A Public Health Approach to Intimate Partner Violence

Promoting expectations for healthy, non-violent relationships and building skills in these areas can reduce risk for IPV perpetration and victimization.

Approach: Social-emotional learning programs
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Safe Dates
• Fourth R
• Expect Respect Support Groups
• Healthy Relationships Toolkit or HeaRT (formerly Dating Matters®)
• Teen Choices

Approach: Healthy relationship programs for couples
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Premarital Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) and ePREP (online version of PREP)
• Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT)
• OurRelationship
• Strength at Home Couples (SAH-C)

Engaging adults and peers to promote social norms that support healthy relationship behaviors has great potential to change social contexts. Positive social norms around relationships means IPV is not acceptable and will not be tolerated, and people feel more willing and able to intervene when they see IPV.

Approach: Men and boys as allies in prevention
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM)

Approach: Bystander approaches
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Bringing in the Bystander®
• Green Dot
• TakeCARE

Approach: Family-based programs
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Families for Safe Dates 

Many risk factors for intimate partner violence emerge in childhood, and prevention efforts that strengthen early environments, parenting skills, and supportive services can help disrupt pathways to future violence.

Approach: Early childhood home visitation
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)
• Smart Beginnings
• Family Spirit

Approach: Preschool enrichment with family engagement
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Child Parent Centers (CPC)
• Early Head Start (EHS)

Approach: Parenting skill and family relationship programs
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• The Incredible Years®
• Generation PMTO (Formerly Parent Management Training – Oregon Model (PMTO®))
• Family Foundations
• Familias Unidas®

Approach: Treatment for at-risk children, youth, and families
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) (formerly Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care)
• Multisystemic Therapy® (MST®)

Creating protective environments helps prevent violence against intimate partners. Protective environments include social and physical approaches to improve safety, social connections, and awareness of IPV.

Approach: Improve school climate and safety
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Shifting Boundaries Building-Level Intervention  

Approach: Improve organizational policies and workplace climate
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• IPV and the Workplace Training
• U.S. Air Force Suicide Prevention Program

Approach: Modify the physical and social environments of neighborhoods
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Physical neighborhood environment modifications (e.g., greening)
• Alcohol policies (e.g., outlet density)

Reducing financial stress may decrease potential for relationship conflict and dissatisfaction, which are strong predictors of IPV. Additionally, improving financial stability and autonomy could reduce financial dependence on a potential perpetrator and provide alternatives to unhealthy relationships.

Approach: Strengthen household financial security
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Income supports (e.g., tax credits, childcare subsidies, cash transfers)
• Comparable worth policies
• Health insurance coverage and access to healthcare

Approach: Strengthen work-family supports
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Paid leave policies (parental, sick, vacation, job-protected, flexible/confidential) 

Efforts to address the psychological, physical, emotional, housing and other needs of survivors and their children may help prevent future experiences of IPV and may lessen or reduce negative consequences experienced by IPV survivors.

Approach: Victim-centered services
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Domestic violence advocacy services
• Online safety decision tools

Approach: Housing programs
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Domestic Violence Housing First

Approach: First responder and civil legal protections
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Lethality Assessment Programs
• Supervised visitation and exchange
• Protection orders
• Reduce access to lethal means for persons convicted of IPV-related crime or under a restraining or protective order for IPV

Approach: Patient-centered approaches
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Education with tailored intervention for specific risks such as reproductive coercion
• Education and screening in the context of other prevention programs (e.g., home visitation)
• SafERteens

Approach: Treatment and support for survivors of intimate partner violence, including teen dating violence
Example policies, programs, and practices:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Cognitive Trauma Therapy for Battered Women