Searching with the Mothers of Mexico's Disappeared

The city of Trenton is trying to reduce gun violence. In Philadelphia, the Healing Hurt People is a hospital-based violence intervention program that employs trauma counselors to help patients suffering from gun violence.

Baltimore has dramatically reduced homicides through a multi-pronged approach involving a data-driven Group Violence Reduction Strategy, credible-messenger intervention programs, and aggressive prosecution of illegal gun possession. This has resulted in a record-low murder rate in 2026, with 60 killings recorded through August compared to roughly 220 at the same point four years prior.

A nearly two-year investigation of Mexicans who had gone missing, and presumably murdered, produced a series of stories based on the database of at least 2,000 graves across Mexico. A group of independent reporters and photographers called “¿A dónde van los desaparecidos?” (where do the disappeared go?) supplied victims' families with information that previous government and private efforts had not, and that fueled demands for definitive information on their loved ones' deaths. More than 40,000 people have been reported missing in Mexico since 2006 amid drug-related violence.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Drone Search Team is a group of volunteers in British Columbia, Canada that use a combination of indigenous knowledge and drones to search for missing women. Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered than other women in Canada, and although there is some police help, the lack of progress and transparency drove this group to take the matter into their own hands. The group has varying success in finding evidence that is being used in on-going investigations, but along the way they also provide solace and answers to the families still searching.

Using animals as a form of therapy is not a new concept, but combining this practice with traditional Lakota horse rituals has proven to be a powerful anecdote for treating youth mental trauma in these communities. Treating the donated horses as companions, the youth learn how to care and train the equines all from the mindset of how these animals have played a role in Native American culture and history.

A Kansas City non-profit called Healing Pathway Victim Service Agency aids children, or the "smallest co-victims" as they call them, of crimes and homicides through case management, education, victim advocacy and trauma-informed mentorship for kids. The organization acts as a one-stop shop for families, offering connection to mental health resources, advice on navigating the courts, and assistance with victim compensation.

School-sponsored instruction on affirmative consent and increased resources for victims of sexual violence on campus have brought colleges closer to meeting Title IX requirements. Across the United States, schools like the University of Iowa are requiring students to attend courses that promote healthy behavior and campus culture. Furthermore, schools across the US are increasing support for Title IX coordinators and bringing in organizations like Green Dot and Bringing in the Bystander to conduct workshops for students.

The concept of peer-to-peer support has been leveraged by organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous for decades; but for perhaps the first time, health care systems are leveraging this method to help treat patients with mental illness. Non-profit Via Hope provides training and certification for peer support specialists who go to work in health clinics and hospitals to provide support, counseling, and resources for others suffering from a wide range of mental illnesses. They are already proving as, if not more effective than traditional case managers at helping keep patients out of psychiatric hospitals.

Benebikira 'Sister Listeners' offer informal counseling to both victims and perpetrators of violence during the Rwanda genocide, seeking to forge a bridge of understanding. Their roles as listeners are especially important during the annual anniversary of the genocide.

Police actions at a crime scene often exacerbate the victim’s trauma and trigger a person with mental illness who is going through a crisis. The Trauma-Informed Response Team in Milwaukee, is part of a national trend to train police officers in crisis intervention so they can identify signs of mental illness, and efficiently and safely get someone in crisis into the care of a mental health professional.