Shared Risk and Protective Factors Connecting the Dots, a CDC Resource

Exploring Shared Risk and Protective Factors Across Multiple Forms of Violence

Connecting the Dots: An Overview of the Links Among Multiple Forms of Violence is a new resource co-developed by CDC's Division of Violence Prevention and the Prevention Institute. In this resource you will find the latest research on connections between different forms of violence and how these connections affect communities. This resource may be useful for individual prevention program planning as well as community collaboration efforts to maximize limited resources.

While this research is especially geared for and relevant to primary prevention, it highlights another important reason to consider addressing the intersections of multiple forms of violence: experiencing other forms of violence and re-victimization. For example, the research has found that young women who are sexually abused are at higher risk of experiencing physical violence and sexual re-victimization, engaging in self-harming behavior, and becoming a victim of intimate partner violence later in life. Additionally, youth who have experienced multiple forms of violence and traumatic stress are more likely to experience negative health outcomes later in life. This information can be very useful in explaining the importance of working to prevent sexual violence to community partners.

On pages 8 and 9 of the resource there are easy to use tables that identify where there are shared risk and protective factors.