Domestic Violence Best Practices

Battered women's advocates around the world work to further women's human rights to be free from domestic violence in a variety of ways. Advocates work to provide necessary services to battered women, including referrals, legal advice, shelter, crisis centers, and hotlines. Together with other members of the community, they have worked to develop common understandings of domestic violence and to coordinate the responses of the legal, medical, and social service professionals to enhance victim safety and batterer accountability. Advocates also work to prevent domestic violence through lobbying and community education, as well as through the creation of batterers' intervention programs. This section discusses the best practices for these advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, government agencys, and other systems actors.