Intersections: Special issue: Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Our newsletter, Intersections, explores the connectedness of health in our communities and imagines a better future.

This is a summary of the October 2025 edition. Sign up to receive the full, bimonthly newsletter in your inbox.

“First, do no harm.”

Pediatrician and freelance writer ChrisAnna Mink recently pointed out that the oath physicians take applies to journalists, too. She was leading a workshop featuring the Journalist Playbook, for her colleagues who want to do more trauma-informed, community-driven, and solutions-oriented reporting on domestic violence.

This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we see that many kinds of storytellers are eager to lend their voices to changing the conversation about domestic violence: from local and national news reporters, to opinion writers, to documentary filmmakers and survivors’ advocates.

We invite you to join them, and us, by sharing this newsletter with a friend.

— Jenna Lane, Communications Officer

Honoring trauma-informed reporting

This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we have been highlighting the journalists and newsrooms that cover domestic violence with depth, complexity, and care. Journalists have the power to shift the way the public understands an issue, and their stories can empower domestic violence survivors, drive policy, and help communities move from healing to prevention.

A story by ChrisAnna Mink for CalMatters explores California’s “failure to protect” law and how this can actually cause more harm than good. The story offers diverse perspectives, as well as solutions. ChrisAnna shares it was important for her to discover the lesser-known sides of this story. Another example we like comes from Sonja Sharp for the LA Times. Her story about budget cuts looks at the underfunded systems that keep survivors of domestic violence in impossible situations. It also keeps sources safe by not printing the full names of survivors quoted.

Do you know a journalist doing great trauma-informed reporting? bscfpublicaffairs [at] blueshieldca.com (subject: a%20journalist recommendation) (Let us know)! Domestic Violence Awareness Month may be ending, but we will continue working to change the conversation about domestic violence.

Californians' perspectives on domestic violence: insights from a statewide survey

This month, in partnership with the research firm PerryUndem, Blue Shield of California Foundation released a new statewide survey of nearly 3,000 California adults. It’s part of our ongoing effort to better understand Californians’ needs and experiences with domestic violence, economic insecurity, racial equity, gender norms, and gender-based harm.

The findings depict an overwhelmingly common experience — nearly two-thirds of Californians (63%) have personal connections to domestic violence, either directly or indirectly through family or friends, and 31% identify themselves as survivors. Chances are, you have been affected.

Even though domestic violence is widespread and impacting our communities, encouragingly, the findings also point to a strong common ground when it comes to healing and alternative approaches to prevent domestic violence. Nearly 80% believe domestic violence is healable and preventable and support alternatives to jail and restorative justice approaches, such as programs that educate and rehabilitate those who have caused harm.

We invite you to check out the report and see how this data can support your work.