WOMAN: I'm not sure if the situation that I am in is safe. I'm scared of my husband when he gets angry.
NATALIA AGUIRRE: Survivors often say, "I have really bad luck. Bad things just happen to me over and over again in different parts of my life, and I can't seem to get away from it." And so we really have been looking to find ways to interrupt that chronic violence and that chronic condition and find healing and justice for people in that process as well.
ALISON BILDSOE: Polyvictimization is normally something that's addressed in children, so applying it to adult survivors was something that was fairly new, and so was developing this comprehensive tool.
NATALIA AGUIRRE: We are so thankful to the 400-plus survivors that participated in this initiative. We had the privilege of being able to work with six communities from across the country and obtain more information about what polyvictimization looked like in the life of adults. It was really important for us that each of the communities infuse survivor and professional voices into this process to make something that really worked for them.
ALISON BILDSOE: Often we get the snapshot, this small little window of time that we're understanding about our survivor's life because that's what's bringing them into the center. But this tool allows us to capture their whole lifetime and then pass that along, with client consent and confidentiality, with other members of our teams.
LACY HENSLEY: She has a pretty extensive polyvictimization history.
ALISON BILDSOE: In pilot testing, we learned that, really, the vast majority of survivors coming into Family Justice Centers are experiencing more than one victimization. When we come into centers, we've been battered and beaten and abused, in physical and emotional and mental ways. We are at our lowest point. It's really hard to see a future.
WOMAN: And that's what usually happens, and what keeps that cycle of violence going is power of control.
ALISON BILDSOE: I think that this initiative inspired hope in the lives of survivors.
NATALIA AGUIRRE: Not only is it heartwarming and really inspirational to hear that people were opening up about painful experiences that they had never sought help about before, but also that they were willing to come back for services and work on this process of healing in a community with people that really cared and supported them.
LaTASHA JACKSON-McDOUGLE: And one thing that we all have in common is that we said how difficult it was, but we did it, and we did it for ourselves, and that shows strength and courage.
NATALIA AGUIRRE: The impact of this tool, I think, is something that we will be learning more about in the years to come. It has been a groundbreaking initiative that has really changed and shaped the way crime victim services are provided in Family Justice Centers.
