Three out of four women who are incarcerated are survivors of domestic violence, yet few jails have trauma-informed programs to address needs related to abuse and trauma. National Center for Victims of Crime, together with experts with lived experience, created a starting point for implementing domestic violence peer-support programs in jail. It has five principles: screen for domestic violence at intake, compensate and pay peer guides for their work, ensure collaboration between peer guides and external domestic violence programs, provide holistic care, and train correctional officers on trauma informed approaches and the dynamics of domestic violence. Increased trauma-informed, gender-specific services in jails, rooted in these principles, would help improve reentry services and improve wellbeing for survivors.
