NCJ Number
209442
Date Published
2005
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This report highlights practices that have been successful in supporting female victims of domestic violence.
Abstract
Domestic violence is a widespread social problem affecting all types of women. While this type of violence touches women from all ethnic groups, the focus of this report is on how practitioners who work with female victims of domestic violence can more effectively help women who are Black or from other minority ethnic groups (BME). The report draws on successful practices from projects that were funded and evaluated under the remit of the Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) Violence Against Women Initiative (VAWI) in the United Kingdom. Following the introduction, definitions are offered for advocacy and support and examples illustrate the various tasks carried out by advocacy and support workers. The importance of culture, religion, and immigration status to BME are underscored as paramount to the help-seeking and help-accepting behavior of these victims of domestic violence. Finally, examples are provided for advocacy and support practices that have proved successful with BME battered women. Issues under consideration when supporting BME include matching a support worker to the victim in terms of ethnicity, when possible, and carefully assessing the different factors surrounding a woman’s circumstances. Textboxes throughout the report offer “good practice points” on support and advocacy. References, resources