Domestic violence shelters are most often thought of as the first line of defense; an immediate safety precaution available to those who are actively escaping violence in their homes or relationships. And this is absolutely the truth: many of our clients enter our shelter for those exact reasons. However, in addition to being an immediate sanctuary from direct violence, our shelter is also an incredibly important elementof MSP’s steadfast commitment to preventing future violence, in both the short and long-term.
Prevention work is often misconstrued as something intangible; something that occurs through education, discussion, and cultural shifts. These are examples of primary prevention: prevention work that is meant to stop something before it has the chance to happen in the first place. And while MSP’s community-facing teams are contributing to primary prevention across Westchester schools, hospitals, faith-communities, businesses, and community groups each day, our client-facing staff are engaging in both secondary and tertiary violence prevention through their own direct service work. And where that work is most obvious—the most tangible--is in our shelter.
From the moment a survivor walks through the doors of our shelter, our staff are engaged in secondary prevention work.Secondary prevention work is meant to stop violence from recurring or from escalating. By providing a space where survivors can catch their breath,take a moment to rest, cook their meals, and help their children with homework without the threat of violence, MSP is doingthis work.Shelter staff are providing frontline emotional and psychological support, safety planning, and meeting survivors’ basic needs (such as clothing, toiletries, and food) as soon as they step inside. And while yes, these are critical actions that build a foundation from which survivors can grow throughout their time in the shelter and beyond, they are also secondary preventative strategies meant to impede escalation and recurrence of violence.
As survivors settle into their rooms and routines at the shelter, MSP’s shelter and transitional housing staff begin the work of tertiary prevention. This type of prevention work involves longer-term measures to support survivors as they reclaim their autonomy and agency and take the next steps on their unique journeys. These measures may include legal proceedings to receive custody of their children, longer-term psychological care, including therapy and counseling, and assistancefinding and applying to jobs, apartments, and healthcare. Tertiary prevention, in the context of MSP’s shelter, is not only meant to help survivors heal from their experiences with violence, but also to provide them with resources, tools, and strategies to identify early warning signs of abuse and support them in engaging in healthy relationships in the future. This type of prevention work is more similar to primary prevention and contributes to breaking generational cycles. As survivors do their own, incredible work of healing from their past experiences, they are also doing the work for their own children and future generations.
Survivors are the true prevention workers. Before they ever step through our doors, they have already learned to de-escalate, prevent, and protect themselves and their loved ones from harm. Those of us at MSP only have the opportunity to provide safer spaces for survivors because they have already done the courageous work of reaching out to us in the first place.Prevention work begins with survivors, happens throughout our shelter and agency, and it continues with you: our community. So the next time you think or read about MSP’s shelter, please also think about all of the hope for a better future held inside those walls and what you might be able to do to contribute to prevention at My Sisters’ Place. Because it isn’t intangible, and it is happening all around us, every day.