Nine simple, safe, effective strategies to end intimate partner violence in our community
- Support you local intimate partner violence organization.
Donate money to help them provide services to battered woman and their children. Volunteer your time and talent - you can make a difference!
- Break the silence about intimate partner violence.
Don't be embarrassed to speak up if someone is blaming a victim or minimizing abuse. Encourage others to hold batterers accountable for their behavior. This sends a message that abuse is wrong, that victims don't deserve it and batterers should not "get away with it." You never know who may be listening and needs to hear those words.
- Get the facts.
Contact your local intimate partner violence agency for speakers and assistance in organizing a presentation. Organize a discussion in your neighborhood or at your workplace. To end intimate partner violence, it must be brought out in the open.
- Hang a poster denouncing intimate partner violence at work or at another public place.
Show that intimate partner violence is never acceptable. Reinforce the point that batterers must be held accountable for their behavior. Let victims see that there is help and that no one deserves to be abused.
- Check your workplace policies.
Form a workplace committee to implement policies that expand Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to include counseling referrals for abusers and victims and benefit packages to allow flexible scheduling for victims seeking restraining orders and/or shelter.
- Place referral cards in discreet areas - restrooms at school, doctors' offices, places of worship, etc.
Call a local domestic violence agency for referral cards. Restock these cards on a regular basis. Remember, victims and family members are more likely to take information when they feel safe to do so.
- Talk to your child's teacher about including intimate partner violence prevention in school curricula.
By their senior year in high school, one in three teens will have been in an abusive dating relationship. To reverse this trend, young people should be taught about healthy relationships and skills that foster non-violence. Encourage your school board to hold one staff in-service day per year that focuses on intimate partner violence and its impact on the classroom.
- Write letters to elected officials.
Take some time to write letters about how intimate partner violence affects the whole community. Back legislation that provides support for innovative intimate partner violence programs.
- Ask clergy to speak out about intimate partner violence from the pulpit.
The place of worship is where many people turn for guidance and support in their lives. Your clergy's expression of intolerance for intimate partner violence can aid many members of your congregation. Speakers from local intimate partner violence agencies can also make educational presentation to your congregation.
