Violence or abuse can cause serious harm to the victim’s health. This can cause health problems like chronic pain, higher chance of stroke, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, cancer, or problems with the reproductive system. It can also lead to mental health issues like feeling sad, drinking too much alcohol or using drugs, and risky sexual behavior. Domestic violence is also connected to missing work and doing poorly at work, which can lead to being alone, problems with housing and money, and more health risks for the victims and their families.
What is domestic violence and how does it happen?
Domestic violence means hurting or controlling others in a harmful way.
Abuse comes in many forms, like physical, emotional, sexual, reproductive, financial, or digital.
It can happen to anyone, regardless of their gender, race, age, or sexual orientation.
Abuse happens when one partner in a relationship wants to control, hurt, or have power over the other.
It can also happen because the abusive partner has experienced abuse before, seen violence in their family, feels lonely and isolated, lacks good examples of how to have healthy relationships, and doesn’t know how to handle their emotions and solve problems without violence.
Prevention strategies
Preventing violent behavior can often seem impossible, but there are many approaches that have proven to be effective.
The CDC developed a social-ecological model that shows the intersection of four factors that influence domestic abuse: individual, relationship, community, and societal.
- Individual factors include age, education, income, substance abuse, or history of abuse.
- Relationship factors include peers in a social group, domestic partners, and family members.
- Community factors include schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
- Societal factors include health, economic, educational, and social policies that create social inequity in society.
The framework recommends making changes to each factor individually and together through education, training, prevention programs, and policy change to stop domestic violence.
For instance, when individuals improve their thoughts, feelings, and actions, it can help stop domestic violence.
Going to programs for parents and families can help make relationships stronger and decrease conflicts that can lead to violent behavior.
Modifications to the rules and ways of doing things in social settings can improve the bonds between people in a community and reduce violence.
Changes in policies related to health, economy, education, and society can help make things fairer for everyone and also lead to less violence.
The CDC also developed six strategies to prevent intimate partner violence:
- Teach safe and healthy relationship skills
- Engage influential adults and peers
- Disrupt developmental pathways toward partner violence
- Create protective environments
- Strengthen economic supports for families
- Support survivors to increase safety and lessen harms
The Prevention Institute suggests a different way to stop domestic violence.
They believe that improving the community environment and creating fairness in healthcare can help create safe relationships for everyone.
PI believes that making sure everyone has the same chances at being healthy and improving their community is something that needs everyone to work together.
This means fighting for affordable housing, having support from the community, giving people access to healthcare and social services.
For example, this can mean giving out emergency food, helping with childcare and giving people a safe place to stay, and having programs that stop bad things from happening in the first place.
Policy makes a difference
When people work together to support the rights of others, it can have a big effect on stopping domestic violence and making relationships safer.
Speaking up to policymakers about issues can help make things better and keep domestic violence victims and their families safe.
Here are some policies that are positively affecting many people’s lives:
- Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
- Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
- Violence Against Women Health Act of 2019
One last important resource to note is the National Domestic Violence Hotline, funded by the Violence Against Women Act.
This hotline offers free 24/7 support, information, resources, and answers questions for domestic violence victims or those who feel they may be in an unsafe relationship.
Everyone deserves to be in a safe and healthy relationship and the various resources available today make that possible.