About Patricia Tjaden
A recent ascent of Capitol Peak
Dr.Tjaden is an internationally recognized expert on violence against women. Her research on stalking, rape, and domestic violence is widely published and often cited.
A seasoned public speaker, Patricia Tjaden is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops designed to inform practitioners and policy makers about the extent and nature of gender-based violence. She also has discussed her research on numerous TV and radio news programs.
Throughout her career, Patricia Tjaden has assumed a leadership role among her peers, often foreseeing trends and identifying issues before they become part of the mainstream. As a sociology professor, she pioneered courses on women and crime, sexual victimization, and intimate partner violence. As a researcher, she has conducted groundbreaking research on such diverse issues as stalking in America, rape by clergy, violence in the workplace, intimate partner violence in same-sex couples, dispute processing in child abuse and neglect cases, and gender discrimination in the justice system. More recently she has worked with various organizations, including the United Nations, to develop guidelines for measuring violence against women in diverse populations.
Patricia Tjaden began her career in 1977 as a juvenile justice specialist for the Colorado Department of Institutions where she evaluated the effectiveness of delinquency prevention programs. Two years later she left state government to pursue her doctoral studies in sociology at the University of Colorado in Boulder and to become an assistant professor of sociology at Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado. After earning a Ph.D. in sociology in 1983, she joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. From there she went on to teach at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
In 1987, Patricia Tjaden left academia to become senior researcher at the Center for Policy Research in Denver, Colorado. While at the Center she developed and executed numerous federally-funded research projects, including the highly-acclaimed National Violence Against Women Survey. In 2001, she left the Center to form Tjaden Research Corporation, where she continues to write and speak on issues related to violence against women.