Building a Community Coordinated Response to the Criminalization of Survivors: A Toolkit
(Fall 2025) This Toolkit provides ideas, strategies, and techniques for addressing the need and challenges related to making survivors charged…
Myths and Misconceptions: Criminalized Survivors
by the National Defense Center for Criminalized Survivors
October 2023
Myths and misconceptions about domestic violence and victims of intimate partner violence are widespread and often negatively impact victims and survivors.
While these false narratives can lead to barriers for all survivors, criminalized survivors are at particular risk of being harmed by mistaken beliefs about domestic violence. For example, misinformation can undermine a survivor’s legal defense, limit options to seek safety, or be used by the victim-defendant’s partner as a tool to further abuse.