(Dr. Taslim gives guidelines and insight for first responders on how to best prepare themselves to aid victims and survivors of intimate partner violence - especially in communities where IPV may go unnoticed. This is a series featured on Med Circle (medcircle.com).
Approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner violence. This type of abuse is more than just physical violence; it includes sexual abuse, stalking, and even emotional manipulation.
In some communities, intimate partner violence (IPV) is so widespread that it becomes ingrained in day-to-day life. This can make it difficult for first responders and helping professionals to spot the signs of IPV and improve the health outcomes of the people affected.
Helping professionals and first responders have a duty to keep the people they serve safe - and that starts with being better informed on the most common issues facing those communities. Intimate partner violence cannot be addressed without understanding the community in which it takes place.
“[Intimate partner violence] historically has always been under the guise of ‘men are violent, and men exist under the umbrella of male privilege.’ But so many men, and especially men that come from marginalized communities, have survived their own violence…[and] whether that’s the structural violence they’re made to survive every single day, people are hurting, and people are looking to heal or looking to survive.”
Dr. Taslim Alani-Verjee