Key Domestic Violence Resources

In “Naming the Sin,” (Sojourners,December 2013) Michelle D. Bernard seeks to answer this all too important question: Are churches doing enough to stop domestic violence — or are some churches enabling it?

Check out these resources to help you and your faith community address the sin of domestic violence, including this video that shows the first step to ending the cycle of abuse — telling survivors, “I believe you.”

ORGANIZATIONS

• FaithTrust Institute is a national, multifaith, multicultural training and education organization with global reach working to end sexual and domestic violence.
   
• Futures Without Violence works to prevent and end violence against women and children around the world through education programs, policy development, trainings, and public action campaigns.
   
• The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community seeks to educate society on the disproportionate experience of stressors that contribute to violence in the African-American community and create effective solutions.
   
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides confidential referral services to callers at no cost. Trained advocates monitor this 24-hour hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
   
• The National Network to End Domestic Violence is dedicated to strengthening domestic violence advocacy at every level through training, technical assistance, innovative programs, and public policy.
   
• National Network to End Domestic Violence Against Immigrant Women seeks to challenge and eliminate all forms of oppression and discrimination against immigrant women, particularly intimate partner violence.
   
• The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence supports individuals, organizations, and communities to strengthen their capacity to effectively address domestic violence.

BOOKS

• Domestic Violence: Assault on a Woman’s Worth, by June Hunt, uses biblical truths to identify different types of abuse and offers practical strategies to provide healing to women in abusive relationships. Rose Publishing, 2013
   
• Strengthening Families and Ending Abuse: Churches and Their Leaders Look to the Future, edited by Nancy Nason-Clark, Barbara Fisher-Townsend, and Victoria Fahlberg, challenges congregations and their leaders to build homes that are free from violence and abuse. Wipf and Stock Press, 2013
   
• The Ultimate Betrayal: A Renewed Look at Intimate Partner Violence, by Tricia B. Bent-Goodley, explores the psychological, social, cultural, and familial effects of domestic violence. NASW Press, 2011
   
• What Women Wish Pastors Knew: Understanding the Hopes, Hurts, Needs, and Dreams of Women in the Church, by Denise George, provides powerful insights to help clergy empower, build up, and heal women. Zondervan, 2007

DOCUMENTARIES

• The Children Next Door is a unique documentary that recounts the fear and pain of domestic violence through the eyes of children. Children of Domestic Violence, 2013
   
• I Believe You: Faiths’ Response to Intimate Partner Violence is an interfaith documentary that explores the extraordinary stories of survivors and the responses of clergy and faith groups. Diva Communications, 2011
   
• Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America examines the deep causes of domestic violence and explores ways to stop the cycle of abuse. New Day Films, 2010
   
• When Love Hurts: Understanding and Healing Domestic Abuse, is a powerful four-part series that unveils the dark secret of abuse, even among Christian marriages. Day of Discovery, 2007