Intimate Partner Violence: Prevention Strategies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious problem that has lasting and harmful effects on individuals, families, and communities. CDC’s goal is to stop intimate partner violence from happening in the first place.

Prevention efforts should ultimately reduce the occurrence of IPV by promoting healthy, respectful, nonviolent relationships. Healthy relationships can be promoted by addressing risk and protective factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels.

CDC developed a resource, Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices [4.52 MB, 64 Pages, 508] to help states and communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent intimate partner violence, support survivors, and lessen the short and long-term harms. The strategies and their corresponding approaches are listed in the table below.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence
Strategy	Approach
Teach safe and healthy relationship skills	Social-emotional learning programs for youth Healthy relationship programs for couples
Engage influential adults and peers	Men and boys as allies in prevention Bystander empowerment and education Family-based programs
Disrupt the developmental pathways toward partner violence	Early childhood home visitation Preschool enrichment with family engagement Parenting skill and family relationship programs Treatment for at-risk children, youth and families
Create protective environments	Improve school climate and safety Improve organizational policies and workplace climate Modify the physical and social environments of neighborhoods
Strengthen economic supports for families	Strengthen household financial security Strengthen work-family supports
Support survivors to increase safety and lessen harms	Victim-centered services Housing programs First responder and civil legal protections Patient-centered approaches Treatment and support for survivors of IPV, including TDV

See Intimate Partner Violence Resources for more publications and resources about preventing intimate partner violence.

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