Preventing Intimate Partner 

Violence Across the Lifespan:

A Technical Package of Programs, 

Policies, and Practices

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 

Division of Violence Prevention

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 1

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence 

Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of 

Programs, Policies, and Practices

Developed by:

Phyllis Holditch Niolon, PhD

Megan Kearns, PhD

Jenny Dills, MPH 

Kirsten Rambo, PhD

Shalon Irving, PhD

Theresa L. Armstead, PhD

Leah Gilbert, PhD

2017

Division of Violence Prevention

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Atlanta, Georgia
 2 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Anne Schuchat, MD (RADM, USPHS), Acting Director

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Debra E. Houry, MD, MPH, Director

Division of Violence Prevention

James A. Mercy, PhD, Director

Suggested citation:

Niolon, P. H., Kearns, M., Dills, J., Rambo, K., Irving, S., Armstead, T., & Gilbert, L. (2017). 

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, 

Policies, and Practices. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 3

Contents

Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................................................. 5

External Reviewers................................................................................................................................................. 5

Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Teach Safe and Healthy Relationship Skills.................................................................................................15

Engage Influential Adults and Peers.............................................................................................................19

Disrupt the Developmental Pathways Toward Partner Violence ........................................................23

Create Protective Environments.....................................................................................................................29

Strengthen Economic Supports for Families .............................................................................................33

Support Survivors to Increase Safety and Lessen Harms ......................................................................37

Sector Involvement .............................................................................................................................................43

Monitoring and Evaluation...............................................................................................................................45

Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................................46

References ..............................................................................................................................................................47

Appendix: Summary of Strategies.................................................................................................................58

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 5

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following individuals who contributed in specific ways to the development of this technical 

package. We give special thanks to Linda Dahlberg for her vision, guidance, and support throughout the development 

of this package. We thank Division, Center, and CDC leadership for their careful review and helpful feedback on earlier 

iterations of this document. We thank Alida Knuth for her formatting and design expertise. We also extend our thanks 

and gratitude to all the external reviewers for their helpful feedback, support and encouragement for this resource. 

We dedicate this document to the memory of our co-author, Shalon M. Irving, who passed away during the 

development of this publication. We are grateful for the time we shared with Shalon working on this publication. “Dr. 

Shalon”, as she was affectionately known, worked tirelessly to improve community health outcomes and brought joy 

to everyone who knew her. Her efforts to prevent violence and toward improving health equity at the CDC and across 

the U.S. are part of her legacy.

External Reviewers

Casey Castaldi

Prevention Institute

Amalia Corby-Edwards

American Psychological Association

Diane Fields-Johnson

Prevention Institute

Lisa Fujie Parks

Prevention Institute

Jennifer Grove

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

Dan Hartley

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Lisa James

Futures Without Violence

Marylouise Kelly

Family Violence Prevention and Services Program, 

Administration for Children and Families

Ashleigh Klein Jimenez

California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

David S. Lee

California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Anne Menard

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

Bethany D. Miller

Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 

Health Resources and Services Administration

Carrie Mulford

National Institute of Justice

Rebecca K. Odor

Family Violence Prevention and Services Program, 

Administration for Children and Families

Alisha Somji

Prevention Institute

The experts above are listed with their affiliations at the time this document was reviewed.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 7

Overview 

This technical package represents a select group of strategies based on the best available evidence to help 

communities and states sharpen their focus on prevention activities with the greatest potential to prevent intimate 

partner violence (IPV) and its consequences across the lifespan. These strategies include teaching safe and healthy 

relationship skills; engaging influential adults and peers; disrupting the developmental pathways toward IPV; creating 

protective environments; strengthening economic supports for families; and supporting survivors to increase safety 

and lessen harms. The strategies represented in this package include those with a focus on preventing IPV, including 

teen dating violence (TDV), from happening in the first place or to prevent it from continuing, as well as approaches 

to lessen the immediate and long-term harms of partner violence. Commitment, cooperation, and leadership from 

numerous sectors, including public health, education, justice, health care, social services, business and labor, and 

government can bring about the successful implementation of this package.

What is a Technical Package?

A technical package is a compilation of a core set of strategies to achieve and sustain substantial reductions in a 

specific risk factor or outcome.1 Technical packages help communities and states prioritize prevention activities based 

on the best available evidence. This technical package has three components. The first component is the strategy or 

the preventive direction or actions to achieve the goal of preventing IPV/TDV. The second component is the approach. 

The approach includes the specific ways to advance the strategy. This can be accomplished through programs, policies, 

and practices. The evidence for each of the approaches in preventing IPV or TDV and/or associated risk factors is 

included as the third component. This package is intended as a resource to guide and inform prevention decisionmaking in communities and states.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence is a Priority

IPV is a serious preventable public health problem that affects millions of Americans and occurs across the lifespan.2-4 It 

can start as soon as people start dating or having intimate relationships, often in adolescence. IPV that happens when 

individuals first begin dating, usually in their teen years, is often referred to as TDV. From here forward in this technical 

package, we will use the term IPV broadly to refer to this type of violence as it occurs across the lifespan. However, 

when outcomes are specific to TDV, we will note that. 

IPV (also commonly referred to as domestic violence) includes “physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and 

psychological aggression (including coercive tactics) by a current or former intimate partner (i.e., spouse, boyfriend/

girlfriend, dating partner, or ongoing sexual partner).”5

 Some forms of IPV (e.g., aspects of sexual violence, 

psychological aggression, including coercive tactics, and stalking) can be perpetrated electronically through mobile 

devices and social media sites, as well as, in person. IPV happens in all types of intimate relationships, including 

heterosexual relationships and relationships among sexual minority populations. Family violence is another commonly 

used term in prevention efforts. While the term domestic violence encompasses the same behaviors and dynamics as 

IPV, the term family violence is broader and refers to a range of violence that can occur in families, including IPV, child 

abuse, and elder abuse by caregivers and others. This package is focused on IPV across the lifespan, including partner 

violence among older adult populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a 

separate technical package for the prevention of child abuse and neglect.6 

IPV is highly prevalent. IPV affects millions of people in the United States each year. Data from the National Intimate 

Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) indicate that nearly 1 in 4 adult women (23%) and approximately 1 in 

7 men (14%) in the U.S. report having experienced severe physical violence (e.g., being kicked, beaten, choked, or 

burned on purpose, having a weapon used against them, etc.) from an intimate partner in their lifetime. Additionally, 

16% of women and 7% of men have experienced contact sexual violence (this includes rape, being made to penetrate 
 8 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

someone else, sexual coercion, and/or unwanted sexual contact) from an intimate partner. Ten percent of women and 

2% of men in the U.S. report having been stalked by an intimate partner, and nearly half of all women (47%) and men 

(47%) have experienced psychological aggression, such as humiliating or controlling behaviors.3

The burden of IPV is not shared equally across all groups; many racial/ethnic and sexual minority groups are 

disproportionately affected by IPV. Data from NISVS indicate that the lifetime prevalence of experiencing contact 

sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner is 57% among multi-racial women, 48% among 

American Indian/Alaska Native women, 45% among non-Hispanic Black women, 37% among non-Hispanic White 

women, 34% among Hispanic women, and 18% among Asian-Pacific Islander women. The lifetime prevalence is 

42% among multi-racial men, 41% among American Indian/Alaska Native men, 40% among non-Hispanic Black 

men, 30% among non-Hispanic White men, 30% among Hispanic men, and 14% among Asian-Pacific Islander men.3

Additionally, the NISVS special report on victimization by sexual orientation demonstrates that some sexual minorities 

are also disproportionately affected by IPV victimization; 61% of bisexual women, 37% of bisexual men, 44% of lesbian 

women, 26% of gay men, 35% of heterosexual women, and 29% of heterosexual men experienced rape, physical 

violence, and/or stalking from an intimate partner in their lifetimes.7 In regards to people living with disabilities, one 

study using a nationally representative sample found that 4.3% of people with physical health impairments and 6.5% 

of people with mental health impairments reported IPV victimization in the past year.8 Studies also show that people 

with a disability have nearly double the lifetime risk of IPV victimization.9

IPV starts early in the lifespan. Data from NISVS demonstrate that IPV often begins in adolescence. An estimated 8.5 

million women in the U.S. (7%) and over 4 million men (4%) reported experiencing physical violence, rape (or being 

made to penetrate someone else), or stalking from an intimate partner in their lifetime and indicated that they first 

experienced these or other forms of violence by that partner before the age of 18.3 A nationally representative survey 

of U.S. high school students also indicates high levels of TDV. Findings from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey 

indicate that among students who reported dating, 10% had experienced physical dating violence and a similar 

percentage (11%) had experienced sexual dating violence in the past 12 months.10 In an analysis of the 2013 survey 

where the authors examined students reporting physical and/or sexual dating violence, the findings indicate that 

among students who had dated in the past year, 21% of girls and 10% of boys reported either physical violence, sexual 

violence, or both forms of violence from a dating partner.11 While the YRBS does not provide national data on the 

prevalence of stalking victimization among high school students, we know from NISVS that nearly 3.5 million women 

(3%) and 900,000 men (1%) in the U.S. report that they first experienced stalking victimization before age 18.3 A study 

conducted in Kentucky suggests that nearly 17% of high school students in that state report stalking victimization, 

with most students indicating that they were most afraid of a former boyfriend or girlfriend as the stalker.12 Research 

also indicates that IPV is most prevalent in adolescence and young adulthood and then begins to decline with age,2

demonstrating the critical importance of early prevention efforts.

IPV is associated with several risk and protective factors. Research indicates a number of factors increase risk for 

perpetration and victimization of IPV. The risk and protective factors discussed here focus on risk for IPV perpetration, 

although many of the same risk factors are also relevant for victimization.13-14 Factors that put individuals at risk for 

perpetrating IPV include (but are not limited to) demographic factors such as age (adolescence and young adulthood), 

low income, low educational attainment, and unemployment; childhood history factors such as exposure to violence 

between parents, experiencing poor parenting, and experiencing child abuse and neglect, including sexual violence. 

Other individual factors that put people at risk for perpetrating IPV include factors such as stress, anxiety, and antisocial 

personality traits; attitudinal risk factors, such as attitudes condoning violence in relationships and belief in strict gender 

roles; and other behavioral risk factors such as prior perpetration and victimization of IPV or other forms of aggression, 

such as peer violence, a history of substance abuse, a history of delinquency, and hostile communication styles.13-16 

Relationship level factors include hostility or conflict in the relationship, separation/ending of the relationship (e.g., 

break-ups, divorce/separation), aversive family communication and relationships, and having friends who perpetrate/

experience IPV.15-16 Although less studied than factors at other levels of the social ecology, community or societal level 

factors include poverty, low social capital, low collective efficacy in neighborhoods (e.g., low willingness of neighbors 
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 9

to intervene when they see violence), and harmful gender norms in societies (i.e., beliefs and expectations about the 

roles and behavior of men and women).16-17

Additionally, a few protective factors have been identified that are associated with lower chances of perpetrating or 

experiencing TDV. These include high empathy, good grades, high verbal IQ, a positive relationship with one’s mother, 

and attachment to school.15 Less is known about protective factors at the community and societal level, but research 

is emerging indicating that environmental factors such as lower alcohol outlet density18 and community norms that 

are intolerant of IPV19 may be protective against IPV. Although more research is needed, there is some evidence 

suggesting that increased economic opportunity and housing security may also be protective against IPV.20-22 

IPV is connected to other forms of violence. Experience with many other forms of violence puts people at risk 

for perpetrating and experiencing IPV. Children who are exposed to IPV between their parents or caregivers are 

more likely to perpetrate or experience IPV, as are individuals who experience abuse and neglect as children.13,15,23

Additionally, adolescents who engage in bullying or peer violence are more likely to perpetrate IPV.15,24 Those who 

experience sexual violence and emotional abuse are more likely to be victims of physical IPV.14 Research also suggests 

IPV may increase risk for suicide. Both boys and girls who experience TDV are at greater risk for suicidal ideation.25-26

Women exposed to partner violence are nearly 5 times more likely to attempt suicide as women not exposed to 

partner violence.27 Intimate partner problems, which includes IPV, were also found to be a precipitating factor for 

suicide among men in a review of violent death records from 7 U.S. states.28 Research also shows that experience with 

IPV (either perpetration or victimization) puts people at higher risk for experiencing IPV in the future.4,13-14 

The different forms of violence often share the same individual, relationship, community, and societal risk factors.29 

The interconnections between the different forms of violence suggests multiple opportunities for prevention.30 Many 

of the strategies included in this technical package include example programs and policies that have demonstrated 

impacts on other forms of violence as reflected in CDC’s other technical packages for prevention of child abuse and 

neglect, sexual violence, youth violence and suicide.6,31-33 Recognizing and addressing the interconnections among the 

different forms of violence will help us better prevent all forms of violence. 

Research 

indicates that 

IPV is most prevalent 

in adolescence and young 

adulthood and then 

begins to decline with age, 

demonstrating the critical 

importance of early 

prevention efforts.
 10 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

The health and economic consequences of IPV are substantial. Approximately 41% of female IPV survivors and 

14% of male IPV survivors experience some form of physical injury related to their experience of relationship violence.2

IPV can also extend beyond physical injury and result in death. Data from U.S. crime reports suggest that 16% (about 

1 in 6) of murder victims are killed by an intimate partner, and that over 40% of female homicide victims in the U.S. 

are killed by an intimate partner.34 There are also many other adverse health outcomes associated with IPV, including 

a range of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive, musculoskeletal, and nervous system conditions, many of 

which are chronic in nature.35 Survivors of IPV also experience mental health consequences, such as depression and 

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).36 Population-based surveys suggest that 52% of women and 17% of men who 

have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner report symptoms of 

PTSD related to their experience of relationship violence.3 IPV survivors are also at higher risk for engaging in health 

risk behaviors, such as smoking, binge drinking, and HIV risk behaviors.37

A substantial proportion of survivors also report other negative 

impacts as a result of IPV, and there is wide variation in the proportions 

of female and male survivors reporting these impacts. Populationbased surveys indicate that among women and men in the U.S. 

who have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, 

or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetimes, 73% of the 

women and 36% of the men report at least one measured negative 

impact related to these victimization experiences (e.g., fear, concern 

for safety, missing school or work, needing services).3 Among the 

female IPV survivors, 62% reported feeling fearful, 57% reported being 

concerned for their safety, 25% missed at least one day of school 

or work from the IPV, 19% reported needing medical care, and 8% 

needed housing services. Among the male survivors, 18% reported 

feeling fearful, 17% reported being concerned for their safety, 14% 

missed at least one day of school or work from the IPV, 5% reported 

needing medical care, and 2% needed housing services.3

Although the personal consequences of IPV are considerable, 

there are also considerable societal costs associated with medical 

services for IPV-related injury and health consequences, mental 

health services, lost productivity from paid work, childcare, and 

household chores, and criminal justice and child welfare costs. The 

only currently available estimates of societal costs of IPV are from 

the mid-1990s, but suggest that the annual costs even 20 years ago 

were estimated at $5.8 billion based on medical and mental health 

services and lost productivity alone.38

IPV can be prevented. Primary prevention of IPV, including TDV, means preventing IPV before it begins. Primary 

prevention strategies are key to ending partner violence in adolescence and adulthood and protecting people from 

its effects. Partner violence in adolescence can be a pre-cursor or risk factor for partner violence in adulthood. Many 

strategies to prevent IPV therefore see adolescence as a critical developmental period for the prevention of partner 

violence in adulthood. It is also important to assist survivors and their children and protect them from future harm. 

Although there is less evidence of what works to prevent IPV compared to other areas of violence, such as youth 

violence or child maltreatment, a growing research base demonstrates that there are multiple strategies to prevent 

IPV from occurring in the first place and to lessen the harms for survivors.39 Strategies are available that can benefit 

adolescents and adults regardless of their level of risk as well as individuals and environments at greatest risk. 

A comprehensive approach that simultaneously targets multiple risk and protective factors is critical to having 

a broad and sustained impact on IPV. Even though more research is needed (e.g., to strengthen the evidence 

addressing community and societal level factors), we cannot let the need for further research impede efforts to 

effectively prevent IPV within our communities.
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 11

A comprehensive 

approach targeting 

multiple risk and 

protective factors is 

critical to having a 

broad and sustained 

impact on IPV.

Assessing the Evidence

This technical package includes programs, practices, and policies with evidence of impact on victimization, perpetration, or 

risk factors for IPV. To be considered for inclusion in the technical package, the program, practice, or policy selected had to 

meet at least one of these criteria: a) meta-analyses or systematic reviews showing impact on IPV victimization or perpetration; 

b) evidence from at least one rigorous (e.g., randomized controlled trial [RCT] or quasi-experimental design) evaluation 

study that found significant preventive effects on IPV victimization or perpetration; c) meta-analyses or systematic reviews 

showing impact on risk factors for IPV victimization or perpetration, or d) evidence from at least one rigorous (e.g., RCT or 

quasi-experimental design) evaluation study that found significant impacts on risk factors for IPV victimization or perpetration. 

Finally, consideration was also given to the likelihood of achieving beneficial effects on multiple forms of violence; no evidence 

of harmful effects on specific outcomes or with particular subgroups; and feasibility of implementation in a U.S. context if the 

program, policy, or practice has been evaluated in another country.

Within this technical package, some approaches do not yet have research evidence demonstrating impact on rates of IPV 

victimization or perpetration but instead are supported by evidence indicating impacts on risk factors for IPV (e.g., child 

maltreatment, harsh parenting, attitudes accepting of violence, financial stress). In terms of the strength of the evidence, 

programs that have demonstrated effects on IPV outcomes (reductions in perpetration or victimization) provide a higherlevel of evidence, but the evidence base is not that strong in all areas. For instance, there has been less evaluation of certain 

approaches on IPV outcomes, such as those described in the strategy to Disrupt the Developmental Pathways to Violence, and 

approaches at the outer levels of the social ecology, such as economic policy and interventions addressing community-level 

risk factors. Thus, approaches in this package that have effects on risk factors reflect the developmental nature of the evidence 

base and the use of the best available evidence at a given time.  

There is a wide range in the nature and quality of evidence among the programs, policies, or practices that fall within one 

approach or strategy. Not all programs, policies, or practices that utilize the same approach (e.g., programs to teach young 

people skills to prevent dating violence) are equally effective – some have impact on dating violence behaviors while others 

do not, and even those that are effective may not work across all populations. Few programs have been designed for and 

tested with diverse populations (e.g., racial/ethnic, sexual minority, incarcerated, and immigrant populations to name a few), 

so tailoring programs and more evaluation may also be necessary to address different population groups. The evidence-based 

programs, practices, or policies included in the package are not intended to be a comprehensive list for each approach, but 

rather to serve as examples that have been shown to impact IPV victimization or perpetration or have beneficial effects on risk 

factors for IPV. In practice, the effectiveness of the programs, policies and practices identified in this package will be strongly 

dependent on the quality of their implementation and the communities in which they are implemented. Implementation 

guidance to assist practitioners, organizations and communities will be developed separately.
 12 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

 Context and Cross-Cutting Themes 

The strategies and approaches included in this technical package represent different levels of the social ecology, with 

efforts intended to impact individual behaviors and also the relationships, families, schools, and communities that 

influence risk and protective factors for IPV. The strategies and approaches are intended to work in combination and 

reinforce each other to prevent IPV (see box below). While individual skills are important and research has demonstrated 

preventive effects in reducing IPV, approaches addressing peer, family, school and other environments as well as societal 

factors are equally important for a comprehensive approach that can have the greatest public health impact.

 Preventing IPV

Strategy Approach

Teach safe and healthy relationship skills • Social-emotional learning programs for youth

• Healthy relationship programs for couples

Engage influential adults and peers

• Men and boys as allies in prevention

• Bystander empowerment and education

• Family-based programs

Disrupt the developmental pathways 

toward partner violence

• Early childhood home visitation

• Preschool enrichment with family engagement

• Parenting skill and family relationship programs

• Treatment for at-risk children, youth and families

Create protective environments

• Improve school climate and safety

• Improve organizational policies and workplace climate 

• Modify the physical and social environments of neighborhoods

Strengthen economic supports for 

families

• Strengthen household financial security

• Strengthen work-family supports

Support survivors to increase safety and 

lessen harms

• Victim-centered services

• Housing programs

• First responder and civil legal protections

• Patient-centered approaches

• Treatment and support for survivors of IPV, including TDV
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 13

While each of the strategies and approaches in the package has a particular focus, several important themes are 

cross-cutting and are addressed by multiple strategies. One of these is an emphasis on creating safe, stable, nurturing 

relationships and environments in childhood and adolescence to prevent IPV across the lifespan. Approaches such 

as social-emotional learning, early childhood home visitation, preschool enrichment, parenting skill and family 

relationship programs, and efforts to create protective environments and lessen harms are intended to address 

exposures to violence, build skills, strengthen relationships, and create the context to prevent IPV across the lifespan. 

The strategies and approaches in this regard are intended to be complementary and have a potentially synergistic 

impact. Changing social norms, including harmful gender norms, is another aspect that cross-cuts many of the 

strategies in this package. Social norms supportive of violence, including harmful gender norms, are demonstrated 

risk factors for IPV.13-15 Social tolerance of violence and harmful gender norms are learned in childhood and reinforced 

in different peer, family, social, economic, and cultural contexts. Challenging these norms is a key aspect of Teaching 

Safe and Healthy Relationship Skills, Engaging Influential Adults and Peers, and Creating Protective Environments in 

schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, and the broader community. Equally important is addressing the societal factors 

that serve to maintain harmful norms and inequality across gender, racial/ethnic, and income groups. 

The strategies and approaches included in this technical package repr

current best practices in the primary prevention of IPV and supporting 

survivors with the after effects of IPV. This package does not include 

approaches to prevent recidivism or treatment for offenders. Batterer 

Intervention Programs (BIPs) are widely used in communities and within

the justice system, but the research findings on their effectiveness are 

mixed,40-41 and conclusions of reviews have differed based on the level 

rigor required for study inclusion, study methodology, and on the outc

used to determine effectiveness (police records vs. victim reports).40 D

the lack of clear evidence regarding the effectiveness of these progra

preventing further IPV,40-42 BIPs are not included in this technical packa

The example programs, policies, and practices in the package have 

been implemented within particular contexts. Each community and 

organization working on IPV prevention across the nation brings its 

own social and cultural context to bear on the selection of strategies 

and approaches that are most relevant to its populations and setting

Practitioners in the field may be in the best position to assess the nee

and strengths of their communities and work with community mem

to make decisions about the combination of approaches included he

that are best suited to their context.

This package includes strategies where public health agencies are we

positioned to bring leadership and resources to implementation effo

It also includes strategies where public health can serve as an import

collaborator (e.g., strategies addressing community and societal level

risks), but where leadership and commitment from other sectors suc

as business or labor (e.g., workplace policies) is critical to implement 

a particular policy or program. The role of various sectors in the 

implementation of a strategy or approach in preventing IPV is descri

further in the section on Sector Involvement.

In the sections that follow, the strategies and approaches with the be

available evidence for preventing IPV are described. 

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Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 15

Teach Safe and Healthy Relationship Skills

Rationale

Fostering expectations for healthy relationships and teaching healthy relationship skills are critical to a primary 

prevention approach to the problem of IPV. The evidence suggests that acceptance of partner violence, poor 

emotional regulation and conflict management, and poor communication skills put individuals at risk for both 

perpetration and victimization of IPV.15,43-44 Therefore, promoting expectations for healthy, non-violent relationships 

and building skills in these areas can reduce risk for perpetration and victimization of IPV. Previous research shows that 

strengthening social-emotional, conflict management, and communication skills can also reduce substance abuse, 

sexual risk behaviors, sexual violence, delinquency, bullying and other forms of peer violence.31-32,45

Approaches

There are a number of approaches that teach skills and promote expectations for healthy, non-violent relationships, 

including those that work with youth and with couples. 

Social-emotional learning programs for youth promote expectations for mutually respectful, caring, non-violent 

relationships among young people and work with youth to help them develop social-emotional skills such as 

empathy, respect, and healthy communication and conflict resolution skills. Successful programs not only teach skills 

for safe and healthy relationships but also offer multiple opportunities to practice and reinforce these skills. Although 

typically implemented with adolescent populations in school-based settings, these approaches and skills may also be 

useful with young adults.

Healthy relationship programs for couples focus on improving relationship dynamics and individual well-being 

by improving communication, conflict management, and emotional regulation skills. Some of these programs work 

with couples who are engaged or just entering committed relationships to increase relationship quality, relationship 

satisfaction and relationship skills, while others work with couples trying to address a problem, such as substance use. 

Couples-based approaches have historically been controversial in the field of IPV intervention, and most agree that 

treatment programs for couples where severe violence and fear are already occurring are not safe for survivors.46 For 

other couples, there is some evidence that relationship programs that focus on improving these relationship skills can 

demonstrate effectiveness in reducing the likelihood of IPV perpetration in the future. 

Potential Outcomes

• Increases in the use of healthy relationship skills

• Reductions in perpetration of physical, sexual and emotional IPV and stalking

• Reductions in victimization of physical, sexual and emotional IPV and stalking

• Reductions in perpetration of peer violence, including bullying

• Reductions in high-risk sexual behaviors

• Reductions in attitudes that accept violence in relationships

• Increases in relationship satisfaction and well-being

• Reductions in substance abuse

• Reductions in weapon-carrying
 16 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Evidence 

The current evidence suggests that both social-emotional programs for youth and relationship skills programs 

for adult couples can prevent IPV perpetration and victimization.

Social-emotional learning programs for youth. One program with evidence of effectiveness is Safe Dates, 

which is a school-based program focused on the promotion of healthy relationships and the prevention of 

TDV.47 Originally developed for 8th and 9th graders, the program offers opportunities for students to learn and 

practice skills related to conflict resolution, positive communication, and managing anger. The program includes 

10 classroom sessions, which provide many opportunities for role play and skill practice, a play presented to 

the entire school, and a poster contest. Safe Dates was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial and found to 

reduce both perpetration and victimization of physical and sexual dating violence, and results were sustained at 

four-year follow-up, into late-adolescence. Students exposed to the program reported between 56% and 92% 

less perpetration and victimization, respectively, at four-year follow-up when compared to control students, and 

program effects were consistent across gender, race, and baseline experience with TDV.47 Students exposed to

Safe Dates also reported a 12% reduction in peer violence victimization and a 31% reduction in weapon carrying 

at one-year follow-up compared to controls, demonstrating its effects on other violence outcomes associated 

with TDV.48

Another example is “The Fourth R: Strategies for Healthy Teen Relationships.” The program is named “The Fourth 

R” to indicate that teaching youth about “relationships” is as important as teaching them the three R’s of 

“reading, writing and arithmetic.” This 21-session manualized curriculum focuses on 1) personal safety and injury 

prevention; 2) healthy growth and sexuality, and 3) substance abuse. The program offers multiple opportunities 

to practice and rehearse skills. The Fourth R was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial, and significant 

program effects were found among boys: boys in the intervention were almost three times less likely to report 

perpetration than boys in the control condition 2.5 years after baseline. However, there was no significant 

intervention effect on girls’ perpetration.49

Expect Respect Support Groups (ERSG) are a socio-emotional 

learning approach for students at higher risk of TDV. ERSG

is designed for teens who are in an abusive relationship or 

who have experienced any form of violence or abuse. Weekly 

support groups are led by trained facilitators. The 24-session 

curriculum focuses on developing communication skills, 

choosing equality and respect, recognizing abuse, learning skills 

for healthy relationships and becoming active proponents for 

safe and healthy relationships. Ball et al.50 found that teens who 

completed the ERSG reported an increase in relationship skills 

and a decrease in TDV victimization and perpetration from pre 

to post-test. In a recent controlled evaluation of ERSG using an 

accelerated longitudinal design, the number of ERSG sessions 

attended related to significant incremental declines for boys on 

multiple outcomes, including perpetration and victimization of 

psychological TDV and sexual TDV, physical TDV victimization, and 

reactive and proactive aggression.51 Girls who participated in ERSG

demonstrated significant reductions in reactive and proactive 

aggression compared to treatment as usual control participants, 

but did not differ from controls on the TDV outcomes. It appears 

that ERSG has beneficial effects for both boys and girls in regard to 

reactive and proactive aggression, but is most effective for at-risk 

boys in regards to TDV perpetration and victimization. 
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 17

Healthy relationship programs for couples. Programs that work with couples to build and strengthen 

relationship skills, including communication and conflict management skills, show evidence for preventing later 

IPV. One example is the Pre-marital Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), which is a five session intervention 

for couples planning to marry that focuses on teaching couples skills, techniques, and principles designed 

to enhance positive relationship functioning and promote effective management of negative affect with the 

goal of maintaining high relationship functioning and preventing problems from occurring in the relationship. 

This program has been empirically tested with many populations (e.g., community-based, active duty military, 

incarcerated populations) and in various delivery formats (group delivery, computer-delivered). In the original 

randomized controlled trial of PREP, at five-year follow-up couples who completed all or most of the PREP

intervention had significantly lower levels of physical relationship violence than couples in the control group. 

The intervention group also had significantly higher levels of positive communication skills and lower levels of 

negative communication skills than the control group.52 In a more recent RCT of ePREP, the computerized version 

of the PREP program, married couples receiving the intervention demonstrated significant reductions in reports of 

physical aggression and psychological aggression compared to individuals in a placebo-intervention control group 

at the 10-month follow-up.53

Another example of a couples-based program is Behavioral Couples Therapy, or BCT, which is an individuallybased substance abuse treatment program for substance-abusing individuals and their partners. The therapy 

consists of a combination of 12-20 weekly couple-based sessions. The program works with the couple on 

conflict management and other relationship skills as part of the substance abuse treatment.54 A substantive and 

methodological review of 23 studies (mostly quasi-experimental studies employing a demographically matched, 

non-alcoholic comparison group) found that BCT is associated with significant reductions in perpetration of IPV 

among couples participating in treatment groups.54 The effects of BCT have been found for both male and female 

substance users and their partners, and these effects are particularly pronounced for individuals who successfully 

stopped drinking (remitted alcoholics).54-57 Thus, the intervention appears most effective at reducing IPV among 

those for whom it is effective in preventing further substance use.55-56

Programs that 

work with couples to 

build and strengthen 

relationship skills, 

including communication 

and conflict management 

skills, show evidence 

for preventing 

later IPV.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 19

Engage Influential Adults and Peers

Rationale 

Programs that seek to engage influential adults and peers in promoting positive relationship expectations and 

condemning violent and unhealthy relationship behaviors among adolescents and young adults are critical to the 

prevention of IPV. Trusted adults and peers are important influencers of what adolescents and young adults think 

and expect and how they behave. Beliefs and attitudes about the acceptability of violence and about gender 

equity are predictive of IPV perpetration.15, 58 Engaging adults and peers to promote social norms that support 

healthy relationship behaviors has great potential to change social contexts so that everyone knows that IPV is 

not acceptable and will not be tolerated, and people feel more willing and able to intervene when they see IPV.59

These types of social contexts can discourage potential perpetrators from thinking that violence will be seen 

as acceptable and increase their perception of the risk that there may be social consequences to such behavior. 

These types of social contexts may also increase positive bystander behaviors, which can directly interrupt 

violence as well as enforce norms unaccepting of violence.59

Approaches

There are a number of approaches that seek to influence the social context within which partner violence occurs 

by engaging influential adults and peers. 

Men and boys as allies in prevention. These approaches target men and boys and encourage them to be part 

of efforts to prevent IPV, including TDV. These approaches not only encourage men and boys to support actual 

and potential victims by intervening and speaking out, but also teach skills and promote social norms that reduce 

their own risk for future perpetration. These approaches often target men in peer groups, such as athletic teams 

and fraternities.

Bystander empowerment and education. These types of approaches attempt to promote social norms that 

are protective against violence and empower and encourage people to intervene to prevent violence when 

they see it. Participants in bystander empowerment and education programs learn specific strategies on how 

to intervene in situations that involve IPV. Types of bystanders targeted for intervention include: informal 

helpers (e.g., friends and roommates), popular opinion leaders (e.g., student government) or larger social 

groups (e.g., men on college campuses).

Family-based programs seek to involve parents and other caregivers in prevention of TDV. Family-based 

programs operate on the premise that the family is central to the development of norms and values, and 

therefore amenable to interventions that promote acceptable behavior. These approaches are designed to 

improve parental awareness and knowledge about TDV, change parental attitudes about the acceptability of TDV, 

improve parent communication skills around TDV and skills for helping their teens resolve relationship conflicts, 

and to improve their rule setting and monitoring skills.
 20 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Potential Outcomes

• Increase in self-efficacy and intentions to engage in 

active bystander behavior

• Reductions in perpetration of TDV and IPV

• Reductions in victimization of TDV and IPV

• Reductions in peer norms supportive of TDV and IPV

• Increase in parental/caregiver efficacy in resolving 

teen relationship conflicts and engaging in rule setting

• Reductions in acceptance of dating abuse among 

adolescents

Evidence

There is growing evidence that engaging men and boys, bystander approaches, and family-based programs can 

prevent IPV.

Men and boys as allies in prevention. Several programs have been developed and implemented that focus on 

engaging men and boys as allies in the prevention of IPV. One such program with rigorous evaluation evidence is 

Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM), an eleven session coach-led intervention with male high school athletes in grades 

9–12. CBIM provides coaches with training tools to model and promote respectful, non-violent, healthy relationships 

with their male athletes, and sessions are conducted during regularly scheduled team practices throughout the sports 

season. CBIM was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial and was found to significantly reduce perpetration of TDV 

at the 12-month follow-up assessment (including physical, sexual, and emotional aggression), as well as significantly 

reduce engagement in negative bystander behaviors (such as laughing or encouraging abusive behaviors).60

Bystander empowerment and education. Research focused on engaging bystanders has shown that efforts to 

increase bystander efficacy are beneficial in alcohol and drug use reduction and other health behaviors. More recently, 

these approaches have been applied to bullying, dating violence, and sexual assault. One example is Bringing in the 

Bystander. This program teaches college student participants about how relationship violence and sexual violence 

occur along a continuum from less aggressive to more severe behaviors, and teaches participants how to safely 

intervene, offering opportunities to practice these skills and create plans for how they will intervene to prevent 

violence as a bystander. Participants in the program demonstrated increased self-reports of likelihood to intervene 

and confidence in ability to intervene.61-62 In one recent study, higher levels of engaging in bystander behaviors 

were reported by program participants at the one-year follow-up, when the situation involved helping friends (but 

effects were not found for situations involving strangers).63 Higher intentions to intervene have been shown to be 

a protective factor for TDV, with one study finding these intentions to be associated with a 40% lower likelihood of 

perpetrating TDV.58

Another example of a bystander program is Green Dot. This program educates and empowers participants to 

engage in both reactive and proactive responses to interpersonal violence, such as dating or sexual violence, to 

reduce likelihood of assault. Bystander training is conducted in groups by trained facilitators in four to six hour 

training sessions. An evaluation of Green Dot implemented with college students found that after three years of 

implementation, the intervention campus had a 9% lower rate of overall violence victimization, 19% lower rate of 

sexual harassment and stalking perpetration, and 11% lower rate of sexual harassment and stalking victimization 

when compared with two non-intervention college campuses.64 Male students on Green Dot campuses reported lower 

rates of perpetration of overall violence and lower rates of psychological dating violence relative to control campuses. 
Female students on Green Dot campuses reported significantly less sexual assault resulting from inability to resist due 

to drugs or alcohol than female students on control campuses. There were no significant program effects for physical 

dating violence for male or female students.64 An evaluation of the program across a four-year study period found 

similar results.65 A randomized controlled trial of the program with high school students found significant reductions 

in dating violence perpetration and victimization after three years of program implementation, as well as reductions in 

other related violence outcomes such as sexual violence (including sexual harassment) and stalking.66

Family-based programs. Family-based programs have been successful in reducing teen risk behavior, such as highrisk sexual behavior,67 and may hold promise for prevention of TDV. One example is the Families for Safe Dates (FSD)

program. FSD consists of six booklets delivered to families (five of which are designed with interactive activities that 

caregivers and teens complete together). Each booklet targets change in constructs associated with TDV, including 

teen conflict resolution skills, teen’s acceptance of dating abuse, and caregiver knowledge about dating and efficacy 

to influence TDV behavior. A health educator follows up with the caregiver two weeks after each booklet is mailed 

to gauge progress in completing activities, encourage participation, and answer questions. FSD was evaluated in 

a randomized controlled trial and found to motivate and facilitate parent/caregiver involvement in teen dating 

abuse prevention activities, increase caregiver self-efficacy for talking about dating abuse, and decrease negative 

communication with teens. At the 3-month follow-up, teens in the intervention group reported decreased acceptance 

of dating abuse, which is a risk factor for TDV perpetration and victimization, and significant reductions in reports of 

TDV victimization over time compared to no-treatment controls.68

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 21

Family-based 

programs have been 

successful in reducing 

teen risk behavior and 

may hold promise for 

prevention of TDV.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 23

Disrupt the Developmental Pathways 

Toward Partner Violence

Rationale

Findings from several longitudinal studies indicate that many of the factors associated with perpetrating violence against 

intimate partners are evident well before adolescence.69-71 These factors include poor behavioral control; social problemsolving deficits; early onset of drug and alcohol use; an arrest prior to the age of 13; and involvement with antisocial 

peers, crime and violence.13,15,70-74 Findings from these studies also point to academic problems, exposure to chronic stress 

and adverse experiences such as child abuse and neglect, witnessing violence in the home and community, and parental 

substance abuse, depression, criminality, and incarceration.69-71 Negative parenting behaviors (e.g., poor communication 

between family members, harsh and inconsistent discipline, poor parental monitoring and supervision, poor parentchild boundaries) and family environments that are unstable, stressful, and that lack structure are also risk factors for 

perpetration of TDV in adolescence and continued perpetration into adulthood.15,73-75 Approaches that can disrupt these 

developmental risks and pathways have the potential to reduce IPV.

Approaches

There are a number of approaches for interrupting the developmental pathways contributing to partner violence, 

including those that address early childhood environments, parenting skills, and other supports to prevent future 

involvement in violence. 

Early childhood home visitation programs provide information, caregiver support, and training about child health, 

development, and care to families in their homes. Home visiting programs may be delivered by nurses, professionals, 

or paraprofessionals.76 Many programs are offered to low-income, first time mothers to help them establish healthy 

family environments.76 The content and structure of programs vary depending on the model being utilized (e.g., some 

are highly manualized and others are more flexible in their delivery).76 Some programs begin during pregnancy, while 

others begin after the birth of the child and may continue up through the child entering elementary school. Some 

programs also include components to address co-occurring risks such as IPV in the home.

Preschool enrichment with family engagement programs provide high-quality early education and support to 

economically disadvantaged families. These programs are designed to build a strong foundation for future learning 

and healthy development, and to lower the risks for future behavioral problems. Programs are generally available to 

children and families who meet basic qualifications, such as being residents in a high-poverty school area eligible 

for federal Title I funding, demonstrate need and agree to participate, or have incomes at or below the federal 

poverty level.77 Parental involvement is an important component to these programs which often begin in infancy or 

toddlerhood and may continue into early or middle childhood. 

Parenting skill and family relationship programs provide parents and caregivers with support and teach 

communication, problem-solving, positive parenting skills and behavior monitoring and management skills to reduce 

children’s involvement in crime and violence and later risk of perpetrating IPV. Programs are typically designed for 

parents and families with children in a specific age range (e.g., preschool and elementary school, middle and/or 

high school) with the content tailored to the developmental stage of the child.78-81 Programs may be self-directed or 

delivered to individual or groups of families. For families at high-risk for conflict and child behavior problems, tailored 

delivery to individual families yields greater benefits than group administration.79,82-83
 24 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Treatment for at-risk children, youth and families. These 

approaches are designed for children and youth with 

histories of child abuse and neglect, childhood aggression 

and conduct problems, and prior involvement in violence 

and crime. They are intended to mitigate the consequences 

of these exposures and prevent the continuation and 

escalation of violence into adulthood including abuse 

directed toward partners and one’s own children. Referrals 

for therapeutic interventions and other supports may 

come from social services, the juvenile justice system, 

schools, or other community organizations working with 

children, youth, and families. Children of all ages may 

participate in these programs, although the specific age 

of children targeted depends on the specific program 

being implemented. Programs are often delivered by 

trained clinicians in the home or a clinic setting, and can be 

delivered to individual families or groups of families.

Potential Outcomes • Reductions in child abuse and neglect • Reductions in child welfare encounters • Reductions in rates of out of home placement of 

children and youth

• Increases in parent-child engagement and interaction • Reductions in harsh and ineffective discipline • Increases in child health and development • Reductions in rates of aggressive and social behavior 

problems in children and youth

• Improved social competency, pro-social behavior and 

interaction with peers

• Reductions in rates of deviant peer associations • Reductions in rates of TDV and IPV • Improvements in marital relationships • Reductions in rates of involvement in crime, arrest and 

incarceration

• Higher educational attainment • Higher rates of full time employment • Higher socioeconomic status and economic self-sufficiency • Reductions in rates of substance abuse • Reductions in rates of depressive symptoms
Evidence 

A large body of evidence highlights the importance of intervening early to prevent future involvement in violence, 

including future risk of perpetrating partner violence. 

Early childhood home visitation. The evidence of effectiveness for home visiting programs is mixed, with some models 

showing few or no effects and others showing strong effects, potentially due to the varying content and delivery of 

these programs.76 Nurse Family Partnership (NFP), for instance, has been evaluated in multiple randomized controlled 

trials and found to be effective in reducing multiple risk factors for IPV. It is associated with a 48% relative reduction in 

child abuse and neglect, which is a risk factor for both victimization and perpetration of IPV.84 The NFP program also 

reduced parental substance use, the use of welfare, and criminal behavior in women in the program compared to women 

in the comparison group.84-85 At 25 and 50 months of age, children who had received nurse home visits had 45% fewer 

behavioral problems and parent coping problems as noted in the physician record.86 By ages 15 and 19, participating 

youth had significantly fewer arrests, convictions, and probation violations and lower rates of substance use.87-88 Although 

the effectiveness of home visits on IPV needs more study, in one NFP trial, nurse-visited women reported significantly less 

exposure to IPV in the previous six months at the four-year follow-up compared with those in the control group.89

Preschool enrichment with family engagement. These programs have documented positive impacts on the child’s 

cognitive skills, school achievement, social skills, and conduct problems, and are effective in reducing child abuse and 

neglect and youth involvement in crime and violence, which are risk factors for perpetrating IPV. Child Parent Centers 

(CPCs) and Early Head Start (EHS) are two examples of effective programs. CPCs have been evaluated in multiple, longterm studies. By age 20, youth who participated in the preschool program (relative to youth in other early childhood 

programs) had significantly lower rates of juvenile arrest (16.9% vs 25.1%), violent arrests (9.0% vs 15.3%), and multiple 

arrests (9.5% vs 12.8%).90 By age 24, those who participated in the program for four to six years (vs. preschool only) had 

significantly lower rates of violent arrests, violent convictions, and multiple incarcerations.91 Across studies, participating 

youth relative to comparison groups experienced lower rates of substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect, out-ofhome placements, grade retention, special education services, depression, and substance use, as well as higher rates of 

high school completion, attendance in four-year colleges, health insurance, and full-time employment in adulthood.90-93

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 25

A large body of 

evidence highlights 

the importance of 

intervening early 

to prevent future 

involvement in violence, 

including future risk 

of perpetrating 

partner violence. 
 26 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Multiple evaluations of EHS also demonstrate significant program impacts on multiple risk factors for IPV among 

participants relative to comparison groups, including significantly fewer child welfare encounters, fewer reports of 

substantiated physical or sexual abuse,94 better cognitive and language development; home environments that are more 

supportive of learning; less aggressive and other social behavior problems; and stronger parent-child engagement.95-96

Parenting skill and family relationship programs. The Incredible Years® and the Parent Management Training Oregon 

Model (PMTO) are two examples of effective parenting programs with impacts on risk and protective factors for 

perpetration of TDV and later partner violence. The Incredible Years® is designed for families with young children up 

to 12 years of age and can be implemented with additional components for teachers and children in school. A metaanalysis of program effects found significant decreases in child behavior problems, increases in prosocial behaviors, and 

improvements in parental monitoring, discipline, and mother-child interactions.97 A randomized controlled trial of an 

enhanced version of the program also found beneficial effects for the non-target siblings, such as reduced antisocial 

behavior and improved peer-relations.98-99

PMTO is designed for parents of children ages 3 to 16. The program uses didactic instruction, modeling, role-playing, and 

home practice to teach parenting skills in encouragement, monitoring, limit setting, discipline, problem solving, and 

to foster parent-child engagement in activities. It is delivered in group and individual family formats in diverse settings 

(e.g., clinics, homes, schools, community centers, homeless shelters). PMTO is associated with reductions in coercive and 

harsh parenting of children, and increases in positive parenting practices and adaptive family functioning,100-101 including 

among parents with a history of hard drug use (e.g., cocaine, heroin, LSD), physical aggression toward a former or current 

partner, and a prior arrest.102 The program is also associated with reductions in child behavior problems and reductions 

in youth aggression, deviant peer associations, substance use, and rates of arrest.103-104 Other benefits include increases in 

family socioeconomic status and greater rise out of poverty and improvements in the marital relationship.101,105-106

Treatment for at-risk children, youth and families.

Several therapeutic programs have demonstrated impact 

on risk factors for later development of IPV, including 

reductions in violent behavior and substance use, 

and improvements in family functioning and positive 

parenting. A systematic review of therapeutic foster 

care approaches, such as Multidimensional Treatment 

Foster Care (MTFC), demonstrate an approximate 72% 

reduction in violent crimes among participants.107 MTFC

provides short-term placements of children and youth 

with persistent and significant behavioral challenges 

with extensively trained foster parents, family therapy 

for biological parents, and behavioral and academic 

supports to youth. Multiple studies show the benefit 

of MTFC in reducing behavioral problems, attachment 

issues, and neurophysiological changes due to stress in 

preschool aged children; and reductions in violent crimes, 

incarceration, and substance abuse among adolescents.108

For example, adolescent males who participated in MTFC

were less likely to commit violent offenses than youth in 

service-as-usual group care. After controlling for age at 

placement, age at first arrest, official and self-reported 

prior offenses and time since baseline, 24% of group 

care youth had two or more criminal referrals for violent 

offenses in the two years following the baseline versus 

only 5% of MFTC youth.109 At 12 and 18 months of followup, MTFC boys also had lower levels of self-reported 

tobacco, marijuana, and other drug use.110
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an intensive family and community-based treatment program for justice-involved youth 

that engages the youth’s entire social network (e.g., friends, peers, family, teachers, school administrators, and members 

of the community). MST therapists meet with families and youth in their home, school, and community environments 

with the goal of strengthening family relationships, improving parenting skills, improving youths’ academic achievement, 

and promoting prosocial activities and behavior. MST has been evaluated in numerous trials with samples of chronic and 

violent juveniles and is associated with significant long-term reductions in re-arrests (reduced by a median of 42%) and 

out-of-home placements (reduced by a median of 54%).111 MST participants, relative to youth receiving individual therapy 

had fewer violent felony arrests approximately 22 years later (4.3% vs. 15.5%).112 The siblings of these participants also 

had fewer arrests for any crime (43.3% vs. 72%) and felonies (15% vs. 34%) approximately 25 years later.113 Other benefits 

include decreased rates of child maltreatment,114 improvements in family functioning, parent-child interactions, and 

positive parenting practices, and reductions in youth’s substance use and involvement with gangs.111-112,115

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 27

Several 

parenting and 

therapeutic 

programs have 

demonstrated 

impact on risk 

factors for IPV. 

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 29

Create Protective Environments

Rationale

While many prevention strategies focus on individual and relationship-level factors that influence the likelihood 

of becoming a survivor or perpetrator of IPV, it is important to acknowledge the influence of community 

environments (i.e., schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods). Approaches that work to foster a broader social 

and physical environment that improves safety, social connections, and awareness of IPV can help create a 

climate that supports prevention of violence against intimate partners. These community-level approaches may 

encourage higher rates of disclosure of IPV, increase resources and support leveraged on behalf of IPV survivors, 

and promote social norms that are intolerant of IPV within the community, potentially increasing the likelihood 

that community members will intervene when they witness IPV.19 Although evidence on community-level 

approaches for IPV prevention is just beginning to emerge, there is support for the role of neighborhood and 

community characteristics (e.g., neighborhood social control, social cohesion, collective efficacy, tangible help 

and support for IPV survivors, social norms) as important protective factors against perpetration of IPV.13,29, 116 

Approaches

Community-level approaches for creating protective environments against the perpetration of partner violence 

include efforts to: 

Improve school climate and safety. School environments offer a potentially influential context that can be 

changed or adapted to promote prevention of TDV. Approaches that increase support from school personnel 

and modify physical spaces in schools have potential to improve safety and raise awareness about dating 

violence and harassment. Creating a school environment that enhances safety and feelings of safety, promotes 

healthy relationships and respectful boundaries, and reduces tolerance for violence among students and school 

personnel can play an important role in reducing rates of TDV perpetration. While efforts have traditionally 

focused on middle and high school settings, there may be opportunities to adapt this type of approach to other 

school contexts, such as college and university settings. 

Improve organizational policies and workplace climate. These types of approaches are designed to foster 

protective environments in the workplace through the creation of organizational policies and practices 

that promote safety and encourage help-seeking behavior. Workplace approaches can aid employees and 

managers in raising awareness about IPV, recognizing the potential for violence by an intimate partner of an 

employee occurring in the workplace, facilitate how incidents can be reported and handled, and demonstrate 

commitment to workplace safety (e.g., securing access points, visitor sign-in policies, crisis planning) while 

providing support and resources to employees experiencing IPV.117 These approaches have potential to 

encourage disclosure of IPV, normalize help-seeking, and increase tangible aid and social support to employees, 

which has been shown to be a protective factor for IPV.13 In addition, these approaches can facilitate positive 

changes in workplace climate, increase feelings of safety, and reduce perceived tolerance of violence towards 

intimate partners among managers and employees in the workplace. 
 30 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Modify the physical and social environments of neighborhoods. These approaches address aspects of 

neighborhood settings that increase the risk for IPV, including alcohol outlet density, physical disorder and decay, 

and social disorder.19,118-119 There are a number of mechanisms by which living in disadvantaged neighborhoods can 

place people at greater risk for IPV. These neighborhoods typically have higher rates of crime and violence. Exposure 

to neighborhood violence is a risk factor for IPV.116,119 Additionally, the stress associated with living in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods and social norms that govern violence in these communities are also possible mechanisms for this 

increased risk.119-120 Further, signs of neighborhood disorder may lead people, including potential perpetrators, to 

believe that consequences for IPV perpetration, such as police intervention, are less likely.121 These community-level 

factors can be addressed by changing, enacting, or enforcing laws and regulations (e.g., alcohol-related policies); 

improving the economic stability of neighborhoods; and by changing the physical environment to improve social 

interaction, and strengthen community ties and social cohesion in order to promote residents’ willingness to monitor 

and respond to problem behavior (e.g., collective efficacy). These types of approaches have potential for populationlevel impact on IPV/TDV outcomes, often at relatively low cost for implementation.

Potential Outcomes

• Reductions in rates of IPV and TDV perpetration 

• Reductions in rates of IPV and TDV victimization

• Reductions in intimate partner homicides

• Reductions in rates of peer violence perpetration 

• Reductions in sexual harassment perpetration

• Reductions in community violence 

• Improvements in workplace climate towards reduction or 

prevention of IPV

• Increases in development of organizational policies and 

resource-seeking for IPV

• Increases in knowledge and awareness of IPV

• Reductions in excessive alcohol use at the community level 

• Increases in neighborhood collective efficacy

• Increases in disclosure and reporting of IPV

• Increases in social support provided to survivors of IPV

• Reductions in violent crime

Evidence 

Although still developing, there is some evidence supporting the use of community-level approaches to preventing 

partner violence. 

Improve school climate and safety. The current evidence suggests that changing or adapting certain aspects 

of school settings to improve student safety has potential to reduce rates of TDV. For example, the building-level 

component of Shifting Boundaries is designed to improve safety in schools by increasing staff presence in “hot spots” 

(building areas designated by students and staff as unsafe); promoting awareness and reporting of TDV to school 
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 31

personnel through a school-based poster campaign; and introducing temporary building-based restraining orders 

for students at risk for TDV. In a rigorous evaluation of the intervention in New York City middle schools, the buildinglevel component was found to reduce sexual violence victimization in dating relationships by 50%.122 No effects were 

found for sexual violence perpetration within teen dating relationships. However, the building level intervention was 

found to reduce the prevalence of sexual violence perpetration by peers (occurring outside of dating relationships) by 

47% and sexual harassment perpetration by 34% compared to control schools that did not receive the classroom or 

building-level intervention.122 The prevention effects on sexual violence perpetration by peers and sexual harassment 

perpetration are important because peer violence is an empirically established risk factor for later TDV perpetration.15

This study was conducted in middle schools, so it is possible that it is too early developmentally to see effects on TDV 

perpetration. The fact that this intervention had an impact on risk factors for TDV perpetration, however, is promising.

Improve organizational polices and workplace climate. Similar to school settings, the workplace also represents 

an important context where safety and awareness around IPV could be addressed. For example, IPV and the Workplace 

Training is one intervention with evidence for significantly improving workplace climate towards IPV in county 

government organizations randomly assigned to receive the training, compared to a delayed control group.123 The 

number of supervisors providing information to employees on a state law that provides protected work leave to IPV 

survivors significantly increased after receiving the training. Organizations in the intervention group demonstrated 

more public postings about the state leave law for IPV survivors and were more likely to develop IPV policies and 

seek additional IPV resources for employees than organizations in the delayed control group. While impact on IPV 

outcomes has not yet been tested, these findings may translate into increases within the workplace of tangible help 

and social support, both of which have been found to be protective factors for victimization and perpetration of IPV.13

Another organizational approach is the United States Air Force Suicide Prevention Program. While not explicitly focused 

on IPV prevention, this program was developed to reduce stigma and social norms that discourage help-seeking 

among U.S. Air Force personnel. Eleven different prevention initiatives were put into practice within the Air Force 

to enhance education and training and create policies aimed at promoting help-seeking (e.g., enhanced patient 

privilege, greater coordination with mental health services, required training on suicide prevention). A longitudinal 

evaluation of the program showed a 30% reduction in moderate family violence (exposure to repeated instances of 

emotionally abusive behavior, neglect, or physical or sexual abuse) and a 54% reduction in severe family violence (a 

pattern of abusive behavior that requires placement of the victim in an alternative environment) in the years after the 

program launched.124 The program also significantly lowered rates of suicide.124 Creating an organizational culture that 

encourages help-seeking and increases service referrals for individuals and families in distress may benefit not only 

individuals at risk for suicide but also couples at risk for IPV. 

Modify the physical and social environments of neighborhoods. Evidence suggests that changing or modifying 

environmental characteristics of neighborhoods may be an effective approach for preventing IPV. For example, 

one study found that residents of an urban public housing development randomly assigned to buildings in 

proximity to green conditions (i.e., trees and grass) reported significantly lower rates of partner violence in the 

past year than residents living in proximity to barren conditions.125 The researchers found that levels of mental 

fatigue (inattentiveness, irritability, and impulsivity) were significantly higher in buildings next to barren areas and 

that aggression accompanied mental fatigue.125 Additionally, research has also shown that green space in urban 

communities has been linked to higher levels of neighborhood collective efficacy126 and reductions in violent crime,127

which is a risk factor for IPV.119

Alcohol-related policies represent another potential way to reduce risk for IPV at the neighborhood/community level.18

Alcohol outlet density, defined as the number of locations where alcohol can be purchased, has been consistently 

linked to higher rates of IPV.18 For example, in a population-level survey of U.S. couples, an increase of 10 alcohol 

outlets per 10,000 persons was associated with a 34% increase in male-to-female partner violence.128 Policies that work 

to reduce a community’s alcohol outlet density are one example of an approach that might help reduce community 

rates of IPV.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 33

Strengthen Economic Supports for Families 

Rationale

Addressing socioeconomic factors holds great potential for improving a wide range of health outcomes for 

neighborhoods, communities and states129 and also has the potential to prevent IPV. Evidence suggests that poverty, 

financial stress, and low income can increase risk for IPV. Reducing financial stress may decrease potential for 

relationship conflict and dissatisfaction, which are strong predictors of IPV.13, 21 In addition, improving financial stability 

and autonomy could reduce financial dependence on a potential perpetrator and provide alternatives to unhealthy 

relationships.21 Studies also show that gender inequality in education, employment, and income is a risk factor for 

IPV.13, 130 Therefore, efforts to improve financial security for families and women’s education, employment and income 

may reduce risk for IPV.131

Approaches

Improving household financial security and work-family supports are ways to strengthen economic supports for 

families and potentially reduce IPV.

Strengthen household financial security. Improving ways to support families in the absence of employment or 

sufficient wages addresses several risk factors for IPV, including poverty, low income, financial stress, and gender 

inequality. Providing income supplements, income generating opportunities, and decreasing the gender pay gap 

target these risk factors directly. Examples of ways to strengthen household financial security include income supports 

such as tax credits and child care subsidies. These are designed to support parental employment, cover necessities, and 

offset the costs of childrearing as well as improve the availability of affordable high-quality child care to low-income 

families. Cash transfers and other forms of assistance are another way to help families increase household income and 

meet basic needs (e.g., food, shelter, and medical care). 

Strengthen work-family supports. Policies such as paid leave (parental, sick, vacation) provide income replacement 

to workers for life events such as the birth of a child, care of a family member during times of illness, or personal leave 

to refresh or recover from a serious health condition. Job-protected leave is also available in some states to help IPV 

survivors attend court hearings, seek medical treatment, or attend counseling. Paid and job-protected leave policies 

help individuals keep their jobs and maintain income to cover expenses or address other needs.

Potential Outcomes

• Reductions in poverty, financial stress, and economic dependency

• Increases in annual family income

• Reductions in earnings inequality 

• Increases in annual earnings for women

• Increases in empowerment of women

• Reductions in relationship conflict

• Increases in relationship satisfaction

• Reductions in IPV
 34 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Evidence 

There are a number of policies and programs aimed at strengthening economic supports with evidence of impact on 

risk factors for IPV.

Strengthen household financial security. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are examples of programs that can strengthen household financial security 

through providing cash benefits to low-income households. States can administer these programs in ways that 

maximize their impact on reducing poverty and financial stress, which are risk factors for IPV.13 For instance, states can 

implement policies allowing child support payments to be added (versus off-setting) to TANF benefits for custodial 

parents. The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), for example, focuses on encouraging work, reducing 

long-term dependence on public assistance, and reducing poverty by continuing to provide financial supports to 

struggling families after parents have gained employment—e.g., by increasing the “earned income disregard,” or the 

amount of income that is not counted in calculating welfare grants. An effectiveness study of the program, in which 

families were randomly assigned to MFIP or Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which was the predecessor 

of the TANF program, found a number of benefits. Families who received MFIP showed significant declines in IPV when 

compared to families receiving AFDC at three-year follow up (49% of MFIP participants v. 60% of AFDC recipients 

reported abuse during the three-year follow-up), as well as improved marriage rates for parents and improved school 

performance and reductions in behavior problems for children.132 This study suggests that increasing income supports 

to low income families can lead to reductions in IPV. 

Research on tax credits (Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit), shows that they can help lift families 

out of poverty, which is a risk factor for IPV, and are associated with long-term educational and health benefits to 

recipients and their children.133-134 Analyses of the use of tax credits shows that families mostly use them to cover 

necessities as well as to obtain additional education or training to improve employability and earning power.133

Survivors of IPV often experience unemployment or underemployment, economic instability, and poverty as a result 

of the abuse they experience. The EITC is associated with increases in both maternal employment and earnings, both 

of which can help women leave an abusive relationship.134

Microfinance programs provide a range of financial services and opportunities to low-income families often with the 

goal of improving a community’s financial health by empowering women. Microfinance takes many forms ranging 

from communal borrowing to low- or no-interest startup loans for small, woman-owned enterprises to innovative 

savings plans. In some projects, microfinance is paired with training for women on relevant job skills, finances, 

entrepreneurship, and often on empowerment and social issues as well, including issues of gender, safe sex, and 

IPV. Kim et al.135 and Pronyk et al.20 found microfinance in combination with training on gender norms and health 

topics decreased the incidence of past-year physical and sexual IPV among participants in South Africa by almost 

half after two years in the program, from 11.4% to 5.9% in the intervention group (versus a slight increase in the 

control group from 9.0% to 12.1%). In addition, program participants showed increases in multiple indicators of 

female empowerment, compared to the control group.135 Although microfinance has primarily been studied in lowincome settings in other countries, it holds promise for use in the United States. One U.S.-based study implemented a 

microfinance intervention with low-income, drug-using women involved in the sex trade with promising findings for 

HIV risk reduction.136 This study indicates that microfinance interventions may be feasible for implementation in the 

U.S. and that they have been successful in impacting outcomes with similar risk factors. There are also organizations 

providing this type of lending in the U.S.
Comparable worth policies. While most states have equal pay laws, these laws vary in terms of their provisions, 

populations covered, and remedies available to employees. The laws also vary in terms of comparable worth 

provisions, which determine pay rates according to the skill level, working conditions, effort, and responsibility of 

positions. While these policies have not yet been evaluated for their impact on IPV, they could potentially have an 

impact on IPV by increasing economic stability of women and their families given that economic inequality is a known 

risk factor for IPV victimization.130 Studies of the potential impact of a national comparable worth policy on earnings 

inequality show decreases in overall earnings inequality, inequality between women and men, and inequality among 

women.137 Recent findings from an analysis of the 2010-2012 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic 

supplement show potential impacts on women’s annual earnings, annual family income, and poverty rates even after 

controlling for labor supply, human capital, and labor market characteristics.138

Strengthen work-family supports. Employers can also adopt paid leave policies that allow parents to keep their jobs 

and thus maintain their incomes after the birth of a child, during an illness, or while caring for sick family members. 

Research demonstrates that women with paid maternity leave are more likely to maintain their current employment 

with the same employer after the birth of a child,139 and women who take maternity leave and delay return to 

work after the birth of a child have fewer depressive symptoms than those who return to work earlier.140 One study 

conducted in Australia found that women working during early pregnancy who qualified for paid maternity leave 

were significantly less likely to experience physical and emotional IPV in the first 12 months postpartum than women 

not working.141 This finding suggests that access to paid maternity leave may be protective against IPV, in addition to 

helping women maintain employment and potentially reduce mental health issues.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 35

There are 

a number of 

policies and programs 

aimed at strengthening 

economic supports 

with evidence of 

impact on risk 

factors for IPV. 

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 37

Support Survivors to Increase Safety 

and Lessen Harms 

Rationale

IPV survivors can experience long-term negative health outcomes, including HIV and other sexually transmitted 

infections, chronic pain, gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, substance abuse, depression and anxiety, 

PTSD, eating and sleep disorders, chronic diseases, suicide and homicide.35-36 IPV is also associated with unplanned 

pregnancy, preterm birth, low birth weight, and decreased gestational age.35 Furthermore, individuals who 

have experienced violence and their dependent children are also at increased risk for housing instability and 

homelessness. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013142 and the Family Violence Prevention and 

Services Act143 address these issues by putting in place various supports for survivors. Denial of housing based on an 

individual’s status as a victim of abuse and lease termination as a result of violence are now prohibited. However, 

obstacles to safe and affordable housing still remain when leaving a relationship.144-145 Efforts to address the 

psychological, physical, emotional, housing and other needs of survivors and their children may help prevent future 

experiences of IPV and may lessen or reduce negative consequences experienced by IPV survivors.

Approaches

The current evidence suggests the following approaches to prevent future experiences of IPV and lessen or reduce 

the negative consequences experienced by IPV survivors: 

Victim-centered services include shelter, hotlines, crisis intervention and counseling, medical and legal advocacy, 

and access to community resources to help improve outcomes for survivors and mitigate long-term negative health 

consequences of IPV. Services are based on the unique needs and circumstances of victims and survivors and 

coordinated among community agencies and victim advocates.

Housing programs that support survivors in obtaining rapid access to stable and affordable housing reduce barriers 

to seeking safety.22 Once this immediate need is met, the survivor can focus on meeting other needs and the needs 

of impacted children. These programs can include access to emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing into a permanent home, flexible funds to address immediate housing-related needs (e.g., security deposits, 

rental assistance, transportation), and other related services and supports. 

First responder and civil legal protections. These approaches provide increased safety for survivors and their 

children after violence has occurred. Included here are law enforcement efforts designed to help survivors and 

decrease their immediate risk for future violence, orders of protection, and supports for children. These protections 

address survivors’ immediate and long-term needs and safety. 
 38 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Patient-centered approaches recognize the importance of universal prevention education, screening, and 

intervention for IPV, reproductive coercion, and other behavioral risks. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force 

(USPSTF) recommends screening women of childbearing age for IPV and referring women who screen positive to 

intervention services.146 Women may be screened for IPV and other behavioral risk factors (e.g., smoking, alcohol, 

depression) and may also be screened for reproductive coercion and educated about how IPV can impact health and 

reproductive choices (contraceptive use, pregnancy, and timing of pregnancy). However, not all survivors disclose 

experiences with violence and there are also opportunities within health care settings to offer universal education on 

healthy relationships, potential signs of abuse, and available resources and support. Universal prevention education, 

screening, and intervention may occur in health care settings but may also be considered in the context of other 

intervention or program models. Intervention services may include counseling, health promotion, patient education 

resources, referrals to community services and other supports tailored to a patient’s specific risks. 

Treatment and support for survivors of IPV, including TDV. These approaches include a range of evidence-based 

therapeutic interventions conducted by licensed mental health providers to mitigate the negative impacts of IPV on 

survivors and their children. These interventions are designed to be trauma-informed, meaning that they are delivered 

in a way that is influenced by knowledge and understanding of how trauma impacts a survivor’s life and experiences 

long-term.147 Treatments are intended to address depression, traumatic stress, fear and anxiety, problems adjusting to 

school, work or daily life, and other symptoms of distress associated with experiencing IPV.

Potential Outcomes

• Increases in physical safety and housing stability

• Reductions in subsequent experiences of IPV

• Increases in access to services and help-seeking

• Reductions in short- and long-term negative health 

consequences of IPV, including injury, PTSD, depression, 

and anxiety

• Increases in positive parenting behaviors 

• Decreases in the use of corporal punishment

• Decreases in verbal and physical aggression and increases 

in prosocial behavior among children of IPV survivors

• Reductions in IPV homicide and firearm IPV homicide

• Improvements in pregnancy outcomes for women 

experiencing IPV (i.e., higher birth weights, longer 

gestational age at delivery)

• Reductions in rates of reproductive coercion and 

unplanned pregnancy
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 39

Evidence 

The evidence suggests that having supports and programs in place for survivors of IPV improve short- and long-term 

outcomes for health and safety. 

Victim-centered services. Domestic violence shelters and outreach programs that connect survivors and their 

families with an advocate provide the survivor with the opportunity to navigate and use community resources more 

easily than they might be able to on their own. Domestic violence advocacy includes assessing a survivor’s individual 

needs and supporting them in accessing community resources such as legal, medical, housing, employment, child 

care, and social support services. For children of survivors, advocacy includes meeting their needs around recreation, 

school supports, and material goods. In a randomized controlled trial of women and their children leaving abusive 

relationships, Sullivan et al.148 found that, after 16 weeks of client-centered advocacy services, women experienced less 

abuse from their former partners at immediate follow-up than control women. Women receiving advocacy services 

also reported less depression and greater self-esteem than controls, indicating an improvement in IPV survivors’ 

overall safety and well-being. 

Housing programs. Washington State’s Housing First program is an example of a housing program for survivors of 

IPV. The program connects survivors to advocacy services and flexible financial assistance in order to quickly establish 

permanent housing and to cover transportation, child care, and other costs needed to establish a sense of safety and 

stability. In a pilot evaluation, 96% of participants remained stably housed after 18 months. Fully 84% of survivors 

reported an increase in physical safety for themselves and their children.149 Although this program has not been 

rigorously evaluated, these pilot findings indicate that providing stable housing to IPV survivors may reduce risk for 

homelessness and improve women’s ability to keep themselves and their children safe from the abuser. 

First responder and civil legal protections. Lethality Assessment Programs can be an important tool to help police 

responding to domestic violence and to decrease risk for survivors. Law enforcement officers responding to the scene 

of a domestic violence incident use a short risk assessment tool to screen for risk of homicide. The assessment tool 

includes the partner’s access to firearms, the partner’s employment status, previous threats, and acts of violence. 

Survivors who screen at high risk are put into immediate contact with an advocate and are provided safety planning, 

resources, and medical and legal advocacy. An evaluation of the Lethality Assessment Program indicated that at a 

7-month follow-up interview, program participants receiving the intervention experienced a significant decrease 

in severity and frequency of physical and emotional violence. Help-seeking behavior also increased at follow-up 

and included actions such as applying for, and receiving an order of protection, removing or hiding their partner’s 

weapons, and seeking medical care.150 

Given that leaving the relationship is one of the most potentially lethal times in an abusive relationship,151 an increase 

in safety for survivors leaving relationships is particularly salient. Supervised Visitation and Exchange is another example 

that seeks to decrease risk for survivors and their children by creating a safe space for non-custodial parent-child 

interaction monitored by a third-party. Flory et al. 152 found participation in a supervised visitation program resulted in 

a 50% reduction in verbal and physical aggression between custodial and non-custodial parents (from an average of 

12 incidents to an average of 6 incidents post-intervention). Additionally, parents referred to supervised services were 

significantly less likely to use corporal punishment after participation in the program,153 indicating a potential increase 

in positive parenting behaviors. 
Protection orders (POs) are another support option available to survivors. POs are court-ordered injunctions aimed at 

limiting or prohibiting contact between an alleged perpetrator and survivor of IPV to prevent further violence from 

occurring.154 Although the process varies considerably by state, it typically begins with a petition to immediately issue 

a temporary (or ex parte) order until a hearing can be scheduled for a judge to hear from both parties and evaluate 

whether issuing a permanent order is justified and what the terms should be.154 In a review of available research, 

Benitez et al.155 concluded that POs are associated with lower risk of subsequent violence toward the survivor. For 

example, Holt et al.156 examined a large sample of women who had experienced a police-reported episode of IPV and 

found that women with permanent POs experienced an 80% reduction in physical abuse during the follow-up period 

(compared to women with no PO). However, women with temporary POs were more likely than women without POs to 

be psychologically abused, highlighting the potential importance of longer-term POs at reducing risk for subsequent 

IPV. In addition, Spitzberg157 conducted a meta-analysis suggesting that an average of 40% of POs are violated, and 

one study found only a few differences when comparing IPV survivors with and without POs; women with POs had 

lower levels of hyperarousal and sexual re-abuse at 6-month follow-up than women without POs, but no differences 

were found for other PTSD symptoms, physical assault, injury, or psychological re-abuse.158 However, research suggests 

that having a PO significantly increases feelings of well-being among survivors of IPV,159 making POs a potentially 

important tool in supporting survivors.

Another existing protection for survivors is reducing lethal means for people who have been convicted of a crime 

related to IPV or who have a restraining or PO against them. Women are at increased risk for homicide when their 

violent intimate partner has access to a firearm.151 Federal law makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to 

ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms. The law includes individuals subject to a court order restraining the person 

from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of the intimate partner, and persons who have 

been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony crime of domestic violence. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 

lower court’s decision that firearms may be removed from the possession of someone found guilty of misdemeanor 

domestic abuse (Voisine v. U.S., 2016).160 State laws often mirror federal law and, in some cases, enact policy that 

further limits access or allows law enforcement to remove or seize firearms. Intimate partner homicide was reduced 

by 7% in states with laws limiting access to firearms for persons under domestic violence restraining orders.161 In a 

multiple time series design study, Zeoli and Webster162 found that in 46 of the largest U.S. cities with state statutes that 

reduce access to firearms for individuals with domestic violence restraining orders, intimate partner homicide and 

firearm intimate partner homicide risk decreased by 19% and 25%, respectively, between 1979 and 2003.

 40 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Civil legal protections 

can help address 

survivors’ immediate 

and long-term needs 

and safety.
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 41

Patient-centered approaches are associated 

with a number of benefits including reduced IPV. 

The evidence, however, is mixed, potentially due 

to variability in the nature of intervention models 

tested, populations studied, loss to follow-up, and 

other methodological factors.163-165 A systematic 

review of primary care-based interventions for IPV 

found brief, women-focused interventions delivered 

mostly in the primary care office by non-physician 

healthcare workers were successful at reducing IPV, 

improving physical and emotional health, increasing 

safety-promoting behaviors, and positively affecting 

the use of IPV and community-based resources.166

Other systematic reviews have noted significant 

benefits of counseling interventions in reducing 

IPV and improving birth outcomes for pregnant 

women, reducing pregnancy coercion, and women’s 

involvement in unsafe relationships.165

One rigorous study of a prenatal counseling intervention found that women in the intervention group (compared with 

usual care) were 52% less likely to have recurrent episodes of IPV during pregnancy and postpartum; had reduced 

rates of very low birthweight infants (0.8% vs 4.6%), and longer mean gestational age at delivery (38.2 weeks versus 

36.9 weeks).167 In another rigorous intervention study conducted in four clinics, family planning counselors asked 

about IPV and reproductive coercion when determining reason for visit and then assisted patients in identifying 

strategies specific to the reason for the clinic visit (e.g., offering a more hidden form of birth control if partner has 

been influencing birth control use; offering emergency contraception if indicated; educating client about local IPV 

and sexual assault resources and facilitating their use). The control group received standard care consisting of a brief 

IPV screen without any questions on reproductive coercion and were provided a list of IPV resources. In this study, the 

intervention group was 71% less likely to experience pregnancy reproductive coercion among female patients who 

had experienced IPV within the past three months compared to a control group.168 In a subsequent, larger cluster 

randomized controlled trial of the intervention across 25 family planning clinics, Miller et al.169 found improvements in 

knowledge of partner violence resources and self-efficacy to enact harm reduction behaviors among the intervention 

group (relative to the control group) at the 12-month follow-up. While there were no differences in IPV or reproductive 

coercion among the full sample at follow-up, the intervention led to a significant reduction in reproductive coercion 

among women reporting the highest levels of reproductive coercion at baseline. 

Another intervention study embedded an IPV intervention into home visitation programs for pregnant women 

and new mothers, where women in the intervention group were screened by home visitors who had received 

special training on IPV and the intervention. If women screened positively for IPV, the nurse delivered a brochurebased empowerment intervention during six sessions of the home visiting program. The intervention consisted 

of a standardized assessment of the level of danger from IPV, a discussion of safety and response options with the 

participant, assistance with choosing a response, and provision of referrals to services. Women in the intervention 

group reported a significantly larger decrease in IPV from baseline to two or more year follow-up than women in a 

service-as-usual control group.170

Treatment and support for survivors of IPV, including TDV. Supportive interventions are associated with improved 

psychological health and long-term positive impact for survivors of IPV. For example, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 

(CBT) is an example of a treatment for survivors of IPV who experience PTSD and depression. CBT includes treatments 

such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) to help the patient learn to recognize and challenge cognitive distortions 

(i.e., negative ways of thinking about a situation that makes things appear worse than they really are). A randomized 

clinical trial that assessed participants before treatment, six times during treatment, and at a 6-month follow-up, found 

that women who received CBT for treatment of PTSD experienced reductions in PTSD and depression. Reductions in 
PTSD and depression, in turn, were associated with a decreased likelihood of IPV victimization at the 6-month followup controlling for recent IPV (i.e., IPV from a current partner within the year prior to beginning the study) and prior 

interpersonal traumas.171

Another example is Cognitive Trauma Therapy for Battered Women (CTT-BW), which is a cognitive behavioral approach 

used with survivors of IPV, who are no longer at risk for violence. Designed in collaboration with survivors and 

advocates, the goal of CTT-BW is to address the negative effects of IPV (e.g., PTSD, depression, anxiety, and emotional 

and behavioral problems). Of the women who completed treatment, 87% no longer met diagnostic criteria for PTSD, 

and 83% had depression scores in the normal range at the 6-month follow-up.172 

 42 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Although public 

health can play a 

leadership role in 

preventing IPV, the 

strategies and approaches 

outlined in this technical 

package cannot be 

accomplished by the 

public health 

sector alone.
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 43

Sector Involvement

Public health can play an important and unique role in addressing intimate partner violence. Public health agencies, 

which typically place prevention at the forefront of efforts and work to create broad population-level impact, can 

bring critical leadership and resources to bear on this problem. For example, these agencies can serve as a convener, 

bringing together partners and stakeholders to plan, prioritize, and coordinate IPV prevention efforts. Public health 

agencies are also well positioned to collect and disseminate data, implement preventive measures, evaluate programs, 

and track progress. Although public health can play a leadership role in preventing IPV, the strategies and approaches 

outlined in this technical package cannot be accomplished by the public health sector alone. 

Other sectors vital to implementing this package include, but are not limited to, education, government (local, state, 

and federal), social services, health services, business and labor, justice, housing, media, and organizations that 

comprise the civil society sector such as domestic violence coalitions and service providers, faith-based organizations, 

youth-serving organizations, foundations, and other non-governmental organizations. Multiple sectors working 

simultaneously across several strategies is key to taking a comprehensive approach to prevention. Collectively, all 

of the sectors can make a difference in preventing IPV by impacting the various contexts and underlying risks that 

contribute to partner violence.

The strategies and approaches described in this technical package are summarized in the Appendix along with the 

relevant sectors that are well positioned to bring leadership and resources to implementation efforts. For example, 

many of the approaches and programs for the first two strategies (Teach Safe and Healthy Relationship Skills and 

Engage Influential Adults and Peers) are delivered in educational settings, making education an important sector for 

implementation. Health departments across the country often work in partnership with school districts, universities, 

and community-based organizations to implement and evaluate prevention programs in educational settings. 

Other approaches (e.g., healthy relationship programs for couples and family-based programs) are often delivered in 

community settings. Through their work with community-based organizations, local and state health departments can 

also play a leadership role in implementing and evaluating these programs. 

Programs to Disrupt the Developmental Pathways Toward Partner Violence are implemented in a variety of settings 

and involve the collaborative work of public health, social services, justice, community organizations, and education. 

For instance, the social services, education and public health sectors are vital for implementation and continued 

provision of early childhood and parenting programs. Social services, for instance, can help families receive the skills 

training and services necessary to promote the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of children, 

thereby preparing youth for long-term academic success and positive behavioral and health outcomes. The public 

health sector can play a vital role by educating communities and other sectors about the importance of ensuring 

early childhood programs and continuing research that documents the benefits of these programs on health and 

development, family well-being, and prevention of violence against peers and dating partners, as this evidence is 

important in making the case for continued support of these programs for children, youth, and families in need.

The health care, justice, and social service sectors can work collaboratively to support children, youth and families 

with histories of child abuse and neglect, conduct problems, and prior involvement in violence and crime. As with 

other prevention programs, local and state public health departments can bring community organizations and other 

partners together to plan, prioritize, and coordinate prevention efforts and play a leadership role in evaluating these 

programs and tracking their impact on health, behavioral, and other outcomes.

The business and labor sectors, as well as government entities, are in the best position to establish and implement 

policies to Strengthen Economic Supports and Create Protective Environments in workplaces and community settings. 

These are the sectors that can more directly address some of the community-level risks and environmental contexts 

that make IPV more likely to occur. Public health entities can play an important role by gathering and synthesizing 

information, working with other agencies within the executive branch of their state or local governments in support of 
policy and other approaches, and evaluating the effectiveness of measures taken. Further, partnerships with domestic 

violence coalitions and other community organizations can be instrumental in increasing awareness of and garnering 

support for policies and programs affecting women, children, and families.

Finally, this technical package includes victim-centered services, criminal justice and social service protections, and a 

number of therapeutic approaches to Support Survivors and Lessen Harms. Domestic violence advocates, community 

organizations, and other professionals who work with survivors, in collaboration with justice, housing, social services, 

and the health care sector, are uniquely positioned to identify and deliver critical intervention support and victimcentered services in a manner that best meets the needs and circumstances of survivors. The health care sector, 

working with victim advocates and in collaboration with justice and social services, is also uniquely positioned to 

address trauma and the long-term consequences of IPV. In addition to having licensed providers trained to recognize 

and address trauma, the health care sector can also coordinate wrap-around behavioral health and social services to 

address the health consequences of IPV and also the conditions that may increase the risk of repeated violence.

Regardless of strategy, action by many sectors will be necessary for the successful implementation of this package. In 

this regard, all sectors can play an important and influential role in supporting healthy intimate relationship behaviors 

and contexts, and supporting survivors and their families when they do experience IPV.

 44 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Regardless of 

strategy, action by 

many sectors will 

be necessary for 

the successful 

implementation 

of this package.
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 45

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation are necessary components of the public health approach to prevention. Timely and reliable 

data are essential for monitoring the extent of the problem and evaluating the impact of prevention efforts. Data are 

also necessary for program planning and implementation. 

Surveillance data helps researchers and practitioners track 

changes in the burden of IPV. Surveillance systems exist at 

the federal, state, and local levels. Assessing the availability 

of surveillance data and data systems across these levels is 

useful for identifying and addressing gaps in these systems. 

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 

(NISVS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 

are examples of surveillance systems that provide data on IPV. 

NISVS collects information on IPV, sexual violence, and stalking 

victimization at both the state and national level, including data 

on characteristics of the victimization, demographic information 

on victims and perpetrators, impacts of the violence, first 

experiences of these types of violence, and health outcomes 

associated with the violence.173 The NCVS gathers information 

from a nationally representative sample of households on 

the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal 

victimization among persons aged 12 and older in the United 

States. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System is another 

source of data that collects information on TDV victimization 

(including physical and sexual), sexual violence victimization, 

youth violence victimization (including bullying) and suicidal 

behavior among high-school students. This information is 

available at the local, state, and national levels. In addition, there 

are data at the local level including school surveys, women’s 

health surveys, criminal justice data and other data that are 

important in local efforts to monitor the problem of IPV.

It is also important at all levels (local, state, and federal) to address gaps in responses, track progress of prevention 

efforts and evaluate the impact of those efforts, including the impact of this technical package. Evaluation data, 

produced through program implementation and monitoring, is essential to provide information on what does and 

does not work to reduce rates of IPV and its associated risk and protective factors. Theories of change and logic models 

that identify short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes are an important part of program evaluation. 

The evidence-base for IPV prevention has advanced greatly over the last few decades. However, additional research 

is needed to evaluate the impact of strategies that we know relate to risk factors for IPV, such as disrupting the 

developmental pathways to aggression on IPV outcomes directly. Along the same lines, more research is needed 

to evaluate policies and other efforts at the outer levels of the social ecology on IPV outcomes.174 Consistent with 

DVP’s Strategic Vision for Connecting the Dots, evaluation research could also be advanced by measuring IPV and 

TDV outcomes in studies that are intended to prevent other forms of violence, such as peer violence, bullying, child 

abuse and neglect, suicide, sexual violence, and problem behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, high-risk sexual 

behavior, among others.30 Lastly, it will be important for researchers to test the effectiveness of combinations of the 

strategies and approaches included in this package. Most existing evaluations focus on approaches implemented 

in isolation. However, there is potential to understand the synergistic effects within a comprehensive prevention 

approach. Additional research is needed to understand the extent to which combinations of strategies and 

approaches result in greater reductions in IPV than individual programs, practices, or policies. 
Conclusion

Intimate partner violence represents a significant public health issue that has considerable societal costs. Supporting the 

development of healthy, respectful, and nonviolent relationships has the potential to reduce the occurrence of IPV and 

prevent its harmful and long-lasting effects on individuals, families, and the communities where they live. This technical 

package contains a variety of strategies and approaches that ideally would be used in combination in a multi-level, 

multi-sector approach to preventing IPV. Consistent with CDC’s emphasis on the primary prevention of IPV, the current 

package includes multiple strategies intended to stop perpetration of partner violence before it starts, in addition to 

approaches designed to provide support to survivors and diminish the short- and long-term harms of IPV. The hope is 

that multiple sectors, such as public health, health care, education, business, justice, social services, domestic violence 

coalitions and the many other organizations that comprise the civil society sector will use this technical package to 

prevent IPV and its consequences. 

The strategies and approaches identified in this technical package represent the best available evidence to address the 

problem of IPV. It is based on research which suggests that the strategies and approaches described have demonstrated 

impact on rates of IPV or on risk and protective factors for IPV. Although the research evidence on what works to stop IPV 

is not as expansive as it is for other areas (e.g., youth violence), ongoing monitoring and evaluation of existing or newly 

developed strategies and approaches will create opportunities for building upon the current evidence. As new evidence 

emerges, it will be incorporated into the technical package and used to inform and guide communities seeking to address 

the problem of IPV. Violence between intimate partners is a costly public health issue, but it is also preventable. Through 

continued research and evaluation of promising approaches for preventing IPV, we can strengthen our understanding 

of how to support healthy relationships between intimate partners and alleviate the burden of IPV to society as a whole. 

 46 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

The strategies 

and approaches 

identified in this 

technical package 

represent the best 

available evidence 

to address the 

problem of IPV.
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 47

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 58 Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices

Appendix: Summary of Strategies 

and Approaches to Prevent IPV

Strategy Approach/Program,

Practice or Policy

Best Available Evidence

Lead Sectors1 TDV/IPV 

Perpetration

TDV/IPV 

Victimization

Risk Factors 

for TDV/IPV

Teach safe 

and healthy 

relationship 

skills 

Social-emotional learning programs

Public Health

Education

Safe Dates   

Fourth R 

Expect Respect Support Groups  

Healthy relationship programs for couples Public Health

Community 

Organizations

Premarital Relationship Enhancement 

Program (PREP)   

Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT)  

Engage 

influential 

adults and 

peers

Men and boys as allies in prevention Public Health

Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM)   Education

Bystander empowerment and education Public Health

Education Bringing in the Bystander 

Green Dot  

Family-based programs Public Health

Families for Safe Dates  

Disrupt the 

developmental 

pathways 

toward partner 

violence

Early childhood home visitation Public Health

Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)  Healthcare

Preschool enrichment with family engagement Social Services

Public Health

Education

Child Parent Centers (CPC) 

Early Head Start (EHS) 

Parenting skill and family relationship programs Public Health

Education

The Incredible Years 

Parent Management Training – Oregon Model 

Treatment for at-risk children, youth and families Social Services

Justice

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) 

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) 

Create 

protective 

environments

Improve school climate and safety Public Health

Education Shifting Boundaries Building-Level 

Intervention  

Improve organizational policies and workplace climate Business/labor

Government 

(local, state, 

Federal)

IPV and the Workplace Training 

U.S. Air Force Suicide Prevention Program 

Modify the physical and social environments of neighborhoods Government 

(local, state)

Business

Greening urban spaces 

Alcohol policies (e.g., outlet density) 
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices 59

Strategy Approach/Program,

Practice or Policy

Best Available Evidence

Lead Sectors1 TDV/IPV 

Perpetration

TDV/IPV 

Victimization

Risk Factors 

for TDV/IPV

Strengthen 

economic 

supports for 

families

Strengthen household financial security Business/labor

Government 

(local, state, 

Federal)

Income supports (e.g., tax credits, child care 

subsidies, cash transfers) 

Microfinance programs  

Comparable worth policies 

Strengthen work-family supports Business/labor

Government 

(local, state, 

Federal)

Paid leave policies (parental, sick, vacation, 

job-protected) 

Support 

survivors to 

increase safety 

and lessen 

harms

Victim-centered services Community 

Domestic Violence Advocacy Services 2 Organizations

Housing programs Government 

(local, state, Domestic Violence Housing First N/A Federal) 3 N/A3 N/A3

First responder and civil legal protections Justice

Social Services

Government 

(local, state, 

Federal)

Lethality Assessment Programs  

Supervised Visitation and Exchange  

Protective Orders 

Reduce access to lethal means for persons 

convicted of IPV-related crime or under a 

restraining or protective order for IPV

4 4

Patient-centered approaches

Healthcare

Public Health

Education with tailored intervention for 

specific risks such as reproductive coercion 

Education and screening in the context of other 

prevention programs (e.g., home visitation) 

Treatment and support for survivors of IPV, including TDV Healthcare

Community 

Organizations

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 2 

Cognitive Trauma Therapy for Battered 

Women (CTT-BW) N/A3 N/A3 N/A3

1 This column refers to the lead sectors well positioned to bring leadership and resources to implementation efforts. For each 

strategy, there are many other sectors such as non-governmental organizations that are instrumental to prevention planning 

and implementing the specific programmatic activities.

2 This approach reduces risk for IPV victimization, but is also designed to provide support to survivors and mitigate consequences 

of IPV. 

3 The program is designed to lessen the harms of violence exposures (e.g., PTSD, depression, behavioral problems).

4 This approach has an impact on rates of lethal forms of IPV, namely homicide.


For more information

To learn more about preventing intimate partner violence, 

call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit CDC’s violence prevention 

pages at www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention.

AK2017

TM

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Division of Violence Prevention