Contact: Karen Schucan Bird
For those ‘living with domestic abuse… the view from outside, from supportive friends, family and neighbours, is so important’ (survivor of domestic abuse).
What is the issue?
Domestic abuse is a complex and seemingly intractable problem that demands innovative thinking and new responses. Estimates suggest that globally, a third of women have experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or former intimate partner (World Health Organization, 2024). The impacts of such abuse are far reaching, and a robust, whole-systems response is required.
Friends, family, colleagues, and neighbours of victims or perpetrators of DA, collectively referred to as ‘informal networks’, are an integral part of that response and often the first to know about, witness, and/or react to abuse. Evidence suggests that positive support from such groups can improve the health and wellbeing of victim-survivors, and their willingness to seek further help. Yet, informal networks do not always know how to respond, feel helpless or lack the resources to help. Therefore, it is imperative to evaluate and understand interventions that can empower, equip and enable informal networks to respond to disclosures of abuse.
What did we want to know?
The project aimed to improve understanding of interventions, from around the world, that promote or enhance informal support for victim-survivors of domestic abuse. To do so, the main objective was to:
- Identify and describe all the available research on interventions that aim to create or enhance informal support for people experiencing abusive relationships.
The project aimed to improve understanding of the impact of educational and training programmes tailored towards informal networks. The main objectives were to:
- Examine the effectiveness, and perceived effectiveness, of domestic abuse training for informal networks on their knowledge, attitudes, confidence and behaviour.
- Identify the characteristics of domestic abuse training associated with improved outcomes.
What did we find?
Research on interventions that aim to create or enhance informal support
The project found that the evidence base on informal support interventions is small, and so only provides a partial picture of the interventions being implemented around the world. Research is mainly drawn from the Global North, primarily North America, with a focus on programmes that seek to educate informal networks about domestic abuse or enable victim-survivors to access informal support (such as support groups or mentors). Few studies examined interventions aimed at communities at large or targeting the relationship between victim-survivors and their informal networks.
Studies that reported data for victim-survivors focused primarily on adult women who had recently left the abusive relationship, with gaps in understanding for specific groups of victim-survivors including ethnic minorities, those who had left the abusive relationship in the longer term, and men. Moreover, few studies provided data or outcomes for informal supporters.
Research on education and training for informal networks
The project found that education and training programmes led to statistically significant improvements in the knowledge and attitudes of informal supporters in the immediate and short-term. Such educational activities prime informal networks to respond to victim-survivors and enhance their capacity and motivation to do so.
The key characteristics of training or education associated with these impacts include:
- Provide information on the warning signs and nature of DA, the impacts of abuse on victim-survivors, guidance on how to respond, and details about relevant resources.
- Use visuals, statistics, and case scenarios in the delivery of the training.
- Tailor the training to the audience, to “meet people where they are”. This means providing information that is applicable to their context and ensure that materials are culturally appropriate.
What are the implications?
Research on interventions that aim to create or enhance informal support
- The project identified that research has coalesced around particular interventions and population groups, such as interventions in faith-based organisations and impacts on the mental health of victim-survivors. Practitioners can utilise these pockets of evidence to inform current and future service provision.
- The suite of interventions covered by the project can inspire policymakers to broaden the response to domestic abuse beyond frontline services, identify stakeholders and commission pilot studies to further understanding of informal support interventions.
- The project identifies gaps in the evidence base that warrant further research, such as studies focused on interventions that target relationships and communities, and assessing a wider range of population groups.
Research on education and training for informal networks
- Practitioners, from domestic abuse to community sectors, should continue to deliver training/educational interventions for informal networks drawing on existing practice, alongside research evidence, to maximise effectiveness.
- Policy makers can harness the potential of informal social networks by investing in education/training to support such groups, in collaboration with wider DVA sector.
- The project identifies research gaps in the evaluation of training and more research is needed to explore the impacts for diverse population groups, on behavioural outcomes and for victim-survivors.
How did we get these findings?
The project was a collaboration between the EPPI Centre (UCL Social Research Institute) and SafeLives, a UK-based charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse. This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to Covid-19.
A rapid systematic review was undertaken in two-stages: 1) a comprehensive search of global academic research and non-academic literature was undertaken to identify studies reporting empirical data on informal social support interventions. Each study was systematically described. 2) in-depth analysis was undertaken on a sub-set of studies, those reporting on education or training for informal supporters. Each study was quality appraised, and the findings were synthesised to draw conclusions.
Findings from the research were translated into practical, real-world guidance for friends, families and communities, as well as DVA practitioners.
