In An Expanded Strategy For Breaking The Cycle Of Domestic Violence, Carolyn Wang Kong of the Blue Shield of California Foundation and PI’s Lisa Fujie Parks and Alisha Somji explain the need for community-level violence prevention approaches to end domestic violence.
“Prevention of something as complex as domestic violence requires that we engage those most impacted by the issue, those closest to the issue, and those who have influence over the drivers of violence. It requires that we not only work to prevent harm by mitigating risk factors, but that we identify and bolster protective factors that will not only prevent violence, but also yield manifold individual and community benefits beyond violence prevention—healthy relationships, social connectedness, improved physical and mental health. In short, it is these protective factors that enable us to live our best lives.”
In 2018, the Blue Shield of California Foundation expanded its commitment to end domestic violence by focusing on the root causes of violence and supporting pathways for a variety of sectors, fields, and communities to use their influence and publicly engage on a perceived private issue that, in fact, has community-wide impacts.
One of its initiatives, Safety Through Connection, which PI facilitates, brings together five well-established collaboratives, focused on a broad array of community issues ranging from mental wellbeing to wage equity, to build their knowledge about the connection between their issue and domestic violence, to implement strategies that will address a root cause of violence.
Click here to read the Health Affairs blog. Note: The blog’s introduction contains potentially distressing content/details about domestic violence. |
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