National Network of Abuse Intervention Programs (NNAIP)

PRINCIPLES

Membership is open to all persons who and organizations that:

• Intervene with people who use violence or a pattern of abuse toward an intimate partner,
• Recognize the autonomy and safety of victim-survivors as the central priority of this work, and
• Collaborate in our communities to create and maintain effective responses. 

Membership is also open to those who value this prevention and intervention work and want to contribute to this cause. As a group, we work to end violence and are committed to being non-violent in our own lives. We are committed to interacting with each other respectfully and with consideration. We invite diverse peoples and ways of thinking into this safe space as we strive to share resources, learn from each other, and improve our efforts to reduce and ultimately eliminate abuse of intimate partners and family members.

We affirm the following statements:

1. Oppression exists in multiple forms.

Sexism, colonization, racism, ableism, homophobia, classism, and other oppressions impact our interventions and the people we serve. They have a range of negative effects including individual, collective, and intergenerational trauma, as well as economic, social, and physical challenges. 

For this reason, we support victim-survivor-centered and community-driven responses that strive to address intimate partner and domestic abuse in the context of oppression.

2. Violence is linked to inequality.

Intimate partner and domestic abuse is linked to hierarchical family and social structures and the belief systems that support them. It serves to create and perpetuate an unequal power dynamic in any type of intimate relationship or family.

For this reason, we support victim-survivor centered and gender/oppression-informed responses that:

• Prioritize victim-survivor safety and autonomy.
• Create conditions for people who have been abusive to take responsibility for and change their beliefs and behaviors.
• Differentiate between an ongoing pattern of intimidation, coercion, and violence and the resistive forms of violence that victim-survivors might use to protect themselves.
• Recognize that the majority of cases of interpersonal violence are of men abusing a woman who is a current or former partner. In these cases the violence is part of a continuum of many forms of gender-based violence against women, girls, and others who do not conform to rigid gender roles and norms.

3. Trauma is widespread.

Experiences of trauma and other adversities are widespread. The experience of, and how we respond to, childhood, generational, historic, and other trauma is different depending on identity, social status, and the disparity in consequences for different people’s actions.

For this reason, we encourage programs to create transformational change and to understand trauma and other adverse experiences within an unequal power dynamic and in a social context.

4. This work requires community collaboration.

Because of the magnitude and complexity of this problem, we strive to be committed community partners and to help create the institutional and cultural changes that are needed to end the use of domestic violence.

For this reason we work as a part of a coordinated community response to help end intimate partner and domestic abuse as a social problem.

We recognize that accountability is an essential component of the change process.

Accountability begins with acceptance of responsibility for one’s actions and the impact of those actions upon others. Accountability is linked to consequences and redressing a power imbalance. It requires a shift from external motivations to change to an internal motivation. It moves beyond blame and guilt toward the development of the ability to genuinely value who the victim-survivor is and what they think, need, and want.

For this reason, we strive to create and model accountability within the individual, community, institutional, and societal levels. We work toward substantive changes that protect the victim-survivor from further harm and foster the conditions in our communities for healing and repair. We work toward a future when relationships of dominance and control are replaced with equity, safety, and respect.  

6. We recognize this movement is continually evolving. 

Through our network we are committed to guide, participate, and foster the development and sharing of knowledge and expertise. We recognize a paradigm shift with regard to power dynamics in relationships, families, and society is required to make substantive change.

For this reason we strive to stay open to possibilities while building on the work of those who came before us. As we remain victim-survivor centered, we will explore new findings and innovative practices developed by our colleagues and those in other fields to benefit our effectiveness in ending the use of domestic violence.

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