Session: Innovative and Impactful Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence Prevention In Understudied U.S. Communities (Society for Social Work and Research 31st Annual Conference)

Intimate partner violence (IPV), or domestic violence, is one of the most prevalent forms of violence against vulnerable communities, constituting a grave human rights violation and major public health problem worldwide (WHO, 2024). An estimated 1 in 3 women (approximately 43.5 million) and 1 in 6 men (Approximately 20.7 million) experience IPV in the USA (CDC, 2026). Negative impacts of IPV have been extensively documented (WHO, 2024).

IPV prevention efforts are underway around the world; however, community-based bystander programs, especially in communities of color and/or immigrant communities, remain limited in the USA. As national and local sociodemographic profiles change, research on communities of underrepresented communities is critically needed to enhance socioculturally relevant prevention programming. This symposium focuses on innovative IPV prevention programs developed for and implemented in diverse Asian communities. Despite the rapid population growth, Asians in the USA remain understudied and underserved. The symposium features three novel programs aimed at developing and evaluating socioculturally relevant strategies to prevent IPV. These prevention efforts focus on bystanders, an often-understudied group, to promote attitudes and self-efficacy that support effective intervention. Collectively, these studies highlight the potential of targeted, socioculturally responsive approaches to strengthen community-based violence prevention efforts.

Often criticisms are leveled against research on programs conducted with a particular sociodemographic group and/or in a specific geographic location because findings lack generalizability. Yet, as individuals are embedded in neighborhoods and communities, effective prevention campaigns are, by design, context-specific. This type of place-based, context-specific research is what builds effective community-based ecological approaches. This symposium will take a critical look at this issue and examine the impact of community-specific approaches aimed at preventing IPV.

The presentations encompass prevention programs in various settings (a college campus, a group of faith leaders, and an immigrant community at large) with diverse racial/ethnic populations (South Asian, Korean, Gujarati). Presentation 1 discusses the impact of a community-led bystander intervention designed for South Asians in the USA. The presentation will outline the rationale behind developing this intervention as a pathway to strengthen bystander strategies and build confidence when witnessing domestic violence. It will also highlight the intervention’s impact on increasing participants’ readiness to act, awareness of culturally relevant barriers, and ability to safely support survivors. Presentation 2 discusses a researcher-practitioner partnership that enhanced IPV prevention in Korean American communities. By utilizing virtual simulations and outreach, the project significantly increased faith leaders' self-efficacy, shifted pastoral attitudes toward survivor support, and institutionalized permanent advocacy roles, fostering sustainable, macro-level collaboration between agencies and faith institutions. Drawing on pre- and post-project surveys and interviews, Presentation 3 focuses on the impact of an IPV prevention campaign in a midwestern Gujarati community on members of the Community Action Team who were substantively involved in project development and implementation. Applying participatory social marketing approaches, the campaign centered on the community’s cherished value of shanti (peace and harmony) and developed and disseminated socioculturally relevant prevention messages.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2026). About intimate partner violence.

World Health Organization. (2024). Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2023.