ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT

This summary provides a factual account of the presentations given at the workshop. Opinions expressed within this summary are not those of the Institute of Medicine, the forum, or its agents, but rather of the presenters themselves. Statements are the views of the speakers and do not reflect conclusions or recommendations of a formally appointed committee. This summary was authored by a designated rapporteur based on the workshop presentations and discussions and does not represent the views of the institution, nor does it constitute a full or exhaustive overview of the field.

The workshop summary is organized thematically, covering the major topics that arose during the two-day workshop, so as to provide a larger context for these issues in a more compelling and comprehensive way. As well, the thematic organization allows the summary to serve as an overview resource of important issues in the field. The themes were chosen as the most frequent, cross-cutting, and essential elements that arose from the workshop, but do not represent the views of the IOM or a formal consensus process.

The summary begins with a brief introduction of the issue, followed by two parts and an appendix. The first part consists of four chapters that provide the summary of the workshop; the second part of the report consists of submitted papers and commentary from speakers regarding the substance of the work they presented at the workshop. These papers were solicited from speakers to provide further information of their work. The appendix contains additional information regarding the agenda and participants.

DEFINITIONS AND CONTEXT

Violence is defined by the World Health Organization as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation” (WHO, 2002). When directed against women or children, this violence can take a number of forms, including, but not limited to, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, child abuse and neglect, bullying, teen dating violence, trafficking, and elder abuse. The majority of violence against women and children is perpetrated by partners, family members, friends, or acquaintances, so that most violence against women and children takes place in the form of intimate partner violence, family violence, or school violence (WHO and LSHTM, 2010).

These three types of violence, which are interconnected, are commonly referred to as being part of a “cycle of violence,” in which victims become perpetrators. The workshop's scope was narrowed to focus on these elements of the cycle as they relate to interrupting this transmission of violence. Intervention strategies include preventing violence before it starts as well as preventing recurrence, preventing adverse effects (such as trauma or the consequences of trauma), and preventing the spread of violence to the next generation or social level. Successful strategies consider the context of the violence, such as family, school, community, national, or regional settings, in order to determine the best programs. Thus, the workshop operated in a multidimensional framework that integrated ecologic, public health, and trauma-informed paradigms to explore a comprehensive approach to violence prevention.

The next four chapters examine the four major themes that arose from participants' presentations and discussions: advancing research on co-occurrence of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (Chapter 2), paradigm shifts and changing social norms (Chapter 3), the state of prevention research in low- and middle-income countries (Chapter 4), and prevention among multiple sectors (Chapter 5). The three chapters in Part 2 include the submitted papers, organized as (1) overviews of evidence, (2) global partnerships and government initiatives, and (3) examples of preventive interventions.

And finally the appendixes consist of the agenda (A), the speakers' biographies (B), the planning committee members' biographies (C), and the Forum on Global Violence Prevention members' biographies (D).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Forum on Global Violence Prevention was established to address a need to develop multisectoral collaboration amongst stakeholders. Violence prevention is a cross-disciplinary field, which could benefit from increased dialogue between researchers, policy makers, funders, and practitioners. The forum members chose the issue of violence against women and children as the forum's first workshop theme because there is a pressing need to coordinate and collate the information in this area. As awareness of the insidious and pervasive nature of these types of violence grows, so too does the imperative to mitigate and prevent.

A number of individuals contributed to the successful development of this workshop and report. These include a number of Institute of Medicine staff: Tessa Burke, Marton Cavani, Rosemary Chalk, Kristen Danforth, Meg Ginivan, Wendy Keenan, Patrick Kelley, Angela Mensah, Elena Nightingale, Kenisha Peters, Lauren Tobias, Julie Wiltshire, and Jordan Wyndelts. The forum staff, including Deepali Patel, Rachel Pittluck, and Rachel Taylor, also put forth considerable effort to ensure this workshop's success. The staff at the Kaiser Family Foundation's Barbara Jordan Conference Center and Mind & Media provided excellent support for the live event and its webcast.

The planning committee contributed several hours of service to develop and execute the agenda, with the guidance of the forum membership. Reviewers also provided thoughtful remarks in the reading of the draft manuscript.

These efforts would not be possible without the work of the forum membership itself, an esteemed body of individuals dedicated to the concept that violence is preventable. Their names and biographies can be found in Appendix D.

And finally, the overall successful functioning of the forum and its activities rests on the foundation of its sponsorship. Financial support for the Forum on Global Violence Prevention is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Administration on Aging, Office of Women's Health; Anheuser-Busch InBev; Avon Foundation for Women; BD (Becton Dickinson, and Company); Catholic Health Initiatives; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Department of Education: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools; Department of Justice: National Institute of Justice; Fetzer Foundation; F. Felix Foundation; Foundation to Promote Open Society; Kaiser Permanente; National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Office of Research on Women's Health, John E. Fogarty International Center; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

REFERENCES

• García-Moreno C, Watts C, Ellsberg M, Heise L, Jansen HAFM. WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2005.
• Pinheiro PS. Report of the independent expert for the United Nations study on violence against children. New York: United Nations; 2006.
• WHO (World Health Organization). World report on violence and health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002.
• WHO and LSHTM (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women: Taking action and generating evidence. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2010. [PubMed: 20921563]