Community-parntered response to IPV: Characterizing organizational culture towards IPV

Intimate partner violence (IPV) spans all classes and communities in our society, but low-wage women, particularly women of color, are at increased risk of severe IPV, primarily because they have limited information and resources to increase their safety or change their living situations. Further, low-wage women of color are known to under-utilize existing domestic violence and social services because of barriers such as access, language and distrust. Moreover, these same women typically are in employed in organizations that closely monitor their work and do not provide the same flexibility enjoyed by workers in other segments of the labor market, therefore creating additional barriers to increasing their safety. As part of a larger four-year NIH/NINR funded community-based participatory research program that seeks to address the problem of IPV as it affects Latina women, this paper reports on the findings from individual (n=20) and group interviews (n=44) and survey data (n=200) from front-line workers and supervisors on the topic of IPV. Specifically, we find that organizations vary considerably in terms of specific worker assistance programs and overall climate towards IPV. These differences occur on three dimensions. First, organizations vary in terms in the extent to which they have formal programs to address issues related to IPV. Second, organizations vary in terms of whether the organizational climate is accommodating, indifferent or hostile toward women affected by IPV. Third, these differences in accommodation and formality are overlaid by cultural norms shared by distinct ethnic communities.