Field of Work: Mobilizing the community to prevent domestic violence
Problem Synopsis: According to the 2000 National Violence Against Women Survey, almost 25 percent of women and 7.6 percent of men reported having been assaulted by an intimate partner at some time in their lifetime. A 2003 report by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control estimated that medical and mental health care services for victims of such violence cost the nation $4.1 billion annually.
Synopsis of the Work: The Close to Home Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative, based in Dorchester, Massachusetts, using a community-mobilization approach to prevent domestic violence, launched an effort to replicate its program in three pilot communities in Massachusetts. Partner agencies in two of them were unable to proceed because of financial and organizational problems, but Close to Home continued to provide support and technical assistance to REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, in Waltham.