FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Erica Nogueira
Phone: 858-635-4428
Email: enogueira@alliant.edu
Alliant’s Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma partners with National
Taiwan University to improve justice system and forensic process for victims
of child abuse
SAN DIEGO -- Jan 5, 2015 -- The US-based Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT) at Alliant
International University and the National Taiwan University (NTU) Children and Family Research Center
announce a first-ever international partnership to support the end of violence and abuse in their respective
countries and across the world. The partnership includes academic, research and training collaborations,
with a special emphasis on forensic interviewing and evaluation of children in physical and sexual abuse
cases.
This important partnership was marked by the signing of an official memorandum of understanding
between the two institutions on January 5, 2015 on the San Diego campus of Alliant International
University. Dr. Geoffrey Cox, president of Alliant International University, Dr. Robert Geffner, president
of IVAT, and Dr. Joyce Yen Feng, minister without portfolio and advisory committee member of the
NTU Children and Family Research Center, were on hand to officiate the signing. The event was
followed by a tour of IVAT’s Mock House, a training facility located on the Alliant campus that simulates
a two-bedroom, one-bath house designed to enhance hands-on training of forensic interviewers,
investigators and prosecutors involved in child abuse cases.
Facilities and exercises like the Mock House are a key point of collaboration between IVAT and NTU.
One of their shared goals is to reduce the suffering of victims of child abuse during the legal and
investigative process by helping legal professionals to better conduct appropriate and effective forensic
interviews with children. IVAT is a well-regarded leader in this arena -- expertise that will assist NTU in
the development of training protocol and standards for prosecutors, policy makers and social workers in
Taiwan, where forensic interviewers do not currently exist within the system.
Additional planned collaborations include research activities, joint publications and editorial
responsibilities in scientific journals, and shared academic and professional training events, as well as
speaking engagements by IVAT’s Dr. Geffner and NTU’s Dr. April Shen. Shen, a recently appointed
distinguished fellow for IVAT, will serve as keynote speaker NTU’s international conference in
November and is on the planning committee for the 20th International Summit on Violence, Abuse and
Trauma hosted by IVAT in August in San Diego.
About the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma
The Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma was founded in 2006, when the nationally acclaimed
Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute (FVSAI), founded in 1984 by Dr. Robert Geffner, joined
Alliant International University. IVAT strives to be a comprehensive resource, training and research
center dealing with all aspects of violence, abuse and trauma. IVAT interfaces with Alliant International
University’s academic schools and centers, which provide resource support and educational training.
Through a focus on collaborations with various partnering organizations, IVAT desires to bridge gaps and
help improve current systems of care on a local, national and global level. Learn more at ivatcenters.org.
About the National Taiwan University Children and Family Research Center
The National Taiwan University Children and Family Research Center was founded through a
cooperative agreement between National Taiwan University (NTU) and Chinatrust Charity Foundation in
2012. With the rapid social, economic, demographic and family changes in Taiwan, Taiwan is
encountering many social problems related to children and family, such as the declining fertility rate,
domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, adolescent drug abuse, and so on. In search of measures and
strategies to address these social problems, the National Taiwan University collaborated with Chinatrust
Charity Foundation to establish this research center. The center aims to explore problems related to
families and especially children, provide innovative service models and policy recommendations, publish
academic research outcomes and promote international collaboration. The center expects to become the
leading think-tank in Taiwan in regard to children and family issues. Learn more at http://cfrc.ntu.edu.tw.
About Alliant International University
Alliant International University is a global institution of higher education with graduate and
undergraduate programs spanning psychology and mental health, education, business and management,
criminology, and law. Alliant focuses on preparing students for professional careers of service and
leadership, with more than one million hours of community service performed by our students each year.
Alliant is recognized as one of the leading U.S. universities in diversity and minority education by
INSIGHT Into Diversity and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazines, and as a military-friendly
school by Military Times EDGE magazine and Victory media. Degree programs are available in six
California cities: Fresno, Irvine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco; in three
international capitals: Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo; and online. Alliant is a private university
accredited by the Western Association of Senior Colleges and by other specialized and international
accreditors. For more information, visit www.alliant.edu.
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