Patrissi: Shifting focus to domestic violence prevention

Every year in October, domestic violence receives the star treatment: its own month of observance.

However, come Nov. 1, we return to our regularly scheduled programming, and this specific program will once again be an afterthought. Important, always — but not seen as anything else beyond a problem that can only be managed, not solved.

If we shift our perspective from managing to prevention, we can look at how we might change the conditions that lead to domestic violence all year long. It’s that thought process that led us to create the helpline, A Call for Change.

The helpline is about responding to people who want to change, but our work is about teaching skills to cultivate interrupting and combating these behaviors throughout the year. We aim to share our skills to teach others how