Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Professional Resource Guide

Introduction

This professional resource guide directs readers to a selection of current, high-quality resources about preventing, identifying, and responding to intimate partner violence (IPV) within the home and the community. Health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, researchers, employers, and advocates can use this professional resource guide to learn more about IPV; for program development; and to locate training resources and information to answer specific questions. A separate brief lists resources for victims of abuse and their families. This professional resource guide has been compiled by the MCH Digital Library at Georgetown University and will be updated periodically.

View Related MCH Digital Library Resources for guides about child maltreatment, children and adolescents exposed to violence, dating violence among adolescents, and more.

Definitions

View the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definitions for IPV.

View the Child Welfare Information Gateway Definitions of Domestic Violence (2011).

Please note: Current literature about IPV uses a variety of terms including "intimate partner violence," "domestic violence," "spouse abuse," and "battering." The terminology used in this professional resource guide follows the usage of the source being described.

Overview

For an overview of the occurrence of IPV and its physical, psychological, and social consequences, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fact sheet, Understanding Intimate Partner Violence (2012).

For a more detailed overview of the scope and impact of IPV on individuals and communities, view the 1-hour interactive learning module, Domestic Violence: Understanding the Basics (2012) by the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet).

Resources for Professionals

Websites

• KEY RESOURCE   Futures Without Violence. A wealth of programs and resources about domestic violence for health professionals, policymakers, employers, advocates, the legal community, athletic coaches, and victims of abuse. Resources include fact sheets, reports, training materials, assessment tools, public-education materials, legislative news, and Spanish-language materials.
  
  Topics: Healthy relationships, male role models, child exposure, dating violence, the workplace, reproductive health, reproductive coercion, health care, home visiting, immigrant women, international gender-based violence, firearms, the military, housing, and HIV/AIDS.
  
  National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence. Health education and clinical tools for health professionals, demonstrators, policymakers, and families to identify and respond to domestic violence in health care settings. Includes technical assistance, webinars, health safety cards, and an index of other health- and domestic-violence-related materials.
  
  
• Administration for Children and Families (ACF): Family Violence Prevention and Services Program. Administers the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelters and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their children. Resources and information about grantees, discretionary programs, and the Domestic Violence Resource Network, which includes two national resource centers, four special issue resource centers, three culturally specific institutes, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
  
  Topics: Legislation, economic empowerment, child exposure, and tribal communities.
  
  
• American Bar Association (ABA): Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Resources for the legal profession including training information, listservs, and charts that summarize statutes from all 50 states related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and human trafficking.
  
  Topics: Civil protection orders, family law, child custody, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) victims.
  
  
• Asian and Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence. Analyses, reports, service directories, curricula, tools, translated materials, statistics, and other resources about domestic violence prevention and intervention in Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
  
  Topics: Abusive international marriages, disaster planning and response, HIV risk, health care reform, Islamic marriage contracts, lifecourse violence, trauma-informed intervention, cultural competence, and linguistic and cultural barriers.
  
  
• Battered Women's Justice Project. Promising practices, webinars, and articles for advocates, battered women, legal- and justice-system personnel, policymakers, and others engaged in the justice system response to domestic violence.
  
  Topics: Safety audits, firearms, military, probation, custody, and immigrant women.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Intimate Partner Violence. Definitions, data sources, risk and protective factors, consequences, prevention strategies, and strategies for distributing prevention information and ensuring widespread adoption of prevention principles and strategies within communities. Includes publications, training resources, and podcasts for health professionals, researchers, and families.
  
  Topics: Costs, health consequences, risk and protective factors, prevention, program evaluation, and dating violence.
  
  Breaking the Silence: Public Health's Role in Intimate Partner Violence Prevention. (2012). [Grand rounds presentation].
  
  National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2010 Summary Report. (2011). [Reports, summaries in English and Spanish, fact sheet, communications toolkit].
  
  National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation. (2013). [Report, fact sheet, frequently asked questions].
  
  
• Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (CAEPV). Fact sheets, statistics, and articles about partner violence and reducing its costs and consequences at work. Describes corporate programs and policies that set a standard for how companies can handle this sensitive issue.
  
  Topics: Costs, workplace security, workplace support, and workplace prevention programs.
  
  
• FaithTrust Institute. Webinars, training tools, answers to frequently asked questions, articles, statistics, and bibliographies for religious communities and advocates about religious and cultural issues related to sexual and domestic violence.
  
  Topics: Faith communities, religion, culture, cultural competence, LGBT victims, clergy ethics, and dating violence.
  
  
• Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Initiatives, publications, and webcasts about domestic violence among African Americans.
  
  Topics: African Americans, faith community, cultural competence, fatherhood, previously incarcerated men, and prisoner re-entry.
  
  
• National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence (NCDSV). Training information, news, and a publications list with links to articles and reports about domestic and sexual violence.
  
  Topics: Animal abuse, battering intervention, bystander intervention, coaches, risk assessment, disabilities, disasters, emergency preparedness, fatalities, homicides, racial and ethnic groups, the faith community, fatherhood, female genital mutilation, economic abuse, military, firearms, health care, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, immigration, law enforcement, male involvement, LGBT victims, protection orders, safety planning, self-defense, teen dating violence, women with low incomes, and the workplace.
  
  
• National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health. Background reading, webinars, fact sheets, tips, conversation guides, model policies, and other tools for domestic violence advocates, mental health and substance abuse professionals, legal professionals, and policymakers as they work to improve agency- and systems-level responses to the traumatic effects of abuse on survivors and their children.
  
  Topics: Mental health, substance abuse, trauma, transitional housing, and child exposure.
  
  
• National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL). Articles, manuals, training materials, a service directory, and other resources about domestic violence in later life for health and legal professionals, advocates, and survivors. Includes information and tools for domestic violence and sexual assault programs to help them create or enhance services to meet the needs of older survivors.
  
  Topics: Older adults, abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, disabilities, and safety.
  
  
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). Legislative updates, fact sheets, and tools for advocates and victims of abuse. Includes a contact list for state coalitions.
  
  Topics: Safety plans, identity theft, financial independence, and cosmetic and reconstructive support.
  
  
• National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC). Webinars, training information, news, and publications to help American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, Native Hawaiians, and Tribal and Native Hawaiian organizations respond to domestic violence.
  
  Topics: Safety plans, supervised visitation, sexual violence, stalking, firearms, and trafficking.
  
  
• National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities. Bilingual (English and Spanish) publications, public policy updates, action alerts, video clips, webinars and other training events, a blog, and other culturally specific information for advocates and professionals working to eliminate domestic violence and promote healthy relationships within Latina communities.
  
  Topics: Spanish-language materials, immigrant women, cultural competence, linguistic and cultural barriers, sexual violence, child exposure, and dating violence.
  
  
• National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence (Alianza). Publications and tools in English and Spanish for advocates, professionals, researchers, and survivors of domestic violence in Latina communities. Includes a directory of domestic violence programs offering services in Spanish.
  
  Topics: Financial independence, male involvement, healthy relationships, cultural competence, linguistic and cultural barriers, dating violence, safety plans, child exposure, and the faith community.
  
  
• National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV). Tips, statistics, answers to frequently asked questions, and other public awareness resources for domestic violence survivors and advocates; federal legal and legislative news and information; program descriptions; and state domestic violence coalition contact information. Includes an annual census of domestic violence shelters and services and resources about how technology impacts the safety, privacy, accessibility, and civil rights of victims.
  
  Topics: Financial independence, homelessness, shelters, safety plans, technology safety, sexting, dating violence, sexual violence, stalking, and child exposure.
  
  
• National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV). Technical assistance guidance, training tools, fact sheets, policy and practice briefs, online library, applied research papers, and funding alerts to support domestic violence intervention and prevention efforts at the local, state, and national levels.
  
  Topics: Evidence-based practices, advocacy, cultural competence, sexual violence, child exposure, religion, and LGBT victims.
  
  
• Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Information about federal legislation and grants programs, reports to Congress, and other resources to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
  
  Topics: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
  

Additional Electronic Resources

• Campbell JC. 2013. Danger Assessment, rev. ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. [Assessment tool]. The tool is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French Canadian.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). 2013. Comprehensive Approach for Community-Based Programs to Address Intimate Partner Violence and Perinatal Depression. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). [Toolkit].
  
  
• National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center. 2012. Resource Highlights: Focus on Domestic Violence. Washington, DC: National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center. [Resource brief].
  
  
• Simmons College School of Social Work. 2010. Domestic Violence Training, rev. ed. Boston, MA: Simmons College School of Social Work. [Online training module].
  
  
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 2011. Addressing the Needs of Women and Girls: Developing Core Competencies for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Service Professionals. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. [Report].
  
  
• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. 2013. Screening for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse of Elderly and Vulnerable Adults. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. [Recommendations, clinical summary, consumer fact sheet, evidence synthesis].
  

Databases

Use the tools listed below to identify additional data, literature and research, and programs about IPV.

Data

• View the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of IPV data sources from CDC, other federal agencies, and non-federal organizations.
  
  
• View the Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2010 (2012) with data from the National Crime Victimization Survey.
  
  
• Also see the MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics.
  

Literature and Research Databases

• KEY RESOURCE  National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet): Domestic Violence. Online library of research papers, training tools, program materials, and other resources to support domestic violence prevention, education, intervention, and public policy, including a blog, a discussion forum, and an e-newsletter.
  
  Topics: Animal and pet cruelty, batterer intervention, child exposure, cultural competence, dating violence, fatherhood, health professionals, homelessness, housing, human trafficking, incarceration, sexual violence, trauma, natural disasters, parenting, pregnancy, poverty, religion, stalking, substance abuse, technology safety, self-defense, women who stay, the workplace, healthy relationships, male engagement, and economic justice.
  
  
• Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA): MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse. Online library of domestic violence resources including curricula, published research, funding sources, training tools, experts and organizations, and multimedia resources.
  
  Topics: Animal and pet cruelty, batterer intervention, child exposure, dating violence, disabilities, economic impact, elder abuse, health professionals, homelessness, housing, immigrant women, Internet safety, technology, LGBT victims, male engagement, the military, parenting, religion, restorative justice, risk factors, rural populations, safety planning, substance abuse, weapons, and firearms.
  
  
• See the MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases, and, in particular, the Child Welfare Information Gateway Library, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series, the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth (NCFY) Literature Database, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) Library, the Native Health Database, PubMed, PubMed Health, SafetyLit, and the State Child Welfare Policy Database.
  

Programs Databases

• See the MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Programs Databases, and, in particular, the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
  

News and Commentary

• National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women: VAWnet News Blog. News coverage of issues related to violence against women that has national impact. Also see the technical-assistance-question-of-the-month discussion forum and VAWnet e-Newsletter, which present announcements of new resources, initiatives, and events.
  

Resources for Victims and Families

• See the MCH Digital Library family resource brief, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).
  

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

• Child Maltreatment resource brief
• Children and Adolescents Exposed to Violence resource brief
• Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families professional resource guide
• Dating Violence Among Adolescents resource brief
• Home Visiting resource brief
• Maternal Distress in the Perinatal Period and Child Outcomes professional resource guide, family resource brief

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Professional Resource Guide, 4th ed. (June 2013). (Updated: August 2014).

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: Jennifer Allison, Ph.D., Children's Safety Network; Sally Fogerty, B.S.N., M.Ed., Children's Safety Network; Rebecca Hunt, M.P.A., Children's Safety Network; Shree Mohanty, M.A., M.S., R.D., L.D., Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Region V; Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library; Morrisa B. Rice, M.H.A., R.E.H.S., R.S., HRSA Office of Women's Health; and Ellen Schmidt, B.S., M.S., O.T.R., Children's Safety Network.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.