Legal Alternatives for Domestic Violence
In order to optimize these alternatives and make them widely accessible, pilot projects need to be funded in different communities, she agreed with others. But Anita Raj, director of the Center for Gender and Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said significant government investment at all levels was needed to fund these projects, but budgets were slow to move in that direction. Alternative approaches to dealing with domestic violence have long existed informally in communities of color, where distrust of law enforcement runs deep, Henderson said. These are individuals or groups that survivors turn to for help, such as local pastors, lawyers, friends, relatives or even hairdressers, she said. Alternatives to Domestic Violence is a private, nonprofit organization that serves all of western Riverside County, California, with a range of services aimed at breaking the cycle of physical and emotional abuse within families and the wider community. Given this evidence and experience, researchers and survival advocates are increasingly looking for other ways to address family violence. Increasingly, they are beginning to ask: If police and criminal justice involvement is not a safe and reliable option for most survivors, why is it being proposed as the primary means of seeking help? The conversation took on new urgency in light of the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and calls to reassess the scope of police funding and accountability. • Provide victims of domestic violence with alternative ways to cope with physical and/or emotional abuse through education, counselling, housing, non-judgmental emotional support and housing assistance. The Mixteco/Indígena community organizing project also runs a programme for the intervention and prevention of domestic violence for men and women. Living With Love is a series of workshops in Spanish and Mixtec Indigenous language that focus on how to have healthy relationships, the impact of domestic violence on families and children, and what to do if someone is experiencing domestic violence. The program, funded by the California Department of Public Health, encourages participants to explore the reasons for their own violent behavior, such as childhood trauma, said Vargas, the coordinator.
The program`s promotional materials focus on healthy relationships and self-care, rather than domestic violence, which she says reduces stigma and encourages more people to participate. ADV also provides cooperative support services related to domestic violence to organizations and agencies throughout Southern California. One solution could be similar to the Mental Health First helpline in Oakland, which responds to mental health crises, including those involving domestic violence. A survivor or person concerned about an incident of domestic violence would call a helpline made up of trained volunteers such as doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and community members. A team of volunteers would then personally respond to the incident, working to de-escalate the situation and connecting affected parties with community resources such as housing, mental health treatment or financial support. He supported measures to alert judges and judges to previous violent domestic crimes that would otherwise be listed as assault with little additional information. Migrants who have been victims of domestic violence may face additional barriers. Some avoid calling the police for fear of being evicted or having family members deported, said Dulce Vargas, who coordinates a domestic violence intervention and prevention program for the mixed/indigenous community organizing project in Oxnard, which serves the indigenous immigrant population in Ventura County. Survivors and their children may also be financially dependent on their abusers and have no family in the country to turn to for help.
If an abusive partner is arrested or deported, survivors fear they will remain helpless, Vargas said. In addition, police rarely speak Indigenous languages or understand cultural dynamics within the community, further discouraging survivors from calling. Marc Philpart is the Senior Coordinator of the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color at PolicyLink, a national network of community-based organizations seeking policies that better support the well-being of Black boys and men and their families. This includes policy changes in the response to partner violence. The organization argues that domestic violence should be treated as a public health issue stemming from societal norms and structures that have allowed violence, racism and misogyny to flourish. The involvement of perpetrators in the criminal justice system only exacerbates this violence, Philpart said. Men need a chance to learn new patterns of behavior, heal from their own traumatic experiences and become positive agents of change in their relationships and communities, he said. Currently, the only heavily funded education programs targeting perpetrators of domestic violence are the so-called “perpetrator intervention programs.” These programs are generally overseen by county probation services, and men participate because they are required to do so by court order. • Finding ways to reduce the frequency, extent and recurrence of family violence One-quarter of respondents said they would be arrested or threatened with arrest if they reported abuse or sexual assault between partners to police. About half of the victims did not call the police at all, citing fear of police discrimination, invasion of privacy, a desire to protect their children, not having their partner arrested, or fear that government involvement would exacerbate the violence. • Raising community awareness of domestic violence “For decades, survivors have told us that it is not safe for them to call law enforcement, that they do not want to be brought into a criminal justice system,” said Colsaria Henderson, executive chair of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.
“What they want is the opportunity to be safe at home and with their families. They want the violence to stop. “If the goal is to show the court the seriousness of domestic violence, then one way to do that and make sure the court takes that seriousness is to increase the maximum,” said society president Matthew Verney. So far, there is no general agreement on the best or most effective alternatives to combat domestic violence, but some ideas are emerging. These include creating networks of community volunteers to intervene in family conflict, involving survivors and their partners in restorative justice proceedings removed from the criminal justice system, and establishing programs that encourage men to adopt healthy definitions of masculinity. Whatever solutions eventually emerge, most advocates agree that they need to involve perpetrators of domestic violence. Statistically, these are mostly men, although women and non-binary people can also be abusive. An estimated one in four women and one in 10 men in the United States experience sexual or physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, although incidents are likely to be underreported.
