October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is joining with our federal partner agencies to raise awareness about domestic violence (also known as intimate partner violence) across our country. We are committed to addressing the prevention, treatment and recovery of domestic violence for survivors. This year, we are participating in Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services (OFVPS) and National Domestic Violence Hotline in promoting the hashtag #1Thing, which encourages everyone to do just one thing to raise awareness about domestic violence. This one thing could be sharing awareness messages on social media;bringing domestic violence education to our workplaces or reaching out to a friend or family member who may be experiencing violence and abuse.
On May 25, 2023, the White House Gender Policy Council released the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action (PDF | 1.6 MB) to address domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV). The document is a call to action for federal agencies to assess their progress on these issues and step up their efforts to do more. SAMHSA was instrumental in the development of this National Plan, and its launch gives SAMHSA an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the relationship between GBV, mental health and substance abuse.
The link between GBV and its effects on behavioral health is strong. Survivors of gender-based violence – including survivors of domestic violence – are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, substance abuse disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts. Many survivors also experience disruption in their lives, which is often called complex trauma. In complex trauma, survivors’ relationships with others are affected because they cannot fully trust others. Survivors may also have less ability to manage their emotions. They may also have a strong sense of self-blame and shame for what they have endured.
The impact of domestic violence is complicated by the fact that abuse is often not a thing of the past, but something survivors must deal with every day. There are often safety concerns, forcing them to focus on survival, rather than thriving. Their abusers may have isolated them from family and friends or made them completely dependent on them financially. Survivors may even be emotionally manipulated or have mental health or substance abuse issues being used against them. This can be especially difficult for people dealing with chronic mental illness or substance abuse.
In addition, children who grow up in households with domestic violence often experience instability, which can lead to mental health and substance abuse problems. The number of people experiencing domestic violence is high.
As reported in the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, approximately 41 percent of women and 26 percent of men reported experiencing, at some point in their lives, intimate sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner. resulted in an impact related to partner violence (including, for example, injury or concern for safety, need for housing or legal services, or assistance from law enforcement); Certain populations, including American Indians/Alaska Natives and others of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+), are particularly affected by domestic violence for a variety of reasons, including bias and discrimination and less access to effective services .
Given how common domestic violence occurs, it is likely that many of us know someone, either in our own family or among our friends or colleagues, who has been directly affected. Every person has the right to live free from abuse and violence. SAMHSA is committed to supporting programming that teaches healthy relationships and clear and empowered communication, which helps prevent domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence.
In cases where the right to be free from abuse has been violated, SAMHSA supports and promotes behavioral health services that respect individual cultural health beliefs, practices, preferred languages, levels of health literacy, and communication needs that take into account the specific form of trauma they have endured.
The good news is that support and treatment for survivors is working. Recovery to live a full, productive and happy life is more than possible. During Domestic Violence Awareness Month and beyond, SAMHSA will continue to look at ways our agency can focus on the issue even more and join with our partners to make a difference.
For more information about SAMHSA’s work to prevent gender-based violence and support survivors, visit Gender-Based Violence and Behavioral Health Implications at SAMHSA.gov. To find support for domestic violence, visit National Domestic Violence Hotline and SAMHSA’s Find Help.
To access a calendar of events and resources for activities, online toolkits, training materials, webinars, social media engagement and nationally shareable resources, visit ACF OFVPS Domestic Violence Awareness Portal.
