This document contains an assessment tool for jurisdictions to use in developing effective responses by law enforcement, prosecution, and the courts.
The third website installment profiles 13 communities that have undertaken efforts to reduce and prevent violence against women. The communities have developed a coordinated criminal justice response while maintaining a focus on victim safety and offender accountability.
Before it Occurs: Primary Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (pdf)
Focusing on primary prevention and applying lessons learned from past successes, our chapter presents a framework for meaningful health sector involvement in initiating the environmental change necessary to stop intimate partner violence and abuse before it occurs.
Domestic Violence Prevention Training: Participant Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes (pdf)
"The present study used intake assessments to identify family background, childhood memories and experiences with violence, substance abuse, male violence histories, and social interactions among the population who attended a Domestic Violence Prevention Training Program."
Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment Cases (Executive Summary)
This is an executive summary of the document "Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policies and Practice." The aim of this document is to offer a more comprehensive set of responses to eliminate or decrease the enormous risks that individual battered mothers, caseworkers, and judges must take on behalf of children.
This 133 page publication addresses a number of issues relevant to family violence within the home and the community and specifically focuses on interventions.
The Human Rights Brief, a student-run publication of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, reports on developments in international human rights and humanitarian law and provides concise legal analysis of cutting edge human rights issues.
Is Domestic Violence Screening Helpful? (pdf)
An article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in which the author reviews the uncertainty in determining whether screening for domestic violence effectively works to the benefit of families.
Model Protocol on Safety Planning for Domestic Violence Victims with Disabilities
The goal of this protocol and recommended policies is to support domestic violence agencies: to increase their safety planning services to people with disabilities and advance self-determination for people with disabilities by offering safety planning that is cognizant of environmental and social barriers. This protocol builds on the existing safety planning knowledge of domestic violence programs. Basic safety planning strategies will not be reviewed in this document.
Model Protocol on Screening Practices for Domestic Violence Victims with Disabilities
The goal of this protocol is to support domestic violence agencies in the State of Washington in examining and revising their intake and screening process to include questions about disability issues. Inquiring if a victim has a disability that requires accommodation gives the program information that enables them to provide appropriate accessible services.
This protocol/policy model intends to support domestic violence agencies in the state of Washington to increase and extend the services to immigrant and refugee women whose primary language is not English. However, this information will be relevant to any agency that is a recipient of federal funding.
Model Protocol on Working with Friends and Family of Domestic Violence Victims (pdf)
This protocol includes examples of programs that can engage friends and families in dealing with ending domestic violence.
Model Protocols on Working with Battered Women and Their Teenage Boys in Shelter
This model protocol is useful for domestic violence shelters who do not set age limits for male children in shelter. It is equally useful for those who critically examine safety of all children and women in shelter.
Physicians and Domestic Violence: Challenges for Prevention (pdf)
The author discusses a need for health care professionals to invest their efforts in the fight against domestic violence.
This report conceptualizes the Community Engagement Continuum in order to categorize a range of community based approaches in the anti-violence movement and to clarify the goals of engagement. The four points on the continuum--community outreach and education, community mobilization, community organizing, and community accountability--are defined by the level to which the strategies used lead to increases in the community's capacity to transform relations of power.
The Effects of Violence on Women's Employment
This is an abstract of a paper by Susan Lloyd of the Joint Center for Poverty Research of the Macarthur Foundation. The paper addresses whether women who are experiencing or have experienced domestic violence have lower employment rates than women who have not.
The Misuse of Police Powers in Officer Involved Domestic Violence
This document outlines some of the basics of the police culture and police training in order to gain insight into the victim’s experience. Being “culturally sensitive” helps to place in context some of the types of abuse only batterers within law enforcement inflict, how these abusers minimize and justify their behavior, and their sense of entitlement to exercise power and control over their victims.
This paper is part of series of papers that addresses the way to mobilize community and programatic resources to provide responsive help to children and families affected both by domestic violence and poverty. This particular paper addresses the way to offer support and safety for children while maintaining safety, autonomy and choide for battered women.
Working with Young Men Who Batter: Current Strategies and New Directions
This article offers an overview of the recent juvenile batterer intervention programs. It identifies risk factors for teen dating violence perpetration as described by the literature and considers the utility of these findings, describes efforts to prevent re-offenses by juvenile perpetrators of domestic violence, discusses several shortcomings inherent in post-crisis intervention, and outlines current challenges within the field.
Zero Tolerance: Stop the Violence Against Women and Children, Stop HIV/AIDS (word)
Violence is linked to HIV. Women who have experienced violence may be up to three times more likely to acquire HIV. In addition to behavioral risk factors, there are direct consequences of unprotected forced or coerced sex, and this is compounded by global HIV/AIDS policies that fail to take seriously the realities facing women and girls. Fear of violence can prevent women from seeking VCT, disclosing their serostatus, and receiving treatment when it is needed.
Housing
Domestic Violence and Homelessness (pdf)
"This fact sheet covers homelessness and DV, DV and poverty, and how women can be trapped by homelessness and violence. This piece encourages policy that reduces the risk of homeless for survivors through housing discrimination protection."
Domestic Violence and Housing (pdf)
"This fact sheet shows the risks of homelessness for DV survivors, the difficulty in obtaining permanent housing, and housing discrimination."
Domestic Violence and Poverty: The Narratives of Homeless Women
"This article is based on research conducted in homeless and domestic violence shelters in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1994 to 1996. The author’s report includes results of interviews with thirty-three women."
Federal Housing and Domestic Violence: Introduction to Programs, Policy, and Advocacy Opportunities
This paper provides a basic overview of the laws and policies governing the principal federal housing programs and discusses key policy issues these programs raise for battered women.
"This paper offers a research on DV and homelessness and trends in federal housing policy. A model for conducting a community assessment of local housing needs includes critical thinking questions on an organization’s capacity for housing advocacy."
Housing and Battered Women: Increasing Battered Women's Access to Federal Housing Programs
This paper encourages advocates to collaborate in an effort to support proposed federal housing regulations that begin to address some of the housing needs of battered women and to submit comments to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support those sections of the proposed regulations that could give battered women faster access to housing.
This paper provides domestic violence advocates with information and strategies to promote the use of this housing program as a resource to assist battered women moving from welfare to work.
State Housing Laws and Legislation to Ensure Housing Rights for Survivors of Violence Against Women
"Providing comprehensive information on current, pending and unsuccessfully proposed legislation protecting the housing rights of survivors of domestic violence, this document is intended for use by advocates, attorneys and organizations."
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Intimate Partner Violence
"This DOJ Report has data on IPV based on estimates from the NCVS. This report is often cited for the finding that intimate partner victimization rates were significantly higher for people living in rental housing vs. those living in their own homes."
Homeless
Domestic Violence and Homelessness (pdf)
"This fact sheet covers homelessness and DV, DV and poverty, and how women can be trapped by homelessness and violence. This piece encourages policy that reduces the risk of homeless for survivors through housing discrimination protection."
Domestic Violence and Housing (pdf)
"This fact sheet shows the risks of homelessness for DV survivors, the difficulty in obtaining permanent housing, and housing discrimination."
Domestic Violence and Poverty: The Narratives of Homeless Women
"This article is based on research conducted in homeless and domestic violence shelters in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1994 to 1996. The author’s report includes results of interviews with thirty-three women."
Violence in the Lives of Homeless Women (pdf)
"Overview of a 6-year research project on family homelessness and poverty in MA. Focuses on findings on prevalence and impact of violence among homeless women, including the impact of both childhood and adult victimization on this population."
Intimate Partner Violence
Addressing Culture in Batterers Intervention: The Asian Indian Community as an Illustrative Example
"The authors in this article utilize the Cultural Context Model(CCM) a community development and treatment model. The CCM approaches intervention with batterers and their families from a perspective that acknowledges a multilayered experience of culture. It requires accountability from batterers and supports the empowerment of victims and children at the same time as it recognizes the impact of a number of social forces related to culture and cultural differences on communities, families, and individuals. These forces include sexism, racism, and heterosexism, as well as experiences with immigration, colonization, and capitalism. Although the treatment approach is applicable cross-culturally, this article primarily focuses on examples involving families from Asian Indian-American communities."
An Overview of Intimate Partner Violence Among Latinos
"This article reviews the existing literature on intimate partner violence (IPV) among Latinos to put the findings of this special issue into context. This review of the literature suggests that IPV occurs as frequently among Latinos as among non-Latinos when confounders are controlled for. Role strain, especially as a result of immigration and acculturation, might be unique to Latinos, and its importance, and the importance of male dominance among Latinas experiencing IPV, deserve more research."
Battered Women's Reports of Their Partner's and Children's Cruelty to Animals (pdf)
"This research study describes how abuse of pets is a method employed by batterers to control their partners, contributes to the impact on children exposed to violence, and may also be related to batterers' lethality."
This study explored the cultural context of how intimate partner violence affects accessibility to services for Haitian women. The study revealed that the nature and context of intimate partner violence in this immigrant community contribute to the women's hesitation to pursue services and that mainstream services were not accessible to them as well. The author concludes by giving suggesstions on overcoming these barriers and improving service delivery.
Distracted by Drama: How California Newspapers Portray Intimate Partner Violence (pdf)
"The publication describes the results of a study analyzing how violence is reported in two nationally prominent CA newspapers during the course of a year. Findings of the study are described in detail to reveal how contemporary reporting portrays IPV."
Domestic Violence in the Vietnamese Immigrant Community: An Exploratory Study
"This study examines domestic violence in Vietnamese American families, focusing on changes in socioeconomic structure and culture, to identify factors associated with wife abuse. "
Dowry and Its Link to Violence Against Women in India
"This article conducts a feminist psychological analysis of the dowry phenomenon, its link to domestic violence against women, and the role of the perpetrators. Existing and new explanations of the dowry system and its ramifications are explored. Psychologically based interventions and the implications of dowry related violence in the larger context of Asian Indians living in North America and the United Kingdom are discussed."
Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence (pdf)
"Presents findings from the NVAW Survey on the extent, nature, and consequences of IPV in the US. The survey compares victimization rates among women and men, specific racial groups, Hispanics and non-Hispanics, and same-sex and opposite-sex cohabitants. "
Final Report on the project entitled: Animal Welfare and Domestic Violence (pdf)
"This study assesses animal maltreatment in samples of women seeking safety at shelters and community samples of women. Women in shelter were much more likely (54%) to report partners' hurting or killing of their pets than women not in shelter (3.5%)."
"This study estimated the frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence by type (physical, sexual, battering, or emotional abuse) among women seeking primary health care. Efforts to universally screen for partner violence and to effectively intervene to reduce the impact of such violence on women’s lives must be a public health priority."
"This article (a) provides an overview of the contemporary IMB (International Marriage Broker) industry, including a discussion of reasons underlying women's choices to use IMB agencies to meet and marry U.S.-based spouses, (b) discusses how this industry's marketing of marriages potentially endangers many women recruits, and (c) offers an update and analysis of new provisions under U.S. immigration law that strengthen protections available for women who immigrate as fiancés and spouses of U.S. citizens, including those in marriages arranged by IMBs."
Health Care Costs Associated with Violence in Pennsylvania (pdf)
"Reports the impact of violence in Pennsylvania including interpersonal violence (homicide, aggravated assault, rape) domestic violence (partner, child and elder abuse) and self-directed violence (suicide and attempted suicide)."
Help-Seeking Behavior Among Abused Immigrant Women: A Case of Vietnamese American Women
"The present study examines help-seeking behavior among abused Vietnamese American women to understand factors associated with their decisions to seek help. The study found that abused Vietnamese American women have sought help from their personal networks, the criminal justice system, and various victim service agencies. Data analyses suggest that the decisions of Vietnamese American women to reach out are complex and diverse and are shaped by various structural, cultural, and organizational factors."
Husband Abuse: An Overview of Research and Perspectives (pdf)
"This discussion paper provides insight into the issue of abuse against men by their intimate partners. It summarizes information from three sources, offers resources and services for male victims, and describes policy implications."
Male Victims of Domestic Violence: A Substantive and Methodological Research Review (pdf)
"This paper explores claims of gender symmetry in intimate partners' use of violence by reviewing the empirical foundations of the research and critiquing existing sources of data on domestic violence. "
Prevalence and Determinants of Intimate Partner Abuse Among Public Hospital Primary Care Patients (pdf)
"The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, sociodemographic determinants, and depression correlates of intimate partner abuse among an ethnically diverse population of women patients."
Screening for Intimate Partner Violence in Medical Settings
"This article examines the potential impact of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for IPV screening and the emerging literature supporting measurable health benefits resulting from screening interventions in medical settings. "
"The author provides an overview of the history of congressional involvement with the Violence Against Women Act's (VAWA) provisions to protect immigrant victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women. He also outlines the reasoning behind, and purpose of, the most recent enhancements in legal protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and foreign fiancés and spouses that were included in the recently reauthorized VAWA 2005, also describing the bipartisan work that resulted in this newest piece of legislation."
The Health Costs of Violence: Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence (pdf)
"Summary of a study conducted to assess the health impact of intimate partner violence on women."
The Social Construction of Wife Abuse: Experiences of Asian Indian Women in the United States
"The terms wife abuse and battered woman were coined in the 1970s. Although such naming is meaningful, these social constructions are restrictive so that only a narrow range of behaviors and people fit these labels. With the help of interviews with Hindu Asian Indian immigrants, this article highlights the importance of including the experiences of diverse groups of women in any analysis of domestic violence. The study challenges the popular perception of abused women, specifically South Asian battered women, as passive victims."
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Intimate Partner Violence
"This DOJ Report has data on IPV based on estimates from the NCVS. This report is often cited for the finding that intimate partner victimization rates were significantly higher for people living in rental housing vs. those living in their own homes."
Victims of Intimate Partner Violence More Likely to Report Abuse From In-Laws
This study of South Asian women was designed to assess the association between intimate partner violence and emotional abuse by in-laws and to identify those forms of abuse perpetrated by in-laws. The findings indicate a significant relationship between intimate partner abuse and abuse from in-laws. The authors conlude that intimate partner violence interventions with South Asian women should take into account abuse from in-laws.
"Intimate partner violence against immigrant women is at epidemic proportions, but research has only recently begun to address the concern. A review of the legal, medical, and social science research literature reveals little data, but that which exist demonstrate that immigrant women's cultures, contexts, and legal status (a) increase vulnerability for abuse, (b) are used by batterers to control and abuse immigrant women, and (c) create barriers to women seeking and receiving help. Data also reveal that immigrant culture and context offer resiliency factors through which programs and policy can be used to better serve these populations."
Violence against Women – Facts and Figures (pdf)
"This article provides facts and figures on violence against women to illustrate the devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families, and on society as a whole."
Animals/Pets Cruelty
Animal Cruelty/Human Violence (pdf)
"This fact sheet offers statistics from several research studies investigating the connection between animal cruelty and human violence, domestic violence, and child abuse."
Battered Women's Reports of Their Partner's and Children's Cruelty to Animals (pdf)
"This research study describes how abuse of pets is a method employed by batterers to control their partners, contributes to the impact on children exposed to violence, and may also be related to batterers' lethality."
Final Report on the project entitled: Animal Welfare and Domestic Violence (pdf)
"This study assesses animal maltreatment in samples of women seeking safety at shelters and community samples of women. Women in shelter were much more likely (54%) to report partners' hurting or killing of their pets than women not in shelter (3.5%)."
Military/Law Enforcement
Fact Sheet: Domestic Violence in the Military (pdf)
"This fact sheet includes statistics that reflect recent research concerning domestic violence in the military."
Family Violence in the Military: A Review of the Literature
"This literature review critically reviews studies that examine child maltreatment and spouse abuse among military families and compares family violence in military versus nonmilitary populations."
Immigration, Domestic Violence, and the Military: The Case of "Military Brides"
"This study addresses the abuse experiences of immigrant women married or engaged to U.S. servicemen and the response of military social service and legal systems.The findings confirm the role of military context, culture, and priorities in the abuse and the military systems' responses. The immigration circumstances and status interact with the military context to compound the abuse, further marginalize victims/survivors, and weaken the military social service and legal systems' response. The implications of the findings for military efforts to address domestic violence within the ranks are discussed."
Advocacy
The Greenbook Initiative Final Evaluation Report (pdf)
"The Greenbook national evaluation results are presented in three reports. The Greenbook Demonstration Initiative: Process Evaluation Report: Phase 1 focused on the planning and goal setting phase of the Greenbook initiative in the sites. This final evaluation report assesses the extent to which the Greenbook implementation activities facilitated cross-system and within system change and practice in the child welfare agencies, dependency courts, and domestic violence service providers."
A High-Tech Twist on Abuse: Technology, Intimate Partner Stalking, and Advocacy
This Violence Against Women Online Resources commissioned document summarizes the existing knowledge on the use of technology to stalk. The author uses both published literature and contributions provided by numerous survivors’ reports to provide current information on the variety of sophisticated tools that are being used to stalk current and former intimate partners. The article also provides specific strategies for advocates, including safety planning information, a resource list, and a handout for survivors.
A Practical Guide to Evaluating Domestic Violence Coordinating Councils (pdf)
The goal of this manual is to make evaluation a little easier by providing some practical strategies for evaluating the work of your council.
Advocacy in a Coordinated Community Response: Overview and Highlights of Three Programs
This article gives an overview of advocacy - namely individual advocacy and systems advocacy and describes them as an integral part of community response. It also stresses the importance of each type of advocacy working collectively in enabling battered women to overcome obstacles.
Advocates Serve a Distinct and Different Role Than Paralegal Prosecution Staff
A report about the differences between advocates and paralegals and how each role affects the justice system.
ADVOCATING FOR COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENTS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES
"Many jurisdictions handle domestic violence cases on a one-size-fits-all basis, with a presumption in favor of a finding of child neglect and removal when children are exposed to domestic violence. This author proposes that states develop a standard for both courts and child protective agencies that carefully examines each domestic violence case using an individualized factual analysis and attempt to mitigate the effects of a child’s exposure to domestic violence by means other than a presumption for or against removal (temporary or permanent) in every case."
Advocating for Domestic Violence Victims Who Have Been Arrested for Domestic Violence
This article examines the impact of increasing arrest rates of women in domestic violence investigations and offers advocates information on how to assist victims that have been arrested.
The handbook consisits of various practical forms which were developed by advocates to evaluate criminal justice services for women in cases of rape, domestic violence and child abuse. It also has theoretical chapters on understanding how criminal justice systems can help and harm women.
An Advocate's Guide to Full Faith and Credit
This guide was developed for advocates who assist victims of domestic violence with orders for protection. It provides a glossary of full faith and credit terminology, advocate tips, and information about enforcement of full faith and credit legislation.
This report is about Minnesota's shelters for battered women and their children. Shelters include residential facilities and a network of hotels, motels, and safe homes used by shelter providers. Residential shelters offer, at a minimum, security, lodging, and meals, and are available 24 hours per day. Shelter staff and volunteers also advocate for battered women and offer a variety of services to help women escape abuse and move on to a better life. Although shelters are independent, nonprofit entities, they receive most of their financial support from the state.
Assessing Social Risks of Battered Women (pdf)
This document explores the concept of safety planning. Specifically that effective risk assessment must take into account the diverse social factors of a battered woman’s life that impact her choices and decisions, especially regarding her experiences of battering.
The third website installment profiles 13 communities that have undertaken efforts to reduce and prevent violence against women. The communities have developed a coordinated criminal justice response while maintaining a focus on victim safety and offender accountability.
Assisting Immigrant and Refugee Women Abused by Ther Sponsors: A Guide for Service Providers (pdf)
This guide is written for social service providers in Canada who deal with immigrant and refugee women who are abused by their visa sponsors under the family sponsorship program.
"The domestic violence advocacy and family court communities have each grown dramatically over the last three decades. Although these professional communities share many values in common, they often find themselves at odds with one another on a host of issues. This article examines the practical, political, definitional, and ideological differences between the two communities and calls for them to join forces and collaborate on behalf of children and families."
Broken Rainbow Conference Report 2002
The report summarizes the Broken Rainbow Conference, which was held in London, England on May 12, 2002 to discuss how to change the situation of LGBT people facing domestic violence and abuse.
Building Bridges Between Domestic Violence Organizations and Child Protective Services
This paper provides both background information and a framework for collaboration with child protection agencies that will support the work of domestic violence advocates as they try to improve safety for women and their children.
Contents Include: Barriers Facing Immigrant Victims of Violence against Women; Effective Strategies for Reaching & Serving Immigrant Victims of Violence against Women; Promising Models for Reaching & Serving Immigrant Victims of Violence against Women. The .pdf file size is very large.
Building Capacity in Child Welfare Systems: Domestic Violence Specialized Positions (pdf)
"The report seeks to assist policymakers and practitioners in developing specialist positions that are tailored to the circumstances of their communities and states. We offer observations about initial expectations for these positions and the evolution of the positions over time. We also set forth composite examples of each of the major types of specialized positions and lay out the components of each, including responsibilities, auspices and settings, competencies, and funding sources. By doing so, we highlight different approaches to improving understanding 2 of domestic violence and strengthening the likelihood of achieving safety for non-offending parents and their children."
Building Opportunities for Battered Women's Safety and Self-Sufficiency
Practice paper from a series of papers for an initiative to provide technical assistance to state administrators and domestic violence advocates implementing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) in TANF and child support enforcement (CSE) contexts. This initiative is a partnership between the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRC) and the Administration for Children and Families, DHHS. This paper, Practice Paper #1, includes background information about domestic violence and the options battered women need to be safe and self-sufficient, and concise discussions of key implementation issues.
This manual provides suggestions and guidance on how to organize projects at improving services and eliminating barriers for ensuring safety for battered rural immigrant women.
Casa de Esperanza: Mobilizing Latinas and Latino Communities to End Domestic Violence
This issue of the BCS newsletter features the strengths-based, community engagement approach of Casa de Esperanza, of St. Paul, MN. The main article describes their work of mobilizing Latinas and Latino communities to end domestic violence. Lessons learned are highlighted.
This article explains the importance of coordingating system change activities in child welfare agencies with many collaborative activities."
November 1997. This paper is meant to serve as a working document rather than the "last word," and it will be subject to revision as child welfare and domestic violence agencies on the vanguard of creating partnerships learn more about the link between child abuse and domestic violence, and how to best protect both children and their abused mothers. While the suggested practices and policies are by no means exhaustive, it is hoped that setting them out will save agencies from having to "reinvent the wheel," and will, at the same time, motivate them to add additional "spokes."
November 1997. This paper is meant to serve as a working document rather than the "last word," and it will be subject to revision as child welfare and domestic violence agencies on the vanguard of creating partnerships learn more about the link between child abuse and domestic violence, and how to best protect both children and their abused mothers. While the suggested practices and policies are by no means exhaustive, it is hoped that setting them out will save agencies from having to "reinvent the wheel," and will, at the same time, motivate them to add additional "spokes."
This article explains the importance of collaborative efforts to responding to families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment. The Greenbook Initiative provided a framework for developing a multisystem collaborative approach to working with families.
Confidentiality & Information Sharing (pdf)
This document addresses the legal and confidentiality issues advocates face when working with the child protection system and juvenile courts. It also encourages advocacy, and focuses on the information issues advocates face when they counsel battered mothers whose children have been placed in the child protection system. Advocates need to know what to do with the information they gather from victims of domestic violence and what the laws say about how they use that information. Each section offers tips and suggestions for advocates, questions for their consideration, and examples of effective practices. The appendix features worksheets that expand upon the topics addressed in each section.
"The goal of this initiative was to increase community capacity to assist dually victimized families. This article focuses on the DV service organizations in the demonstration with regard to collaborations with other agencies and work within the DV system to respond to dually victimized families."
Covering Domestic Violence: A Guide for Journalists and Other Media Professionals
The information in this guide will help link journalists to domestic violence advocates in their community, who can be utilized as sources to improve coverage. By accurately covering domestic violence homicides and avoiding sources and questions that perpetuate myths, journalists can make a significant difference in helping the community understand how domestic violence can go unchecked to the point of murder.
Criminal Prosecution of Domestic Violence
This article identifies appropriate goals to be pursued in woman battering and the special challenges these cases present to prosecutors. It offers guidelines for improving collaboration between prosecutors and advocates.
Crisis Support Network Domestic Violence Hotline
This website from Washington state contains articles, information about safety planning, and check-lists regarding abuse, as well as a toll-free number to call for help.
This paper is part of series of paper that addresses the way to mobilize community and programatic resources to provide responsive help to children and families affected both by domestic violence and poverty. This particular paper provides recommendations to family support staff and administrator to address issue of domestic violence.
Elder Abuse Speaker's Kit (pdf)
A resource kit for protecting older people and people with disabilities.
Eliminating Barriers to Services for Latina/o Survivors of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence (pdf)
This is the position statement by Latino advocates to address barriers to services for Latina/o survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence
The goal of this manual is to expand the definition of what is "enough" when it comes to domestic violence advocacy, so that all domestic violence services are as accessible as possible to all persons regardless to disability.
Evaluating Coordinated Community Responses to Domestic Violence
This VAWnet report presents a summary and analysis of research on coordinated community responses to domestic violence. It provides an overview of different mechanisms for coordination, examines the individual components of a coordinated community response, and addresses the overall response. The focus here will be on the justice system, advocacy and programs for abusers.
Evaluations of Advocacy Efforts to End Intimate Male Violence Against Women
This VAWnet paper describes the available research that has evaluated advocacy efforts to end intimate violence against women. The first section describes evaluation of Community Intervention Projects, while the second section presents a longitudinal and experimental evaluation of an advocacy intervention.
This report provides the most recent statistics on Washington state domestic violence fatalities; findings and recommendations from the reviewed cases of the past two years; and tips for utilizing the Fatality Review reports to mobilize change in your community.
This paper was originally delivered as a talk at the Violence Institute of New Jersey, June 21, 2000. This paper discusses the links between the abuse of women and the maltreatment of their children and the connection between domestic violence and poverty.
This paper explores factors contributing to successful collaborations between practitioners and researchers studying the impact of adult domestic violence and the effectiveness of services aimed at stopping it. The paper identifies potential challenges to research partnerships and, through interviews with the researchers and practitioners from four successful collaborations, highlights strategies for effectively navigating these challenges. It concludes by arguing that collaborative partnerships between science and practice communities strengthen the process of scientific inquiry and program development.
Form for Evaluating Police Response to Domestic Violence: For Use by Victims and Advocates
This form was put together for use by domestic violence victims and their advocates. It's
designed to assist in evaluating the police
response and the police report on domestic
violence calls. The form should help identify
problems in police response so that these problems can be corrected. It can
also be used provide feedback to the
police department and to the community on how
well police are responding to domestic violence
cases.
This form is also availabe in PDF format http://www.justicewomen.com/police_evaluation.pdf
This form is also available in Spanish at http://www.justicewomen.com/help_police_evaluation_sp.html (HTML version) and http://www.justicewomen.com/police_evaluation_sp.pdf (PDF version).
Guidelines for Conducting Family Team Conferences When There is a History of Domestic Violence (pdf)
These guidelines are meant to assist workers who are participating in or facilitating FTCs when there has been a history of domestic violence. The goal is to ensure that the safety of all family members is addressed in a supportive and empowering manner throughout the process of FTC.
The guidelines describe model policies, practices, programs, and protocols that address the multiple needs of families and children affected by domestic violence and child maltreatment. They are based on recommendations contained in the Greenbook and on the thoughtful recommendations provided by public child welfare agency directors, domestic violence advocates, child advocates, and legal representatives.
It profiles promising programs that address domestic violence at community health care organizations. This document is designed to encourage primary health care providers to treat domestic violence among their client base and to engage providers, administrators, policymakers and others in a coordinated, community-wide response to domestic violence.
This 76-page resource is written for service providers assisting women who have survived woman abuse. Material addresses the needs of abused women as mothers, how abusive men parent, how abusive men affect family dynamics, effects of power and control tactics on mothers, the potential impact of woman abuse on children of different ages, and strategies used by young people to cope with violence in their homes. Guidance on parenting children who have lived with violence is also offered. Forty-four pages are designed as handouts for women, to be distribued as an adjunct to individual or group interventions on woman abuse or on parenting.
Helping Young Children Affected by Domestic Violence: The Role of Pediatric Health Settiings (pdf)
This paper is part of series of paper that addresses the way to mobilize community and programatic resources to provide responsive help to children and families affected both by domestic violence and poverty. This particular paper addresses importance of pediatric health care and mental health care in addressing domestic violence.
"This paper offers a research on DV and homelessness and trends in federal housing policy. A model for conducting a community assessment of local housing needs includes critical thinking questions on an organization’s capacity for housing advocacy."
Housing and Battered Women: A Case Study of Domestic Violence Programs in Iowa
The purpose of this paper is to increase the domestic violence advocacy communitys knowledge about housing issues, federal housing programs, and strategies to comprehensively address battered women's needs for housing.
Housing and Battered Women: Increasing Battered Women's Access to Federal Housing Programs
This paper encourages advocates to collaborate in an effort to support proposed federal housing regulations that begin to address some of the housing needs of battered women and to submit comments to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support those sections of the proposed regulations that could give battered women faster access to housing.
This paper provides domestic violence advocates with information and strategies to promote the use of this housing program as a resource to assist battered women moving from welfare to work.
How to Write a Letter to the Judge for Victims of Rape, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse
Gives information that should help you write a more effective letter. Provides four examples of different kinds of letters you as a victim or victim advocate, may want to write to the judge in the criminal case. Also available in Spanish.
Husband Abuse: An Overview of Research and Perspectives (pdf)
"This discussion paper provides insight into the issue of abuse against men by their intimate partners. It summarizes information from three sources, offers resources and services for male victims, and describes policy implications."
Impact: Feature Issue on Violence Against Women with Developmental or Other Disabilities
Examines how disability service providers, sexual and domestic violence programs, law enforcement, researchers, and women with disabilities can work together to respond to a major civil rights, quality of life, and health issue for women with disabilities - the presence of violence in their lives.
This report addresses API domestic violence intervention strategies within the U.S. as both accommodations and alternatives to mainstream domestic violence programs. They have adopted mainstream assumptions and approaches. And, they have crafted innovations based upon necessity and, in some cases, vision and intentionality. Emerging themes as discussed by the API women interviewed in this report highlight a number of areas which capture our attention for further exploration. While the findings of this report bring up broad, diverse and, at times, contradictory policies and practices among API programs, existing models, themes and interventions for the future programs are examined.
Innovative Strategies to Provide Housing for Battered Women
This paper highlights how eight domestic violence organizations are responding to the housing needs of battered women in their communities.
Integrating Anti-Poverty Work into Domestic Violence Advocacy: Iowa's Experience (pdf)
This document describes how the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) approached integrating economic advocacy into its work in order to better respond to the financial concerns of battered women and their families. Domestic violence programs in Iowa incorporated this work into their services by training advocates, developing new collaborative partnerships, and providing economic advocacy to battered women at three pilot sites. In addition, the ICADV secured funding to support its commitment to the institutionalization of economic advocacy in 2001.
Justice and Safety for All: Promoting Dialogue Between Public Defenders and Victim Advocates (pdf)
This document explores the relationship between the lawyers who defend individuals charged with domestic violence and the advocates who work for the rights and needs of victims of domestic violence. Because defenders and advocates often serve the same families, improving their relationship is part of providing just and safe resolutions in domestic violence cases. Filled with the voices of a handful of defenders and advocates talking about each other and their work, Justice and Safety for All is written to help other advocates and defenders begin their own conversations.
A film accompanies this publication. "In Their Own Words" is a 15-minute documentary that explores public defenders' and victim advocates' opinions about each other and their work on domestic violence cases. Copies of the film can be obtained from the National Associates Programs department of the Vera Institute of Justice, 212-334-1300.
Model Protocol for Advocates Working with Battered Women Involved in the Child Protection System
This protocol includes policy and practice recommendations for advocates who work with battered women involved in the child protection system.
Model Protocol on Working with Friends and Family of Domestic Violence Victims (pdf)
This protocol includes examples of programs that can engage friends and families in dealing with ending domestic violence.
Model Protocols on Working with Battered Women and Their Teenage Boys in Shelter
This model protocol is useful for domestic violence shelters who do not set age limits for male children in shelter. It is equally useful for those who critically examine safety of all children and women in shelter.
This series was created through a collaboration of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Vermont Department for Children and Families and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services. Part V describes the structure and purpose of child protection teams, provides guiding questions for domestic violence advocate members of such teams and highlights recommendations.
Originally presented by Susan Schechter as a talk at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence Statewide Training Institute, March 17, 1997, Harrisburg, PA and revised for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence Administrative Development Conference, May 8, 1997, Ames, Iowa.
Not a Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women (pdf)
This report highlights many of the achievements towards the empowerment of women and indicates what must be done to build on them. It provides examples of practices as well as efforts that did not meet the goals set out for them — and explores why. It looks at the challenges ahead and asks what the most fruitful next steps might be.
Passport to Safety: Some Concluding Remarks
Under VAWA, gender-motivated violence is a form of sex discrimination and as such requires civil rights protection. In this concluding chapter the volume editors revisit salient issues and suggest strategies for multiagency coordination and cooperation.
Police Domestic Violence: A Handbook for Victims
This handbook highlights some of the most significant advantages and disadvantages of the personal, financial, and legal options that victims of law enforcement perpetrators must consider.
Population Reports: Ending Violence Against Women
"This publication discusses gender-based violence from a feminist-based, ecological perspective. It examines the dynamics of abuse, cultural context, impact on women's health & how health care providers can contribute to social change efforts."
This report examines innovative partnership designed to assist the employment needs of immigrant women who are survivors of domestic violence.
Raising Our Voices: Queer Asian Women's Response to Relationship Violence
This report is based on information derived from both the local and national groups. For purposes of the report all are referred to as focus groups. The goal of this report is to encourage all domestic violence programs to provide services to not only the queer Asian women's community, but to all under-served communities.
Reflections from the Field: Considerations for Domestic Violence Specialists (pdf)
"Domestic violence and child protection professionals from multiple states came together to discuss the complexity of systems-change work and the continued need for a social justice framework to guide these efforts. This document is a compilation of their stories and insights as people who have worked as or supported domestic violence specialists dedicated to helping families experiencing the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment."
Responding to Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence
This article discusses the ongoing debate between child protection workers and domestic abuse advocates. It also outlines the similarities between the two groups as they work towards similar goals.
Serving Women with Developmental Disabilities: Strategies for the Justice System
Women with developmental disabilities experiencie a far higher rate of sexual assault and rape than other women, and experience this victimization repeatedly. This article explores some of the issues facing police, prosecutors, judges, advocates, and other members of the criminal justice system, and provide some suggestions for how they can better serve women with developmental disabilities.
This website is a tool for the promotion of women's human rights in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This site addresses violence against women as one of the most pervasive human rights abuses worldwide. The STOPVAW site provides women's rights advocates with information focused on ending the most endemic forms of violence against women in the region
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a new toolkit which is designed to help continue the survival of Grassroots Community-Based organizations concerned about continuing critical services for people affected by substance abuse and mental health disorders.
"The author provides an overview of the history of congressional involvement with the Violence Against Women Act's (VAWA) provisions to protect immigrant victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women. He also outlines the reasoning behind, and purpose of, the most recent enhancements in legal protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and foreign fiancés and spouses that were included in the recently reauthorized VAWA 2005, also describing the bipartisan work that resulted in this newest piece of legislation."
This report conceptualizes the Community Engagement Continuum in order to categorize a range of community based approaches in the anti-violence movement and to clarify the goals of engagement. The four points on the continuum--community outreach and education, community mobilization, community organizing, and community accountability--are defined by the level to which the strategies used lead to increases in the community's capacity to transform relations of power.
The Economic Impacts of Domestic Violence: A Blueprint for Action (pdf)
"This report contains selected findings and recommendations resulting from a series of hearings held in MA in June 2001. The hearings involved more than 125 people, with 40% of these identifying as survivors of domestic violence."
This report documents the findings from the Phase II evaluation of the coordinated response to domestic violence in Omaha and Douglas County.
The Military Response to Victims of Domestic Violence: Tools for Civilian Advocates
This handbook is designed for civilian advocates working with military victims of domestic violence—both active duty victims and partners of active duty service members—to help advocates respond to the uniquely challenging needs of this population of survivors.
The New Welfare Law: Implications for Battered Women
This paper is the first in a series of three papers that aim to provide relevant and practical information about the new "Welfare Law" and its effects on battered women and their children to domestic violence advocates and others working in the field.
This is a good introduction to advocacy concepts used when working with victims of intimate violence, rape and child abuse. It is designed for use both as a workshop outline and as a guide for direct interactions with individual clients.
Trafficking: Considerations and Recommendations for Domestic Violence Advocates
Offers domestic violence advocates some considerations and recommendations for working with victims of trafficking. After a brief overview of statistics and issue analysis, the document provides considerations and recommendations for advocates in seven key areas: (1) Arrest, (2) Custody and Release, (3) Legal representation and the investigation process, (4) Endangerment and confidentiality, (5) Shelter Services, (6) Complex traumas and oppressions, and (7) Medical records and care.
This paper describes results of phone interviews with twelve domestic violence transitional housing programs across the country. Key considerations for new and emerging programs are offered. Program profiles are also provided.
UNIFEM Annual Report 2004/2005 (pdf)
The Annual Report documents UNIFEM's work to foster women's empowerment and gender equality around the world. It highlights some of the organization's initiatives during the year 2004–2005, among which were initiatives in promoting women's political participation and leadership in post-conflict situations, easing the burden of HIV/AIDS on women, promoting women's right to own land, and supporting the creation and implementation of gender-responsive budgets.
Welfare and Domestic Violence Against Women: Lessons from Research
This VAWnet paper provides a succinct summary of welfare research, with a focus on the aspects that have implications for advocates and others who work with women who receive TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families- the program established under PRWORA).
This page links you to scripts, slides, and handouts from a web conference that, "featuring one of the nation's leading experts on violence against women and one of its top pollsters -- explored the latest research into men's views on domestic violence and sexual assault. Do men think this violence is common? Do they worry about the safety of women they know? What exactly are they willing to do to help stop violence? What messages resonate most with men? How can advocates engage men more effectively in prevention? In addition to reviewing the results of a new poll, experts discussed effective strategies for engaging men."
When Battered Women Stay... Advocacy Beyond Leaving
"This paper raises the key issues, questions, and dilemmas regarding advocacy with battered women who stay in their relationships. It discusses the limitations of safety strategies for leaving, and frames the issues central to the expansion of advocacy beyond leaving, including: 1) safety planning and advocacy with victims who stay; 2) ending violent and controlling behavior; and 3) knowing what children need to be OK."
Witnessing Domestic Violence: The Effect on Children
The author discusses the conequences of child exposure to domestic violence across various ages, as well as prevention and screening techniques. Community advocacy is emphasized.
Batterer intervention
A Review of Standards for Batterer Intervention Programs
This document reports on the current status of standards for batterer intervention programs in each U.S. state, describes the common elements of standards, and explores the positive and negative aspects of standards. It includes a chart outlining the status of standards in each state.
Addressing Culture in Batterers Intervention: The Asian Indian Community as an Illustrative Example
"The authors in this article utilize the Cultural Context Model(CCM) a community development and treatment model. The CCM approaches intervention with batterers and their families from a perspective that acknowledges a multilayered experience of culture. It requires accountability from batterers and supports the empowerment of victims and children at the same time as it recognizes the impact of a number of social forces related to culture and cultural differences on communities, families, and individuals. These forces include sexism, racism, and heterosexism, as well as experiences with immigration, colonization, and capitalism. Although the treatment approach is applicable cross-culturally, this article primarily focuses on examples involving families from Asian Indian-American communities."
Assessing Risk To Children From Batterers (pdf)
This document provides an overview of potential sources of physical and psychological injury to children from contact with batterers, details recommendations for evaluating the risk to children and provides assessment guidelines that professionals can apply in cases where a batterer admits to a history of abusiveness by asserting that he has changed. Information is also provided regarding the necessary context for children's recovery from exposure to battering behavior.
Assessment and evaluation of men who batter women
"Reviews research on characteristics of batterers and encourages ethnically and culturally sensitive approaches to assessment that are to plan effective interventions. Includes considerations regarding assessments for substance abuse, homicide, and more."
Batterer Intervention Programs: Where Do We Go From Here? (pdf)
This report analyzes the possibility that previous batterer intervention program evaluations may be methodologically flawed and/or that something may be wrong with the programs themselves.
Batterer Intervention State Standards
This is an extensive directory of state and county standards for batterer intervention and domestic violence education.
Batterer Intervention: Program Approaches and Criminal Justice Strategies
This February 1998 report strives to improve the working relationship and mutual understanding between criminal justice personnel and batterer program staff. A secondary goal is to expand the debate about innovative batterer intervention approaches to include criminal justice personnel who work with batterers daily and criminal justice policymakers who are concerned with domestic violence. Published by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs at the National Institute of Justice.
Batterer Intervention: Where Do We Go From Here? - Workshop Notes
This article documents the main conversations held at the Batterer Intervention Workshop. Participants discussed several areas that need attention: the definition of a successful outcome, researcher-practitioner partnerships, determining which evaluation designs are most effective under which circumstances, and recruitment and attrition issues. The Workshop was held January 17, 2002.
This curriculum guideline offers information, exercises and more to help batterer intervention programs to help fathers who have perpetrated family violence relate to their children in positive ways.
Characteristics of Batterers in A Multi-Site Evaluation of Batterer Intervention Systems
Includes: A summary of findings for a 12-month follow-up; A summary of findings for a 15-month follow-up; and List of Papers and Staff
Controversies and Recent Studies of Batterer Intervention Program Effectiveness
This VAWnet document examines the effectiveness of batterer intervention programs and particularly addresses how they work, for whom do they work best, and which elements of the program are most important.
Discharge Criteria for Batterer Programs
Clinical judgement typically plays a central role in the discharge of the patients from alcohol and mental health treatment. Batterer programs instead rely almost exclusively on program attendance to determine discharge. This paper uses a 10-item set of criteria to rate participants in a 13-week court mandated batterer program. It concludes with a discussion of methodological limitations, practical issues, and alternative applications of discharge criteria.
This article examines the complexities of the question: "Do batterer's programs work?" It begins by exploring the word "works". It then scrutinizes published outcome data on the issue through various lenses of public debate on treatment effectiveness. It concludes with suggested policy and program directions for future interventions.
Domestic Violence and Probation