Question

Define interpersonal violence/abuse AND consent and provides strategies for prevention, how to recognize signs, how they can intervene, and how to properly obtain consent.

Answer 1

Ans) Interpersonal abuse and violence includes intimate partner abuse, adult survivors of child abuse, sexual assault, child abuse, bullying and elder abuse. Violence is not just physical; it includes emotional, sexual, economic and social abuse.
- Interpersonal abuse and violence is very common, with the main perpetrators of such violence being men, but women can also be perpetrators.
- Abuse and violence is an issue for the whole community. Health practitioners have a role in dealing with these issues and need to play their part in prevention, identification and response.

- Interpersonal abuse and violence includes intimate partner abuse, adult survivors of child abuse, sexual assault, child abuse, bullying and elder abuse. Violence is not just physical; it includes emotional, sexual, economic and social abuse.
- Interpersonal abuse and violence is very common, with the main perpetrators of such violence being men, but women can also be perpetrators.
- Abuse and violence is an issue for the whole community. Health practitioners have a role in dealing with these issues and need to play their part in prevention, identification and response.
Safety is a concept that should be foremost when working with patients experiencing abuse and violence.
- Health practitioners should have a system in place that includes the whole of practice and referral pathways to safety and healing.
- It is important to receive training that includes our own attitudes and assumptions about abuse and violence as they can affect the way we respond to patients experiencing abuse and violence.

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Say something. You might have your doubts. But if you’re thinking about it, there’s usually a reason. Someone’s life could be in danger.

When you talk to the person, you can:

Ask if anything is wrong
Talk specifically about what concerns you
Listen carefully
Let the person know you’re always there to talk and that your conversations are always private
Offer to help
Support the person’s choices.

Breaking it down, community-based interventions to interpersonal violence are:
 Collective: The intervention involves the coordinated efforts of a group of people rather than just one individual.
 Action-Oriented: A community takes action to address, reduce, end or prevent interpersonal violence.
 Community-Based: The intervention is organized and carried out by friends, family, neighbors, co-workers or community members rather than social services, the police, child welfare or governmental institutions.
 Coordinated. The intervention links people and actions together to work together in a way that is coordinated towards the same goals – and that makes sure that our individual actions work towards a common purpose.
It sees us as a team rather than individual, isolated individuals working as lone heroes or rescuers – or as separated parts, not knowing about or considering what actions others may be taking.
 Holistic. The intervention considers the good of everyone involved in the situation of violence – including those harmed (survivors or victims of violence), those who have caused harm, and community members affected by violence. It also builds an approach that can include anyone involved in a situation of violence as a participant in the solution to violence – even
the person or people who have caused harm if this is possible.
 Centers on Those Most Affected by Violence to Create Change.
The intervention centers those most affected by violence. It provides ways for those affected by violence and causing violence to develop new skills, insights and ways to put together a solution to violence
system that not only addresses violence but reduces the chances that violence will continue.
 Supports the sometimes complex pathway to change and transformation. Changing violence, repairing from violence, and creating new ways of being free from violence can take time.
For the survivor/victim, the intervention relies upon consideration of the best ways to support survivors or victims of harm by sharing the
responsibility for addressing, reducing, ending, or preventing violence (breaking isolation and taking accountability), without blaming the
survivor/victim for their choices (without victim blaming), and by offering support towards what they define as their own needs and wants
(supporting self-determination).
For the person doing harm, the intervention relies upon consideration of the best ways to support people doing harm to recognize,
end and be responsible for their violence (what we also call accountability), without giving them excuses (without colluding), and without denying their humanity (without demonizing).

 Facilitated. The intervention works well if someone in our communities can act as a facilitator, someone who can act as an anchor for the process of intervention, or someone who can help us to walk through different parts of this Toolkit. Therefore, we call this a facilitated model. The facilitator role can be taken on by more than one person or it can rotate among group members as the process continues. The facilitator does not have to be a professional or someone who is an expert on violence
intervention. It simply needs to be someone who can be clear-headed, act within the values and guidelines of the group, and who has some distance from the center of violence to be clear of the chaos and confusion that is often a part of a violent situation. See more about the facilitator role in Section.

- Mapping Allies and Barriers. If one cannot find a facilitator, then at the very least, this Toolkit and the many people whose experiences
it represents may help to guide us through the process of violence intervention.