Patchwork

Addressing Cultural Differences to Support Victims of Gender-based Violence

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

Dr. Tricia Bent-Goodley, a professor at Howard University who has spent decades as a social worker specializing in gender-based violence, joins Patchwork to share her first-hand experience on how cultural differences can drive misconceptions and create obstacles when working with victims of crime. To meet victims where they are means understanding where they come from, she says. To adequately care for a victim from a trauma-based perspective, care providers must first understand the community and the culture that inform the context of the crime.