Why Use Community Engagement to Prevent Domestic Violence?
Because domestic violence is traditionally regarded as a private issue, it is easy to see how the problem has been individualized, silenced, and removed from larger ‘community’ concerns. Yet, this is not the reality of the situation. Even though domestic violence occurs in the confines of a home or a relationship, its effects and repercussions are felt beyond that. Statistical and anecdotal evidence shows that domestic violence has ties to street violence, youth violence, lack of civic participation, and poor childhood development, just to mention a few. Services to domestic violence are traditionally located in institutional settings—shelters, health centers, the police, and courts—making it necessary for individuals and families to go beyond their support network and specific community in order to seek help, further silencing and stigmatizing domestic violence. In addition, most of these responses are after-the-fact emergency services – including shelter, police, and court interventi
