How can education on domestic abuse help survivors' friends and family to support them better?

Dr Bird was part of a panel that discussed employer interventions against domestic abuse, building on her research in this area. 

She discussed the importance of training on domestic abuse for community and social networks to enable colleagues, friends and family to improve their responses to disclosures of abuse, react with empathy, and support them to take action.

She drew from two of her papers published in the journal Trauma, Violence & Abuse with SafeLives, and the journal Health and Social Care in the Community. 

The first paper examined the findings of 11 global studies that looked at the effects of domestic abuse training for colleagues, neighbours and faith leaders. 

The paper found significant evidence that educational activities tailored towards friends, colleagues and neighbours can improve understanding and awareness of domestic abuse, and equip supporters with the skills, knowledge and motivation to support victims, especially in the short-term. 

The findings affirm the importance and potential of social and community networks to support those experiencing abuse. 

Dr Bird hopes that these findings will prompt employers and community organisations to upskill workers or members to provide education about domestic abuse as part of their “duty to care”. 

The second paper looked at nine studies that explored the impact of implementing domestic abuse training in workplace and community settings – for example, sessions for workplace colleagues and supervisors, and faith leaders. 

In these settings, the evidence highlighted that training helped informal supporters recognise that “everybody has a role to play” in responding to domestic abuse. Training also encouraged individuals that they had the “right” to intervene and take action. 

The participants noted that they valued practical information on responding to disclosures of abuse, including information on in-house resources, local community organisations and formal services. They also appreciated training on how to respond in “empathetic and nonjudgemental ways”, and training that was tailored to the unique role of the informal supporter (i.e. colleague, acquaintance, pastor). 

Dr Bird’s findings have generated practical recommendations for organisations that aim to deliver training in the workplace, showing that training on domestic abuse can help colleagues and coworkers support victims through difficult conversations and improve their ability to take action. 

Dr Bird’s findings also emphasise the importance of further investment in specialist domestic abuse services, as positive support from friends and colleagues is associated with further help-seeking. 

EIDA is a member network of over 1700 UK employers that are committed to taking action on domestic abuse and protecting their employees. The conference was themed around “Joining forces to tackle domestic abuse. How can employers help create societal change?”

Links

• Training informal supporters to improve responses to victim-survivors of domestic violence and abuse: A systematic review
• Enabling workplace and community responses to domestic abuse: A mixed method systematic review of training for informal supporters
• Dr Karen Schucan Bird’s UCL profile
• More about the EIDA conference
• Social Research Institute

Image

Credit: Emma Gibson for EIDA.