Safety Conferencing: Toward a Coordinated and Inclusive Response to Safeguard Women and Children

• Published in: Violence against women 2005-05, Vol.11 (5), p.666-692
• Main Authors: Pennell, Joan, Francis, Stephanie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abused children; Adult; Battered Women; Battered Women - psychology; Child; Child Abuse - prevention & control; Child Welfare; Children; Children & youth; Crime Victims - psychology; Cultural sensitivity; Domestic violence; Family group conferences; Family Therapy; Family Violence; Female; Focus Groups; Humans; Narration; Personal safety; Safety; Service provision; Social services; Social Support; Social Work - organization & administration; Social workers; Spouse Abuse - prevention & control; Support groups; United States; USA; Victims of crime; Women; Women's Health; Women's Health Services - organization & administration
• ISSN: 1077-8012; 1552-8448
• DOI: 10.1177/1077801205274569

To reach out to women from different backgrounds, the battered women’s movement needs to place women and their informal supports at the center of a coordinated response. This article shares the views of domestic violence survivors, staff, and supporters on how to create such a coordinated and inclusive response, lays a conceptual foundation for a decision-making forum called safety conferencing, and sets forth guidance for its practice. Safety conferencing is proposed as one means of building the individual and collective strength to reshape connections, make sound choices, and promote the safety of women and children from diverse cultures.