Domestic Violence Resources

Domestic violence is any pattern of behaviors that attempts to control and intimidate a partner or family member through fear, manipulation, isolation, financial abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse and/or verbal abuse. Domestic violence does not discriminate. It cuts across all ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds. Domestic violence does not always manifest as physical abuse. Emotional and psychological abuse can often be just as extreme as physical violence. Lack of physical violence does not mean the abuser is any less dangerous to the victim, nor that the victim is any less trapped by the abuse.

YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee

Intersectionality with Brain Injury
As many as 20 million women each year could have a traumatic brain injury caused by domestic violence (DV). The head, neck and face are common targets of intimate partner assaults. Women who are abused are more likely to have repeated injuries to the head. Brain injuries often go
undetected and untreated because women are more likely to seek shelter than treatment. (St. Ivany, Bullock, et al. 2018)

Survivors of DV with a TBI are likely to experience difficulty with attention, concentration, memory, executive functioning and processing information. These challenges make it harder to assess danger, make decisions related to safety and to adapt to living in a shelter. In one study of women who experienced DV, 85% experienced blows to the head, 50% of those experienced them too many times to count. In the same study, 83% experienced strangulation (which can lead to anoxic brain injuries), 88% experienced strangulation multiple times.

Survivors of domestic violence should be assessed for brain injury and prior history of brain injury, undergo cognitive screening, be given customized accommodations and referred to community resources as needed.

In the United States:

1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime.
3 women are killed each day by a man who says he loves her.
15.5 million children witness domestic violence each year.

In Tennessee:

More than half of crimes against persons are domestic violence-related.
Tennessee ranks 7th overall in the nation for the number of women killed by men (TN is the 16th most populous state in the U.S.). YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee

Infographic

Brain Injury & Domestic Violence

Best Practice: Domestic Violence personnel should:
SCREEN for prior history of Brain Injury
ASSESS Cognitive & Functional Impairment
EDUCATE staff on Brain Injury
EDUCATE the person about their Brain Injury
PROVIDE and TEACH Accommodations
CONNECT person served with Community Resources

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Video

TBF Domestic Violence and Brain Injury

There’s a higher incidence of brain injury in at-risk populations than most realize. The same people often seek treatment for co-occurring needs, like substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, chronic pain. The concussion (or more significant brain injury) must be properly identified for the person to fully benefit from support programs in other areas. We will discuss how to identify the signs and symptoms of TBI and what educational tools are available for staff and the people they serve.

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