may have an even greater ability than mandated abusers to misuse their participation in a BIP as a way to reinforce their control over their victims. Further, non-mandated participation does not achieve the goal of holding abusers accountable since non-mandated participants are subject to no consequences for non-compliance with the program requirements.
Within systems other than the criminal and civil justice systems, providers should actively support the justice system's role in holding abusers accountable. In addition, providers can and should reinforce individual abusers' sole responsibility for their abusive behavior. The combination of abuser accountability within the criminal and civil justice systems and a coordinated community response of zero tolerance for abusive behavior is the recommended strategy for stopping men's violence against women.
A comprehensive coordinated community response requires the active participation of both the formal systems (criminal and civil justice, health care, social and human services) and informal community systems (civic, cultural, religious, ethnic, etc.) in holding abusers accountable through legal sanctions, and reinforcing abusers' responsibility for their behavior through social sanctions. However, even with the best efforts of the systems and community at large, there is no guarantee that abusers will choose to stop their abusive behavior, underscoring the importance of the criminal and civil justice systems' roles in exerting immediate and ongoing legal control over abusers.
The following Guiding Principles are founded on the recognition that men who are abusive achieve and maintain control over their partners by using culturally condoned violence and abuse, and on the understanding that abusive behavior is the sole responsibility of the individual abuser. An abuser's choice to perpetrate violence and his capacity to stop his violence is completely independent of the actions of his victim. Therefore, interventions to promote abuser accountability should be directed solely at the abuser through the application of legal and social sanctions for his violent behavior. Further, specific intervention strategies with abusers should always be evaluated on the basis of whether or not they enhance victim safety.
a.Providers should use all of the leverage and