Architecture Commons^™

Empowering Women Through The Design Of Domestic Violence Shelters, Alexa Keim

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

According to a report published by The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey in 2017, one in four women are sexually assaulted, physically assaulted and/or stalked by an intimate partner. According to the same survey, these women feel fearful, unsafe and show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Supportive housing, in the form of domestic violence shelters, provide these women with a physical environment to combat their situation and to promote their future independence (Pable, 2013, p. 269; Phenice, L. & Griffore, R., 2013). Environmental factors can have an impact on women's psychological sense of safety in this time of …