Intersections of community and domestic violence

Abstract

Purpose Services to respond to victims are often specific to a type of crime experience or similar forms of violence (e.g., gender-based violence, or child abuse and neglect), but victims' experiences are not often separated along these lines. The intersection of domestic and community violence has been discussed, often in the context of the disproportionate impact these forms of violence have on communities of color, but the literature is limited on how this overlap informs service models to address victim safety and healing. Indeed, the victim service provider field has been siloed by funding, policy, and practice, and services have not been further developed to explore how to prevent and respond to victims at the intersections of both community violence (CV) and domestic violence (DV). This article presents findings from action research conducted on a 15-month planning process to develop collaborative responses to victims of DV and CV. Method Assessing the planning process included observations of planning meetings and interviews with planning participants and project leadership. Results The results are organized in two sections related to the development of collaborative responses to CV and DV: (1) foundational conversations and (2) barriers to partnership and strategies to mitigate these barriers. Conclusions Findings illuminate differences in histories, aims, and practice among these two provider groups and discuss strategies to overcome barriers, such as cross-over staff who had knowledge of both forms of violence and cross-trainings to foster a shared purpose and understanding among the two different service communities.