Alexandra Lysova

Sterling Prize 2022: Recipient shrugs off controversy by keeping focus on victims

Content warning: domestic violence

Alexandra Lysova was the 2022 recipient of the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy for her years of dedicated research on male victims of domestic violence – a field that can at times be fraught with polarizing and politicized debate.

“In my work, I started to look at the violence against women and children, but I heard men’s voices as well. I’ve seen this in the statistics, that there are men who experience abuse, and I was surprised to see how much this topic was avoided and was not discussed,” Lysova said. “I think if we stop talking about the issue, it does not go away. It stays with us. What’s the point of playing politics around this if it doesn’t help us prevent abuse?”

Lysova, an associate professor in the School of Criminology, said her work focuses on finding ways to prevent all forms of intimate partner violence, including violence against women, and the recognition that comes with the Sterling Prize helped steel her resolve. 

Lysova received the Sterling Prize and addressed these issues in conversation with Dr. Benjamin Roebuck (Professor of Victimology and Public Safety at Algonquin College), Douglas Todd (Columnist, Vancouver Sun) and Michael Healey (National Program Manager, Nexus Recovery Programs) on Wednesday, October 19. The award ceremony was held at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver and was livestreamed for the public.