Domestic Violence–Informed Research Briefing: Domestic Violence Survivors’ Parenting Strengths

David Mandel and Claire Wright of the Safe & Together Institute reviewed the academic literature on domestic violence survivors’ parenting and found a consistent pattern: across multiple studies, mothers parenting in the context of domestic violence show similar—or even better—parenting outcomes than mothers in non-violent homes. Women who parented in the past but not currently under domestic violence even score higher on parenting measures than women who’ve never parented under those conditions.

That same pattern challenges assumptions about survivors’ mental health and substance use—the briefing walks through study after study showing depression, anxiety, and substance use rates among survivors are lower than commonly assumed, particularly when protective factors like social support and stable housing are present.

The full briefing also maps a range of protective efforts that rarely get counted as parenting strengths, from maintaining employment and housing to less visible strategies survivors use to shield children from violence day to day. It flags a specific equity gap for survivors from marginalised communities, whose protective efforts are often overlooked when systems treat engagement with police as a proxy for responsible parenting.