PreventConnect: Primary Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence
Communities play an essential role in preventing sexual and domestic violence before it starts—for example, by creating safe spaces, and by changing social norms to those that promote health, safety, and equity rather than norms that accept and even endorse violence. With funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PI and California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA) have convened PreventConnect web conferences since 2005 to bring together a community of practice that builds and strengthens practitioners’ understanding of key primary prevention concepts, supports organizations’ prevention efforts, and contributes to the overall prevention system.
The 2019 series of web conferences features a variety of guests speaking about the value of community-level sexual and domestic violence prevention, strategies and opportunities for partnering with other sectors and movements, and how sexual and domestic violence prevention relates to health equity and multiple forms of violence. This series identifies tools and resources to assist in efforts to prevent sexual and domestic violence, and builds on conversations from the previous series' in order to create healthy, thriving communities for all.
PreventConnect’s 2019 series
All PreventConnect web conferences are held at 2pm Eastern (1pm Central, noon Mountain, 11am Pacific) unless noted otherwise. Visit http://www.preventconnect.org/category/web-conferences/ for registration details.
Supporting thriving youth in Salinas, CA through community-informed environmental design strategies
In Salinas, California, residents in neighborhoods are mobilizing to achieve community safety and prevent violence affecting youth. With a growing evidence base showing how environments can shape behavior, the Monterey County Health Department and Building Healthy Communities initiative are engaging residents in transforming the physical/built and social environments. Their goal is to support health, safety, wellbeing, and prevent violence. As the sexual and domestic violence prevention field increases its capacity to address shared risk and protective factors across forms of violence, environmental strategies like this are valuable to consider
Greening Spaces as an Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Strategy in Michigan
In 2018, the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (MCEDSV) initiated a five-year effort focused on “greening” to prevent intimate partner violence. Greening spaces means increasing utilization and equitable access to parks, gardens and other types of vegetation to create a warm and welcoming environment in the community. While MCEDSV has focused on violence prevention for years, this is the first time they’re specifically digging into the relationship between the physical/built environment and intimate partner violence perpetration. This expansion is funded through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) DELTA Impact grant.
- August 29: From paid leave to rent stabilization: Research and practice on strengthening economic security for violence prevention
Implementing Paid Family Leave across California: Strengthening Economic Supports to Prevent Multiple Forms of Violence
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights pathways by which paid parental leave can support reductions in intimate partner violence. Paid parental leave has been shown to reduce financial stress, increase egalitarian parenting practices and promote child/parent bonding. While recognizing that changing economic conditions alone won’t prevent all violence, in 2018, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership) identified a strategic opportunity to set a priority around improving economic supports for women and families. Within this, the Partnership decided to focus in on paid family leave, a policy that allows individuals to take paid time off to care for sick family members, or to bond with a new child. The Partnership has strengthened collaborative efforts working with the California Work & Family Coalition who led the campaign to win the first paid family leave law in the state back in 2002 – which was the first of its kind in the country.The passing of SB 608: A housing stability and sexual and domestic violence prevention win in Oregon
As housing instability concerns grow across the country, the state of Oregon is taking action to support local families. Housing stability means “having choice over when and under what circumstances a household wants to move.”i On February 28, 2019, as a way to address the housing concerns felt by 40 percent of Oregon households who rent their homes, the state passed Senate Bill (SB) 608, which limits no-cause evictions and the amount that landlords can increase rent each year. Passing this bill required a broad and organized coalition of advocates. As part of the coalition, sexual and domestic violence agencies and survivors were able to make the case for why housing stability is critical both for preventing sexual and domestic violence and preventing homelessness of survivors of violence. - November 21: Culture-change for prevention: advancing prevention within and beyond the sexual and domestic violence field
Culture-Change as a Domestic Violence Prevention Strategy in Fresno County, California Mujeres Poderosas Amorosas, a collaborative based in Fresno, California, is a newcomer to domestic violence prevention with a long history of implementing culturally-rooted policy, systems, and environmental change strategies to promote healthy eating and active living. After recognizing the need in the Latino community in Fresno, Mujeres Poderosas Amorosas is now developing culture-change strategies to prevent domestic violence and support safe relationships.
CHAN-BOF FOR PEACE Challenging oppressive cultural norms in the Hmong community for domestic violence prevention CHAN-BOF for Peace is a California-based collaborative with a rich history of working within the field of domestic violence prevention and with expertise in culturally responsive approach-es to end gender-based violence in the Hmong community. CHAN, which stands for California Hmong Advocates Network, is comprised of Hmong advocates, working to address and provide culturally-responsive direct services to survivors. The advocates are doing so through the domestic violence organizations they work for. BOF stands for Building our Future, a net-work that mobilizes the Hmong community to change cultural practices, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs through the lens of gender equity.
PreventConnect Reports
- From a Cycle of Violence to a Culture of Safety and Equity: Summaries from the 2018 PreventConnect Web Conference Series: Read our latest community profiles to learn about the innovative strategies prevention advocates are pursuing to prevent sexual and domestic violence and create a culture of safety and equity at the neighborhood, city, and state level. These profiles were developed by Prevention Institute as part of the PreventConnect web conference series with the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA).
- Toward Community Health and Justice: Themes and Summaries from the 2017 PreventConnect Web Conference Series: This report summarizes the 2017 PreventConnect web conference series and represents directions for the field of sexual and domestic violence prevention. It draws together high-level themes that unify the series as a whole, and provides key findings from each of the eight web conferences, allowing the ideas, examples, and resources from the web conferences to live on in written form.
- Expanding Partnerships & Linkages: Key Directions in Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention: This report by Prevention Institute and PreventConnect draws on the rich expertise and experience shared in the 2016 web conference series. The report describes the evolving field of sexual and domestic violence prevention, and summarizes key findings, examples of innovative work, and resources from each of the nine web conferences in the 2016 season
* The views and information distributed through PreventConnect do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Government, the CDC, CALCASA, or Prevention Institute.