October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to honor and remember those lost to abuse, celebrate and support survivors, and focus on domestic violence awareness and prevention.
Domestic violence refers to a pattern of abusive behavior aimed at gaining power and control over an individual in any domestic situation, including a spouse or partner, parent, sibling, cousin or other family member family, or a roommate. Abusive behavior or threats of action may include physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological or technological abuse, as well as harassment. Domestic violence includes child abuse, elder abuse, dating violence and domestic violencewhich can arise between partners in a current or past romantic relationship who may or may not live in the same household.
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Preventing domestic violence is an urgent goal, but it remains a pressing issue that disproportionately affects American Indian and Alaska Native communities. The data of National Institute of Justice reveals the worrying scale of this problem:
- More than 1.4 million American Indian and Alaska Native men (82%) and more than 1.5 million women (84%) report experiencing violence in their lifetime.
- More than one in three Indigenous men and women have been victims of violence in the past year.
- Psychological aggression by an intimate partner is reported as the most common form of violence.
- American Indian and Alaska Native women report experiencing psychological assault from an intimate partner (66.4%), sexual violence (56.1%), physical violence from a intimate partner (55.5%) and criminal harassment (48.8%).
- American Indian and Alaska Native men report psychological assault from an intimate partner (73%), physical violence from an intimate partner (43.2%), sexual violence (27 .5%) and criminal harassment (18.6%).
The IHS is committed to developing evidence-based models and practices for domestic violence prevention through a culturally appropriate approach and a community-oriented context. The IHS Office of Clinical and Preventive Services The Division of Behavioral Health awarded 41 grants to tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations to advance prevention efforts to address domestic violence and sexual assault in Indian Country. To enhance prevention efforts and further build capacity, the IHS Division of Nursing Services provided 16 federally managed IHS sites with forensic health care funding opportunities, ensuring patients access to forensic services following violent crimes such as sexual assault, domestic violence or intimate crime. domestic violence.
What domestic violence prevention efforts and activities are you leading in your communities in October? Connect with your local IHS, tribal, urban health facility, tribal organization, urban Indian organization, or local tribal coalitions participate in prevention and support activities for Domestic Violence Awareness Month next October, and throughout the year.
October 19, 2023 is Purple Thursday. Wear purple on October 19 to show your support for people who have experienced domestic violence, to help raise awareness and encourage others to prevent and combat domestic violence.
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Billie J. Brown, Aaniiih (White Clay) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) of the Fort Belknap Indian Community in north-central Montana, is a forensic nursing coordinator with the IHS Division of Nursing Services , Office of Clinical and Preventive Services. Prior to working with the IHS Forensics Healthcare team, Brown served in various nursing, nursing education, and leadership roles with rural tribal communities. This service has included work with Montana’s tribal colleges as well as IHS, tribal and private health care organizations on or near the Fort Belknap, Northern Cheyenne and Crow reservations in Montana.
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