CDC launches online training on links between different forms of violence

The US-based Veto Violence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a new online training tool, Connecting the Dots. The training looks at the links between multiple forms of violence and opportunities for prevention.

The resource makes the case for better understanding and addressing the interconnections between forms of violence such as child abuse and neglect, bullying, youth violence, dating violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, elder abuse, and suicidal behaviour, as they are strongly interconnected. Research has shown:

• Those who are victims of one form of violence are likely to experience other forms of violence
• Those who have been violent in one context are likely to be violent in another context
• The different forms of violence share common consequences
• The evidence also clearly shows that the different forms of violence share common risk and protective factors
  (see pages 4-5)

The Connect the Dots training includes short videos and interactive pages covering the following topics:

• Overlaps between multiple forms of violence
• Defining risk and protective factors
• Why focus on shared risk and protective factors
• Community context and the co-occurrence of multiple forms of violence
• Other shared risk and protective factors
• Taking action for prevention

The website also includes case studies from various projects in the US.

For more information, see these CDC publications and articles:

• Connecting the Dots: State Health Department Approaches to Addressing Shared Risk and Protective Factors Across Multiple Forms of Violence (2018)
• Preventing Multiple Forms of Violence: A Strategic Vision for Connecting the Dots (2016)
• Connecting the Dots: An Overview of the Links Among Multiple Forms of Violence (2014)

Related information

For New Zealand information on the links between intimate partner violence and child abuse, see:

Six reasons we cannot be effective in reducing intimate partner violence or child abuse and neglect unless we address both together (Family Violence Death Review Commitee, 2017)

Policy and practice implications: Child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and parenting (NZFVC, 2013)

Understanding connections and relationships: Child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and parenting (NZFVC, 2013)