Angeles Nava, PhD, and Judith McFarlane, DrPH (Faculty, College of Nursing, Houston) have been appointed by the Finnish Social Science Data Institute in Helsinki, Finland to be founding members of the Global Shelter Research Network, where they both were guest lecturers in 2024.

The Global Shelter Research Network is a collaboration of 24 researchers, across 26 countries in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East who are expert researchers in domestic violence and will survey 100 domestic violence shelter directors to generate evidence for best policy to promote the safety and wellbeing of abused women and their children within a global context.

The research network launched interviews of shelter directors in January 2025. The network will present initial findings at the World Congress on domestic violence shelters in Sidney, Australia in September 2025 and the European Congress on gender-based violence in Barcelona, Spain in September 2025. McFarlane and Nava will share findings with the TWU community.