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Now is the Time: A Call to Recognize and Respond to Intimate Partner Violence

It was March 1997. My friend Kristen and I finished another long Thursday night psychopathology class, a required course for UK MSW students. As we walked to our cars, we complained about our vending machine dinners and whined about how tired we were, then we got in our cars and went our separate ways. I went home and worked on a policy paper. Kristen went home and was murdered by her long-term boyfriend. He shot her and then turned the gun on himself. Just like that, she was gone. In May 1997, my peers and I walked across the stage to receive our MSW degrees without Kristen. We wore tiny yellow satin ribbons to remember her. Yellow was her favorite color.

Each October, social workers and other advocates raise awareness about intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV, also known as domestic violence, affects people of all genders, cultures, ages, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic levels. Power and control are core constructs of IPV and without intervention the violence recurs and escalates. In the U.S., more than half of all female homicide victims are murdered by a current or former intimate partner (Petrosky et al., 2018).

Now is the time to seize opportunities to build your knowledge and develop the skills needed to recognize and respond to IPV. Undoubtedly, no matter what practice setting you choose after graduation, you will encounter IPV. During your social work education journey, aim to increase your confidence and competence in this area of practice by integrating the following strategies:

1) Use empowerment, intersectionality, and socio-ecological theories to inform your understanding and practice approach
2) Ground your IPV knowledge in peer-reviewed research and dispel damaging myths
3) Choose a practicum placement with opportunities to serve clients and client systems affected by IPV, and
4) Enroll in SW 519: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence

This October, make time to participate in domestic violence awareness month activities in your area. Wear purple on Thursday, October 19th. Participate in an anti-violence march. Donate to your local domestic violence shelter. However, if you do nothing else, remember the names of those murdered by an intimate partner, commit to supporting survivors, and work to end IPV.

Petrosky, E., Blair, J. M., Betz, C.J., Fowler, K. A., Jack, S.P., & Lyons, B.H. (2017). Racial and ethnic differences in homicides of adult women and the role of intimate partner violence — United States, 2003–2014. MMWR Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report 2017, 66:741–746. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6628a1External.