TEDxRIT speaker calls domestic violence one of the 'greatest global health crises'

L.Y. Marlow, founder of Saving Promise, a national organization leading the charge to prevent domestic violence, called for cross-sectoral collaboration to end what she said is one of the greatest global health crises of the time. She presented before a packed auditorium at TEDxRIT on Saturday.

The presentation is timely, as the topic of domestic abuse is one thrust forefront in recent weeks following allegations that White House silenced claims of abuse brought forth against now former-aide, Rob Porter.

But Marlow said the conversation can't start and stop with national scandal, rather it must become a permanent fixture of our cultural and societal consciousness, and one that we're working collectively to address.

"Every now and again, the topic of dating violence becomes culturally relevant," said Marlow. "Eight or nine years ago, we had Chris Brown and Rhianna, and it was horrific. Then, a few years later, the Ray Rice story surfaced. Now, in 2018, it's on the front page because of the secrecy of the staffers at the White House."

"The issue comes up culturally every five years, and we launch campaigns like 'Me Too' and 'Time's Up', and they last for a moment and then they fade. We can't continue to do that, because we cannot let tragic, controversial situations dictate when we respond, address or talk about this issue." she said.

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Marlow's talk, titled  "Why You Should Have the Courage to Embrace Your Passion", touched on her family history of more than four generations of domestic abuse. It climaxed in 2007 when her then six-month old granddaughter, Promise, lay on a bed screaming while her mother's life was being threatened by her abuser.

That night prompted Marlow to found the organization, which recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary and partnered with Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health on a research project called "Learning Laboratory." The partnership works to provide innovative and actionable solutions to an issue that Marlow said has plagued the lives of millions, as well as the global economy, costing more than $8 trillion a year.

During her talk, Marlow said that her experiences gave her "not only a voice, but a vision," and "the courage to disrupt one of the most serious global health issues of our time."

"We have one single goal in mind," Marlow said, standing tall and strong at center-stage. "To transform the public health approach to intimate partner violence."

In an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle, Marlow outlined three ways the partnership between Saving Promise and Harvard are working to do just that.

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1) Using data to better understand the problem

While data has long been collected on domestic violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the frequency is limited to every few years.

"How can we best address the problem when we don't have current data? The work that we're doing with Harvard is more frequent and progressive research to better understand the root causes of domestic violence, and its impact on health and economy," said Marlow. "Just last week, the CDC announced that it costs our national economy more than $9 billion a year."

According to Marlow, research is finding that the impacts of domestic violence extend beyond the immediate victim.

"How does it impact our children? We're finding that many women, especially pregnant women, are delivering children with brain trauma and other physical defects because the mother was abused during pregnancy," she said.

When Marlow was 8 months pregnant, she was kicked repeatedly in the stomach by her abuser.

"I thank God that my daughter survived," said Marlow. "I would not come to know if she was even still alive in my womb until I heard her scream in the delivery room."

Beyond physical implications of abuse, Marlow said that they are working to better understand the behavioral impact.

"Often times abuse is learned behavior. Many people who are abusive have been abused. We have to help the victim, but we also have to address the perpetrators because it's cyclical."

2) 'Marrying science to innovative solutions'

Marlow knows that data carries little significance if it's not influencing action.

"We're using the data to collect to inform what we call innovative, evidence-based public education and prevention programs," she said. "Our focus is on prevention, and that's a loaded word."

According to Marlow, there are three different levels of prevention.

The first, is preventing people who have not been impacted from becoming victims. The second, is preventing victims from becoming repeat victims. The third, is preventing the cultural attitudes that Marlow said contribute to domestic violence.

3) Bringing together stakeholders

In order for a movement to live, it's crucial that support come from parties across a variety of communities.

"We're bringing together leaders and visionaries from every sector of the community to fight domestic abuse, because no one organization or individual can solve the problem on their own," said Marlow. "We need support from academia, from the public health sector, from corporate, from policy makers and the advocacy community. It requires a village."

Marlow went on to say that the she hopes to see the fight against domestic violence to grow in the way that breast cancer movement did.

"Who knew, 25 years ago, that we'd see NFL players up and down the field wearing pink. Who knew that we'd walk into a grocery store and see so much pink. It was a conceptual, wonderful idea centered around education, and now we're seeing the results," said Marlow. 

"There are three issues that predominantly effect women, and those are breast cancer, heart disease and domestic violence. Breast cancer and heart disease have movements that are addressing them. They focus on prevention and on engaging everyone at the grassroots level," said Marlow. "Domestic violence has had very little work done. That doesn't mean there aren't organizations working diligently to address it, but it hasn't gotten the same level of exposure. That's what we're working to change."

LPEACE@Gannett.com