in 2019. Her research has been published in the Journal of Women’s History and the Radical History Review. In 2016 she curated the exhibit Confronting Violence, Improving Women’s Lives at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. The exhibit tells the story of the nurses who sought to reform the medical system and improve healthcare services for survivors of domestic violence in the late twentieth century. Her current research examines activism by prisoners and their allies against sexual violence in carceral institutions in the late 20th century. 

Monday, September 16 – Professional Perspectives of Domestic Violence: Speaker Panel

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Location: Communicore Building, C1-009
The panel will discuss domestic violence in campus, elderly, urban, and rural communities within the university and broader north Florida region, specifically with medical, legal, and community professional perspectives. Panelists include representatives from Rural Women’s Health, Elder Options, Peaceful Paths, and Helping Hands Clinic with the session moderated by Lauren Solberg (Associate Professor and Program Director, Program in Bioethics, Law and Medical Professionalism, Department of Community Health & Family Medicine, UF)

Tuesday, September 24th – Clinician Responses to Domestic Violence in Popular Culture: Discussion panel.

11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Communicore Building, C1-121 (Biomedical Information Teaching Space)
At this event, clinicians will react to clips from popular medical dramas that portray healthcare professionals’ responses to domestic violence issues, evaluating their realism and describing best practice. Panelists will also discuss the impact of media depictions of domestic violence on cultural perceptions. Panelists include faculty clinicians from the University of Florida’s Community Health & Family Medicine department in the College of Medicine and the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department in the College of Dentistry.

Journal Club

09/05, 09/12, 09/19 & 09/26 – 1:00 PM
Location: Zoom
The journal club will meet every Thursday in September to discuss articles on research related to domestic violence and health. More Journal Club info.

This exhibition was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health..

For more information and a list of related events, please visit guides.uflib.ufl.edu/confrontingviolenceexhibit