Acknowledging the role of faith, spirituality and/or religion is crucial to enhancing cultural responsiveness and understanding the diverse needs of many people. For many who identify as Black and/or African-American, faith-based experiences are essential to cultural and personal identity. Unfortunately, many faith communities do not notice or understand the prevalence of Black women's victimization through domestic violence and sexual assault and subsequent criminalization of their trauma responses. This fact sheet outlines how faith communities can better support criminalized Black women survivors in their own communities and suggests that broader community-based anti-violence efforts should incorporate faith-based organizations into their responses.
To learn more about our work enhancing services to criminalized Black women survivors, see Project SAFE.