Advocacy With Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: What It Is,What It Isn’t,and Why It’s Critically Important

Abstract

Survivors of intimate partner violence arrive at the doors of domestic violence (DV) programs with a wide variety of needs, including long-term safety and healing, housing, economic stability, health and well-being, and community connection. Although some DV programs offer holistic approaches to survivors, many focus the vast majority of their attention and resources on providing emotional support and safety planning rather than advocating with survivors for their access to needed resources and opportunities. Although services focused on emotional support and safety planning are important, they alone are not likely to result in the life changes that many survivors are seeking. Programs that provide genuine advocacy for survivors—defined as partnering with them to represent their rights and interests while linking them to concrete resources, protections, and opportunities—have been found to be effective and well received. Although an early pillar of DV programs, this type of advocacy has fallen by the wayside in many agencies. In this article, the authors make a case for re-invigorating advocacy efforts designed to improve the life circumstances of survivors. We argue that such efforts will make DV programs more relevant and sought after by a wider range of survivors and that agencies will see real change occur at both the individual and community levels.