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Abuse
Preventing Domestic Abuse
A National Strategy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The important role of Prevention Strategies in work to address domestic abuse is widely acknowledged. Although providing services to those who experience abuse is essential, tackling the root causes is the only way to eradicate it.
Prevention work can have a primary or a secondary focus - the first aiming to stop abuse before it happens by changing attitudes which excuse or condone it, the second aiming to reduce its incidence and effects. Both are important and require to be undertaken, but primary prevention is at the core of any Prevention Strategy.
All prevention work should flow from an analysis which reflects the gendered nature of domestic abuse, and the links between all forms of men's violence against women, as expressed in the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland. 1
Many partners will be required to work together to implement a Prevention Strategy, both locally and nationally. There is already a considerable body of work underway, and Prevention Strategies fit closely with that work.
Key elements of the Prevention Strategy are:
- Public awareness raising
- Education
- Training
- Services for women and children
- Work with men who use violence
- Legislation
- Workplace strategies
Evaluation and monitoring is also a key component and methods used should ensure that the views of women and children who have experienced abuse are taken into account.
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