Thoughts about community support around intimate violence
This zine has suggestions for how to do good support for people who have recently experienced intimate violence, both the survivor and the abuser. We define intimate violence as any kind of ongoing abuse or violence that happens between people who are tight with each other: lovers, friends, housemates, band or commune members, affinity groups, superhero crew, people raising a kid together etc. It includes physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, or psychological violence or any other kind of abuse.
Included are ideas for how to do both physical and emotional support, as well as support to help folks start to understand what they’ve experienced and take responsibility for their actions. We’re calling this third process transformative support for short. The way the support process is laid out might make it all look pretty simple, but don’t be fooled, it’s not. To give an idea of how complicated things can get, we’ve also included some stories from our lives.