Significance

• The U.S. Department of Justice reports that women are more likely to be victims of spousal abuse. In the Violence Against Women survey, 22.1 percent of women surveyed reported being the victims of intimate partner violence, while 7.4 percent of men surveyed reported being assaulted by a current or former partner. Violence against women is primarily perpetrated by intimate partners: 64 percent of women who reported rape, assault, stalking or victimization identified an intimate partner as the perpetrator.
  
  

Risk Factors

• According to experts at WHO, there is no one single factor that causes some people to be at higher risk for incidence of domestic violence. Factors such as exposure to family violence, poverty, dysfunctional relationships and substance abuse can increase risk of violence. Community attitudes in settings such as neighborhoods, schools and workplaces can also influence individual attitudes towards interpersonal violence.
  
  

Proven Strategies

• Professionals at WHO note that the main prevention approaches used to combat spousal abuse are large-scale public awareness campaigns. The effectiveness of these approaches has not been well-established. Professionals note that there is a clear need for more extensive research and implementation of primary prevention efforts such as education regarding gender equality and substance abuse.
  
  

Primary Prevention Approaches

• Experts at WHO suggest that primary prevention approaches should include early childhood and family interventions as well as school-based interventions. Early childhood exposure to interpersonal violence places children at higher risk for domestic violence as they move into adolescence and adulthood. School-based education efforts to prevent dating violence among adolescents and young adults are key primary prevention efforts.
  
  

Elements of Successful Programs

• WHO has developed an extensive outline of the key elements needed for successful primary prevention. Programs are most effective when they are culturally relevant and taught by properly trained, well-supervised staff. The most effective programs are based on behavioral theories of how problem behaviors develop and use proven methods for behavior modification. Experts also note that programs should provide participants with effective tools they can use to take action and stop spousal abuse before it happens.