We emphasis self-care as prevention and protection and understand the impact that trauma and violence may have on a person and community’s well being. This is why we use the phrase “care-defense” verses self-defense. We put the community and individual in the lead before sharing our skills and expertise.
We understand that violence through the life span is associated with risk and protective factors which is why we used an assets based approach. EMERJ-SafeNow works in collaboration with communities to identify individual and community strengths and protective factors such as:
Connectedness to community/family
Support from parents/caregivers (reasoning skills to solve problems)
We also help communities identify risk factors which include the characteristics of the individuals in their community as well as the social and physical environment.
Risk factors for SV perpetration, as identified by the CDC in the Stop SV Report include:
Child physical abuse
Exposure to parent or caregiver violence
Involvement in delinquent behavior
Acceptance of violence
Traditional gender role norms
Excessive alcohol use
Early sexual initiation and sexual risk taking behavior