Domestic violence is a painful experience. As a health professional team member, we can use strategies to promote healthy, respectful, and nonviolent relationships as an important part of prevention.
How does domestic violence be avoided or prevented?
Domestic violence is a very complex topic with a range of factors that contribute to both perpetration and victimization. I can give a brief background into some of the dynamics in domestic violence situations from a justice system perspective here in case it's helpful.
Domestic violence cases are often very frustrating for the police. They are statistically the most dangerous calls to respond to in terms of physical altercations with officers. On top of that, officers are often called to the same house on a regular basis, making officers feel that their work is going nowhere. This is compounded when they see the court outcomes: victims frequently miss court dates, insist upon dropping charges, or change their story, resulting in these cases being dismissed. From a criminal justice standpoint, it's important to train officers on how to interact with domestic violence victims in a respectful way and to help them get victims in contact with relevant resources rather than relying on arresting their way out of the problem.
I think, given your role, understanding the resources available to victims of domestic violence in your community is a good first step. Counties often have family justice centers, which offer a range of services to victims, including credit recovery services, employment support, legal aid, etc. Getting familiar with these resources and how to connect victims with them will be crucial.
The other piece to understand is that victims often return to the relationship. There are several pieces that contribute to this, including children, pets, financial dependence on the offender, threats that have been made prior... People often think that victims are choosing to return to the situation for illogical reasons, but it's often not much of a choice--especially if they are a homemaker or have children in common. If you are in a position to speak to victims, avoid judgement and try to get a good understand of what is driving possible returns. Often, victims are put off by people who respond, "just leave" or "just break up". There's much more to the dynamic than this and it's harder than many initially think.
There are numerous types of victimization aside from physical. Offenders often stalk the victim (both in person and cyberstalking), inflict emotional/psychological harm, inflict financial harm (e.g., opening up credit cards in the victim's name, draining shared bank accounts), and harm future relationships and job prospects. Understanding that domestic violence is more than just physical violence and taking the various types of offending behaviors seriously is a big first step.
The last thing I'll say is that lethality is common after the victim leaves the situation (e.g., after they move out, after the divorce is finalized; the victim leaving is not the end of the risk of harm). Supporting victims and taking threats made by the offender seriously even after the relationship is over is important. Justice system actors often consider the case "over" after the victim reports that the physical relationship is no longer ongoing, but that's frequently far from the case.
Of course, I didn't cover everything involved in domestic violence, but I hope this helps you get closer to your goal of understanding potential solutions. I think the justice system has a lot of progress to make regarding interacting with victims, providing relevant services, and understanding the dynamics of relationships where domestic violence takes place.
Your part can involve listening actively to the victim, not judging their potential return to the relationship (i.e., not telling them to "just leave"), getting familiar with the resources available to victims in your community, and taking all types of abuse reported to you seriously. Reach out to family justice centers, domestic violence courts, or social services agencies in your area to see what's out there. If it's not, establishing and procuring funding for these resources could be a great way to support healthy relationships in your community.
I think we cannot do much as a health professional, and the main role in prevention lies with a strong judicial system and a support system after the victims complain. The criminal must understand that if he/ she commits domestic violence, he/ she will be severely punished and will suffer severe social deprivation. On the other hand, it is necessary to pay attention to the fields that cause a child to become an aggressor and a demon in adulthood, and pay attention to preventive and continuous programs.
I agree that health professionals are limited in their ability to make large-scale changes, but alleviating the common misconceptions about domestic violence and encouraging practitioners to understand more about these dynamics when they encounter victims in their practices is a valuable contribution--even on an individual level. It's great to see those in other fields reaching out to learn more about this topic.
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