Join Kristen Slesar, LCSW, for this engaging workshop that dives deep into the complexities of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Common misconceptions still persist today, like the idea that leaving an abusive partner ends the abuse. Questions like “Why doesn’t she just leave?” continue to oversimplify the real dangers victims face—dangers so severe that at least three women are murdered daily by current or former partners. Definitions of IPV that focus on individual acts of violence as opposed to coercive control perpetuate misconceptions and ineffective interventions that frequently fail to keep victims safe.

This workshop presents a comprehensive framework to understanding IPV within the context of social, relational, and structural entrapment. This framework will demonstrate how victims are ensnared not only by the coercive controlling violence of their partners but also by the societal, cultural, and political systems that generate vulnerability and fail to keep victims safe. Utilizing research and poignant case studies, Kristen will challenge participants to explore how centering coercive control as the underlying mechanism of IPV and treating IPV as a social—and social justice—problem is required to create more effective interventions.