What To Do When Domestic Violence Affects Your Workplace
“They are just my coworkers, what goes on in their personal lives isn’t really any of my business.” Has this thought ever gone through your head? If you’re like many Americans, this thought probably isn’t too far off. We tend to have our “work friends” and then our “real friends”. But what do you do when domestic violence affects one of your coworkers? Is it good enough to just offer them resources and hope they help because you don’t want to be too involved in their personal life?
The short and simple answer: no. We need to focus on building a culture within the workplace that goes beyond just offering resources to victims but builds resilience, prevents violence and addresses the trauma that comes to work with victims. You don’t have to be the head honcho to build this workplace culture – you can be at any level and it takes everyone within your organization to make the shift!
There are six practical steps that Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence recommend to help cultivate a workplace culture that builds resilience, prevents violence and addresses that trauma that comes to work with victims.
- Acknowledge What Happened: Address that an event or situation occurred that impacts workers and the workplace. Be open and available to the person experiencing trauma or violence, and take their lead. Their safety and privacy are most important.
- Start The Conversation: Open and direct conversations establish that is it okay to be honest with your coworkers. Make sure employees and coworkers know that their voices are important. When opening or leading conversations about traumatic incidents, utilize empathy rather than sympathy.
- Practice Emotional Intelligence: Let people know that you are here for them and will be supportive in the ways that feel supportive to them. When approaching these conversations, also be mindful of “toxic positivity.” Toxic positivity is a behavior in which one pushes a “positive mindset” to the point of erasing or dismissing the struggle at hand.
- Share Relevant Resources: Make sure your coworkers or employees know what resources are available to them through the workplace and through their local community.
- Monitor Well-Being & Check-In Often: Make it a practice to check-in with coworkers as well as yourself. Recovering from a traumatic event takes time and looks different for everyone. These events cause emotional, physical, and sometimes life-threatening harm, which can have an adverse impact on all aspects of a person’s well-being.
- Be Aware of the Signs and Side-Effects of Trauma & Stress: Sometimes, people experience trauma through physical or cognitive symptoms long before they are able to process their emotional symptoms. When these signs are present, reconnect, engage, and offer support.
You can be a part of creating a safe and secure workplace environment for yourself and others in your workplace.
Domestic violence is real and prevalent in your workplace, whether you know it or not. 74% of victims report that their abuser has harassed them on the job. Nearly 3 out of every 4 survivors of domestic abuse cited economic insecurity as the main reason they stayed with their abuser. When it comes to domestic violence, your coworker’s personal life becomes your business. Be a part of the change and help make your workplace a place that not only offers resources to victims, but builds resilience, prevents violence and addresses the trauma that inevitably follows victims to work.
For more information, visit Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence at https://www.workplacesrespond.org/, or the Sheltering Wings resource page at http://www.freedomideserve.com/
