Carolina Överlien new professor at NCK
Carolina Överlien, Professor of Gender-based Violence and Health. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt.
Carolina Överlien is the newly appointed Professor of Gender-related Violence and Health at the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women (NCK). She has been researching violence in close relationships for 25 years. For the last decade, she has mainly focused on violence in young people’s close relationships.
Carolina Överlien assumed the role of professor on 5 February, and she is looking forward to start planning new research projects needed in the field.
“NCK holds a completely unique position in Sweden where research, teaching of professionals and students, helplines and clinical activities are gathered in one place. This provides the best conditions for research on violence,” says Carolina Överlien.
Since 2007, she has been a researcher and research manager at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) in Oslo. Among other things, she has been responsible for the Norwegian part of an EU-funded study on violence between young people in close relationships (Safeguarding teenage intimate relationships – STIR). As Professor of Social Work at Stockholm University, she has also started a Swedish version of the STIR study. It is the first Swedish mixed-method study on violence in young people’s close relationships in Sweden.
Carolina Överlien is also co-editor of the American Journal of Family Violence and, together with colleagues in England and Ireland, launched the first European Conference on Domestic Violence.
Her current research focuses on sexual violence among the young, where she, together with a doctoral student, is conducting a qualitative study on consent among young adults.
“I am interested in boundaries and grey areas from the perspective of young people. When does it go from a positive sexual experience to an assault? Together with colleagues, I am also looking at how the legal system and schools view sexual violence between young people.”
In her research, Carolina Överlien has always focused on children and adults in vulnerable life situations. Her driving force in her work is to be able to contribute to change through research.
“I have previously been active in the women’s shelter movement, and my goal with research has always been to reach out with knowledge about violence, both to prevent violence and to ensure that vulnerable individuals receive better support and help.”
Ylva Porsklev
This article was originally published on the NCK website.