Testing a Talkstory Intervention to create Supportive and Safe Violence-Free Communities for Women

The purpose of this paper is to report on a community-designed and led talkstory intervention to increase awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV), decrease acceptability of IPV, and increase community leadership to address IPV. In collaboration with women engaged in prior IPV outreach and education in Hawai'i, a talkstory intervention for IPV was developed, and a single-group, pre-post-test design was used to test it. The intervention included five talkstory sessions over seven months with community groups interested in violence prevention. Pre- and post-testing were conducted to determine changes in group means on three measures. Ninety-two individuals participated in the intervention, 77 (84%) of these completed the 1-month follow-up measure, and 59 (64%) of these also completed the 6-month follow-up measure. The findings included: (1) participants in the talkstory intervention groups decreased their acceptability of violence and increased their awareness, knowledge, and confidence to address IPV; (2) the community leaders in the intervention groups gained skills in facilitation; and (3) intervention groups continued to sponsor other IPV awareness-raising activities in their communities following completion of the study. Working with community leaders to design and facilitate the intervention not only provided IPV education within the context of the community, but also led to sustainable efforts to enhance the safety and wellbeing of women experiencing violence.