Institute on Domestic Violence

in the African American Com-

munity
www.idvaac.org

Intimate partner violence against
African American women: An
examination of the socio-cultural
context by Casey T. Taft et al.

The National Intimate Partner
and Sexual Violence Survey
(NISVS) www.cdc.gov/
violenceprevention/nisvs/

National Data on Intimate Part-
ner Violence

Preventing Intimate Partner Vio-
lence and Sexual Violence in
Racial/Ethnic Minority Commu-
nities
Prepared By:
Tiffany R. Mimms, Ph.D.
Maereg Mimo Haile MPH
Candidate


Winning the Battle to End
Domestic and Sexual Violence and
Improve the Mental Health of
Survivors
Understanding the impact of violence on
the mental health of women from the
African Diaspora, and offering resources
to combat this cycle


California Black Womens Health Project
www.cabwhp.org
Institute on Domestic Violence in the Afri-
can American Community
www.idvaac.org
The Safe Return Initiative
www.idvaac.org/sri
Black Womens Health Imperative
www.healthyblackwomen.org
No! The Rape Documentary
www.notherapedocumentary.org
Bridgets Dream www.bridgetsdream.org
National Resources
National Resource Center on Domestic
Violence www.nrcdv.org
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1.800.799.SAFE
California Partnership to End Domestic
Violence www.cpedv.org
RESOURCES

REFERENCES
Domestic violence, also referred
to as Intimate Partner Violence
(IPV), is any incident or pattern
of abuse or violent behavior
that occurs between two people
in a close relationship. The
term intimate partner includes current and
former spouses and dating partners. Domestic
violence can include physical, sexual, financial,
spiritual, and emotional abuse.

African American females experience inti-
mate partner violence at a rate 35% higher
than that of white females, and about 2.5
times the rate of other women color. How-
ever, they are less likely than whites women
to use social services, battered womens pro-
grams, or go to the hospital because of do-
mestic violence.


African American women who are battered
have more physical ailments, mental health
issues, are less likely to practice safe sex, and
are more likely to abuse substances during
pregnancy than black women without a his-
tory of abuse.


Battered women are at greater risk for at-
tempting suicide particularly if they were
physically abused as a child, for being de-
pressed and to suffer from Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).


African American women comprised 8% of
the U.S. population in 2005, but accounted
for 29% of all female victims of intimate part-
ner homicide.



Domestic and Sexual Violence and Improving the Mental Health of Survivors
Sexual assault/rape is any unwanted, non-consensual
sexual contact of any type accomplished through force,
threat of force, manipulation, or coercion.

Most sexual assault committed against African Ameri-
can women goes unreported. For every white woman
who reports her rape, at least 15 African American
women do not report theirs.

Teen dating violence is the violence, or the threat of
violence, in a teen dating relationship. It can be physi-
cal, emotional, sexual, or a combination.

In a 2003 national study of high school students, al-
most 14% of African American youth reported that a
boyfriend or girlfriend had hit, slapped, or physically
hurt them on purpose in the last year. Boys (13.7%)
and girls (14%) were almost equally likely to report
being a victim of dating violence.

Stalking is a course of behavior that is obsessive and
harassing that causes the victim to fear for their safety
and the safety of their friends or family members.

Stalking is closely related to domestic violence as 76%
of domestic violence victims had been stalked. 6.5%
of those victims are African American women.

Lifetime Prevalence of Rape, Physical Violence and/or
Stalking by Intimate Partner, by Race/Ethnicity survey
Conducted by National Intimate Partner and Sexual Vio-
lence Survey.
Interventions with African American IPV Survivors
Individual, group, and family interventions include
improvements in substance use, trauma-related symp-
toms, suicide risk, suicidal thoughts, social adjust-
ment, family functioning, problem solving, depres-
sion, cognitions about substance use, and didactic
knowledge related to the treatment.

Culturally sensitive interventions include outreach to
the African American community, provision of shelter
services, cultural competence training to service pro-
viders, and accessible counseling. Services must ad-
dress African American women's specific perceptions
about the abusive relationship, as well as provide a
safe forum to explore racial and socio-economic op-
pression.

Therapists and counselors must (1) address the socio-
economic context of the survivor, (2) focus on build-
ing a trusting relationship, and (3) utilize an advocate
to assist the survivor on the path to empowerment.
Hispanic Black White
Sexual Vio-
lence
8.4%

12.2% 9.2%
Physical
Violence
35.2% 40.9% 31.7%
Stalking 10.6% 14.6% 10.4%