The Alliance launches a domestic violence program for men, boys
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The Alliance, a nonprofit that works with refugee and immigrant communities, is launching a unique program intended to mitigate domestic violence against women and girls through preventive intervention focused on men and boys.
Driving the news: The city approved a one-year $750,000 contract with the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services in June to create the Multicultural Domestic Violence Intervention Initiative.
Why it matters: There are many services, including at the Alliance, that aid women and girls, but few preventative programs that center on men.
What's happening: The program includes outreach through community leaders, religious leaders and other prominent individuals in the Afghan, Congolese, Sudanese and Burmese communities who can communicate the messaging.
- It also includes group intervention sessions for men, as well as individual trauma-informed counseling and psychiatric services for men and boys ages 13 to 18.
- The Alliance plans to have at least four 11-week group sessions for the men over the course of the next year, according to Aarti Goswami, vice president of the Center for Resiliency at the Alliance.
Background: When the Alliance started its wellness clinic, the clinical team spoke to Congolese women who said they knew there were services for women and children, but no one was talking to the men, which Goswami says helped inspire this program.
Flashback: Early in the pandemic, when there was a steep increase in domestic violence cases, the Alliance designed a 24/7 helpline in partnership with the city that operated for about 12 weeks and encouraged potential abusers to reach out and seek help.
- To the organization's surprise, several men did call, showing that a subset of men would respond to an intervention, Goswami says.
Details: The intervention curriculum was based on the "Living Peace" strategy used with child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- The program in Houston will create a safe space for men to discuss topics like feelings of frustration and powerlessness; encourage healthy coping strategies; examine patriarchy and gender norms; improve the ability to identify and process feelings; and recognize domestic violence as a potential generational problem.
The intrigue: Last year, the Alliance started the "Living Peace" intervention with two cohorts of eight to 12 Afghan men, while regularly meeting with Afghan women and girls.
- While it's too soon to know the impact, the majority of the men attended most of the sessions and said how helpful it was to be able to communicate, according to Goswami.
What they're saying: "We do not want to disregard the underlying trauma that could potentially be causing abusive behavior," Goswami tells Axios. "We want to be extremely aware and mindful of cultural factors that could be impacting behavior."
- "Put simply, there are many men out there that just don't know another way of being right because it's all they've ever seen in their families."
What we're watching: How many men and boys participate in this program.
Separately, Houston has many organizations that work with domestic violence cases, including the Houston Area Women's Center, the Fort Bend Women's Center, The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Daya Houston, AVDA and more.