Praxis International | Library: Advocacy

Ellen Pence, The National Training Project, Duluth, MN; Martha McMahon, University of Victoria

This article describes the eight aspects of a coordinated intervention model in domestic violence cases. It also introduces the notion of safety and accountability audits as an assessment planning and reform tool in the criminal justice field.

Ellen Pence, Praxis International

This chapter provides a history of advocacy in the battered women's movement and analyzes the dilemmas facing legal advocates today in relationship to overspecialization of job duties; a shift from institutional advocacy to individual advocacy within the domestic violence field; and the tendency of shelter programs to become a part of the social service system rather than standing outside of that system.

Radhia A. Jaaber and Shamita Das Dasgupta

This article goes beyond assessment of immediate safety risks of battered women and focuses on the varied social features that impact their choices and decisions. Many of the social factors that commonly relate to women's experiences of battering and act as hindrances to securing women's safety are labeled here as "social risks" such as immigration, child protection, job, finances, family, and religion. These social risks carry differential value for each woman according to her social circumstances and status. The article points out that social risks are the results of history and simultaneous occurrences, which may intersect and interact to promote complicated emotions, attitudes, and perspectives. Social risks are presented here as concentric bands around a battered woman:

   1. Immediate personal risks,
   2. Institutional risks, and
   3. Cultural risks.

A model of analysis presented in this article directs advocates and practitioners to consider assessment aspects that would lead to achieving sustainable safety for battered women of diverse backgrounds.

Shamita Das Dasgupta

Excerpt from article...
"Interventions in domestic violence situations are pivoted on the idea of creating safety for battered women and their children. Safety planning is nearly always placed at the center of all advocacy and systems change interventions. New advocates are insistently taught that victim safety must be the most important concern in their work. Yet, we have only begun to recognize that safety cannot be arranged formulaically. What might appear to be definite safety -- such as a woman leaving an abuser -- may not translate to actual safety for all victims. In fact, we now know that the period around separation from the abuser may be the most hazardous time for some battered women"...

Anne P. DePrince, Ph.D., Joanne Belknap, Ph.D., Angela Gover, Ph.D., Susan Buckingham, Jennifer Labus, Ph.D., Melody Combs, Ph.D., Claire Hebenstreit, Ryan Matlow, M.A., Courtney Mitchell, M.A., Annarheen Pineda, M.A.

Excerpt from abstract:
"

Effective responses to [intimate partner violence] require comprehensive, well-coordinated policies and protocols that maximize the legal sanctions and available community resources. Prosecution decisions and criminal justice outcomes are influenced by victim support for official action. The current study tested the prediction that early coordinated victim outreach would improve criminal justice outcomes as well as increase victim safety and empowerment. In collaboration with research, criminal justice, and community-based partners, this project employed a randomized control design to evaluate an innovative outreach program for racially and ethnically diverse IPV victims whose cases have come to the attention of the criminal justice system."

Anne P. DePrince, Joanne Belknap, Jennifer S. Labus, Susan E. Buckingham, and Angela R. Gover

Excerpt from article:

"CCR programs that involve outreach directly to victims from community-based (rather than system-based) advocates may be particularly well-poised to mitigate deleterious IPA psychological and safety outcomes. By making outreach directly to victims, community-based agencies remove barriers that might otherwise impede women from seeking out community-based services to address psychosocial needs. Further, the high level of coordination involved in CCR programs means that community-based agencies can be selected to outreach to victims based on specific psychosocial needs. Matching services with victim needs at the point of outreach should lead to better service provision, with resulting gains in psychological symptoms and safety. Further, the process of finding resources should be less stressful (e.g., women do not have to retell their stories as they seek out an agency that meets their needs), which may also reduce distress. Outreach might be particularly important to women who are oppressed or marginalized by life circumstances beyond the IPA itself (e.g., socioeconomic status, physical dependence on the offender) that otherwise add barriers to seeking out services or increase risk of psychological symptoms, making examination of moderators important."

Anne P. DePrince, Joanne Belknap, Jennifer S. Labus, Susan E. Buckingham, and Angela R. Gover

Excerpt from abstract:
"Based on the positive findings from this body of research, we expected that a victim-focused, community-coordinated outreach intervention would improve criminal legal system outcomes.

Author: Maha Alkhateeb, Peaceful Families Project

This guide was developed as a resource for legal professionals and advocates working with Muslims, and for Muslim leaders and community members. This resource is meant to provide and clarify information about Islam and gender equality in marriage and divorce, to direct readers to the best practices that safeguard women’s rights and interests, to promote wel-lbeing and balance for all parties, and to nurture communities.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), once referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), is not the mysterious psychiatric illness that many might think it is. The stigma associated with DID or MPD comes from a lack of understanding about the disorder and from inaccurate depictions in movies and on television where individuals with DID are portrayed as dangerous and mentally disturbed with fragmented personalities acting in shocking and uncontrollable ways. This disorder is not the catastrophic affliction that it is often made out to be. You can have DID and still complete your college education, hold down a responsible job, get married, be a good parent, and have a circle of close friends. And best of all, you can recover.”

Overview of Advocacy-Initiated Response
Rose Thelen, Gender Violence Institute

This presentation provides an overview of the mechanics of an advocacy-initiated response, the rationale and research that supports this type of intervention, and addresses some of the concerns advocacy programs may have in implementing this type of service.

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