Confronting Violence

Innovative Domestic Violence Programs, 1997

In the early 1990s, the San Francisco-based Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence successfully field-tested a model, low-cost domestic violence program in 12 hospitals and clinics. Their step-by-step manual described how to establish a similar program in other health care settings. It emphasized the need for a multi-disciplinary team and a coordinated response within the community through collaborative partnerships.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Breaking the Silence of Violence, 1984

The Interfaith Committee on Domestic Violence of the Chicago Battered Women's Network created this educational handbook for pastors, counselors, and staff in religious organizations, for working with congregants who experienced domestic violence. The handbook emphasized that spiritual leaders needed to see family violence as a major problem. In basic, straightforward language, it described how to identify abuse and its effects; factors contributing to family violence; and suggestions on addressing the violence.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Counseling the Abuse Victim, 1980

The Marital Abuse Project of Delaware County, Pennsylvania developed counseling guidelines over several years of working with women who were abused. The manual advocated personal, peer-to-peer support for women who were battered, and a counseling relationship in which the power of choice was always held by the abused woman. A "special situations" section offered suggestions for how to respond when a woman brought her children to a group session, was in imminent danger, or arrived with visible injuries.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Protocol for Identification and Treatment of Battered Women, 1980

In 1977, a multidisciplinary team of nurses, social workers, and emergency services administrators at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital developed one of the first hospital-based programs to identify and assist women who were experiencing domestic violence. The authors emphasized the importance of listening to a woman's story so she felt accepted and safe, and using women's own feelings to raise her awareness of the violence in her life and the need for her to end the abuse.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

For Shelter and Beyond: An Educational Manual, 1981

In 1979, the Inservice Training Committee of the Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women Service Groups held two statewide workshops for people involved in the training of volunteers and staff of battered women's programs. This educational manual grew out of those workshops, which addressed myths about women who were battered, the need for multi-pronged advocacy, and important factors such as race, poverty, culture, and sexual orientation when trying to end abuse and violence.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Guidelines for Doing Hospital Advocacy, 1982

In 1977, the Harriet Tubman Women's Shelter in Minneapolis started the Women's Advocacy Program at Hennepin County Medical Center, the first hospital-based advocacy program for battered women. Written guidelines provided advice and information for the volunteers who would be working with survivors of domestic violence in the hospital setting. The guidelines emphasized the importance of supporting what a patient who had been battered chooses to do.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Prevention of Battering During Pregnancy, 1987

The Houston chapter of the March of Dimes sponsored the publication of this manual to educate health care providers about the prevention of battering during pregnancy. Along with information about the impact of violence on an unborn child and the mother's health, the manual included sections on misconceptions about battering, the special needs of rural women, interview techniques to encourage self-help behavior, and an abuse assessment tool in English and Spanish.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Sexual Assault Intervention Manual, 1981

The work and experiences of staff and volunteers at community-based rape crisis centers in Illinois led to the creation of this sexual assault manual. The manual outlined the reality vs. mythology of rape and rape survivors, and described how to provide appropriate medical care, counseling, and legal assistance to those who had been sexually assaulted. A section on marital rape noted that non-consenting sexual encounters within a marriage relationship can be considered "battering assaults."

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Wife Beating: Counselor Training Manual #2, 1976

Published by the National Organization of Women (NOW) Domestic Violence Project in Ann Arbor and written by a social worker, this manual was designed to train volunteers who came in direct contact with women who were battered and in crisis. The project's early staff included NOW chapter members, women who had been assaulted, and NOW volunteers

Courtesy National Library of Medicine