Coordinated community response is an intervention strategy developed by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. This strategy, often called the “Duluth model,” is a “system of networks, agreements, processes and applied principles created by the local shelter movement, criminal justice agencies, and human service programs that were developed in a small northern Minnesota city over a fifteen year period. It is still a project in the making.” From: Ellen Pence & Martha McMahon, A Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence (1999), The National Training Project, Duluth, Minnesota. Given the various health, legal, economic and social needs of widows, coordinating the response across sectors will promote protection of survivors/complainants.
Although there is no one model that will work in every context, the model used by DAIP in Duluth is one of the most successful coordinated community response projects and has been adapted for use in communities in many different parts of the world. (See: Adapting the Duluth Model, StopVAW, The Advocates for Human Rights; and Coordinated Community Response, StopVAW, The Advocates for Human Rights)
Legislation should include provisions that require agency collaboration and communication in addressing the maltreatment of widows. NGO advocates who directly serve victims should have leadership roles in such collaborative efforts. When police, judicial officials, NGOs that provide direct service to victims of violence, and medical providers coordinate their efforts to protect victims and hold abusers accountable, these efforts are more successful. Coordination helps to ensure that the system works faster and better for victims; that victims are protected and receive the services they need; and that abusers are held accountable and cease their abusive behavior.
(See: Council of Europe General Recommendation Rec(2002)5, para. 27 Benefits of Coordination, StopVAW, The Advocates for Human Rights; Goals and Strategies of Intervention, StopVAW, The Advocates for Human Rights; and Community Response Participants, StopVAW, The Advocates for Human Rights)
(See also: Implementation of Laws on Violence against Women and Girls)