With funding from the US Office on Violence Against Women, the Urban Institute conducted a mixed-methods, multisite study on the perceptions of justice, accountability, safety, and healing held by diverse survivors of domestic violence. In the summer of 2023, the project team conducted semistructured interviews with 54 survivors from diverse places and backgrounds and 42 practitioners who work with survivors and their partners. We asked both groups about their definitions of justice, safety, and accountability; outcomes for survivors and their partners; their engagement with the legal system; their familiarity with and interest in alternative approaches; and the role of practitioners. This brief summarizes areas of alignment and misalignment between survivors and practitioners around definitions of justice and accountability, perceptions of the traditional legal system, and interest in alternative justice approaches.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Domestic violence affects millions of people and causes serious consequences for survivors and their communities. It is also clear that survivors with certain intersecting identities experience higher rates of violence and greater barriers to seeking and receiving help. Yet the field lacks evidence of survivors’ diverse experiences and needs, and as a result, practitioners struggle to identify survivors’ needs and perspectives. Identifying how survivors’ and practitioners’ perceptions do or do not align can help practitioners better support survivors.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Based on an analysis of the study’s interviews, we identified similarities and differences between survivors’ and practitioners’ perceptions of responses to domestic violence and what justice and accountability look like. These similarities and differences are evidence of the need for changes in policy, funding, and technical assistance. Our hope is practitioners use this brief to better understand survivors and, in turn, better serve them.