Content by Keyword: Place-Based Initiatives and Community/Faith-Based Partnerships

Screening and reporting policies by themselves are unlikely to accomplish a better response for battered women if they are not part of a larger effort to serve the victim. Providing resources and services for battered women identified through these efforts offers an incentive for providers to be more aggressive in their screening efforts. In setti

Medical providers reach some battered women who do not come into contact with other service systems (i.e., criminal justice and domestic violence). However, many battered women come into contact with the health care system because they require medical attention for their injuries, not because they have sought help for the domestic violence. Batt

Be aware that women may not be ready to address the domestic violence in their lives Provide services and resources to back up screening and reporting policies

The anti-violence against women movement, including activism to stop both sexual assault and domestic violence and to aid their victims, grew out of the activist feminism of the early 1970s (see, for example, Koss and Harvey, 1991, Chapter 4 with regard to anti-rape activism).

If they do not already do so, traditional battered women's service providers should recognize that their agencies do not serve every woman who experiences battering in their community, and that others might have something to contribute toward making services and supports more available to all women who need them. It is important to try to think of

Any community interested in expanding its ability to meet the needs of battered women needs to draw on the extensive knowledge and experience of traditional domestic violence service providers and advocates. However, in some communities relationships between traditional providers and other agencies in the community are strained and distrustful.

Stay active and involved Be inclusive Keep thinking about the best ways to help

Working in the area of domestic violence is not for everyone. Many people become frustrated trying to hold the batterer accountable through the criminal justice process when the victim is unwilling to cooperate or remains in the abusive relationship. It is important to have people dealing with these cases who are aware of and sensitive to these is

Criminal justice agencies' primary focus traditionally has been on the perpetrator of domestic violence. It is possible that actions within this focus can increase the risk of harm to the woman. Domestic violence is characterized by an ongoing pattern of abuse and criminal justice agencies can change to include a concern for assuring the victim'

Consistency in handling domestic violence cases is important to ensure that victims are protected, batterers are punished and that no one falls through the cracks. Improvements that rely on behavior and attitude changes on the part of a few people working within the criminal justice system are unlikely to improve the response systemwide and may no

The overall impact of the criminal justice response is only as strong as its weakest link. For example, a strong police response does little good if prosecutors do not move forward on the cases, judges do not sentence offenders to interventions, and probation does not assure compliance. In order to bring about systemwide changes, a community needs

Formulate a response at each step in the process Make the response standard and predictable Define roles to involve the victim and ensure victim safety Allow staff to specialize in domestic violence, but also improve the response agency-wide

This study describes how six communities have brought about changes in their response to domestic violence, largely within the justice systems. It provides several examples of how these communities have begun to move beyond the justice systems to incorporate a broader number of organizations and stakeholders into their response to domestic violenc

There are several levels on which these efforts to coordinate community responses to domestic violence could be assessed or evaluated. The first is similar to what we have done in this study—conduct a qualitative assessment of system change, system gaps, and system opportunities by talking to key stakeholders, understanding the history of action

As communities seek to expand their response to battered women, more agencies and services become involved in dealing with the issue. This means that more people need to be trained, services and supports will begin appearing in locations where they have never been before, and the traditional domestic violence service providers will undoubtedly be

The population of women who experience battering is far greater than the group of women who seek help from the justice system or from battered women's services. In addition, traditional battered women's services have sometimes set conditions on whom they will help, especially in the shelter setting (e.g., turning away women with active chemical de

We have already discussed the issue of conflicting agency missions when we discussed the relationship of domestic violence services to the work of child protection agencies. These same kinds of inter-agency clashes occur in other combinations, and are likely to require similar willingness to work together as are needed in the child welfare area. I

There are many batterer intervention programs in this country, but, at present, there is widespread uncertainty about their effectiveness in changing batterers in any significant way. Most of the research done to date bears out this lack of conviction at the grass-roots level. Many programs are based on principles derived from theories of batterin

The business community offers another avenue to help reduce violence against women, both in their role as community opinion leaders and, for large companies, in their capacity as service providers through employee assistance programs, health insurance, and other benefits. In Northern St. Louis County, both Range Women's Advocates and the chief jud

It stands to reason that if abuse of alcohol and drugs is heavily involved in many battering situations, the obverse is also true—many batterers will be found in large groups of alcohol and drug abusers. This overlap suggests a role for chemical dependency providers in a community's response to domestic violence.