Mothers’ Experiences of Parenting Within the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: Unique Challenges and Resilience

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051988386
Author(s):  
Alison Fogarty ◽  
Hannah Woolhouse ◽  
Rebecca Giallo ◽  
Catherine Wood ◽  
Jordy Kaufman ◽  
...  

Maternal and child health are strongly linked, particularly in the presence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Women who experience IPV are at increased risk of negative physical and mental health difficulties. However, little is known about the experience of mothering within the context of IPV and what mothers perceive as contributing to resilience. This study had two aims. First, to explore women’s experience and perceived challenges associated with being a mother within the context of being in a relationship where IPV is being used. Second, to explore what mothers found helpful in coping during this experience. A nested qualitative sub-study was conducted within a prospective study of mothers during pregnancy and following the birth of their first child. Nine women who reported experiencing IPV since becoming pregnant with their first child participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews, which were then transcribed and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three subthemes emerged within the theme of unique challenges experienced by mothers. These were partner control over parenting, other disrespectful and controlling behavior, and emotional exhaustion. Within the theme of mothers’ sense of resilience and coping, career development, making sense of experiences, focusing on children, and help-seeking played important roles in helping mothers manage these difficulties. Our findings highlighted the impact that IPV can have on the experience of mothering and the importance of prioritizing women’s health and well-being. Finally, these findings emphasize the importance of health-care professionals identifying and acknowledging the signs of IPV to support women to speak out about their experiences.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayushi Rai ◽  
Anupam Joya Sharma ◽  
Malavika A. Subramanyam

AbstractIndia has reported a high prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women over the years. Previous Western research have found an increased IPV risk among women in the aftermath of natural disasters, underscoring the need for such studies in India. We could not locate any study focusing on the impact of slow-onset versus rapid-onset disasters, which might have differing impacts on the vulnerable, especially on the incidence of IPV in India. Using data on ever-married women from the National Family Health Survey-4, we investigated the association of residing in districts exposed to a drought (N=31,045), and separately, to two cyclones (N=8469), with three forms of self-reported IPV against women (emotional, physical, and sexual). Survey-adjusted logistic regression models showed that exposure to cyclone was positively associated with emotional IPV (AOR: 1.59, CI: 1.20, 2.10) after adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Although not statistically significant, exposure to cyclone was also positively associated with physical and sexual IPV, and drought with physical IPV. However, we did not find an association of drought with emotional and sexual violence. Notably, we corroborated previous findings that women from wealthier households, educated, and whose husbands had no history of alcohol consumption, were less likely to experience any form of IPV independent of the influence of other factors. These results highlight the potential increased risk of IPV following natural disasters. In a patriarchal society such as India vulnerable to climate-change, these sobering results highlight the need to prepare for the social disasters that might accompany natural disasters.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria L. Banyard ◽  
Katie M. Edwards ◽  
Elizabeth A. Moschella ◽  
Katherine M. Seavey

Social support is key to well-being for victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), and bystanders have an important role to play in preventing IPV by taking action when there is risk for violence. The current study used qualitative interviews to explore young adults’ perspectives on helping in situations of IPV, and more general helping, in the rural communities in which they resided. Participants were 74 individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 years from 16 rural counties across the eastern United States. Participants generally described their communities as close-knit and helpful, especially around daily hassles (e.g., broken down car) and unusual circumstances (e.g., house fire). Although participants generated ways in which community members help IPV victims, these mostly focused on providing support or taking action in the aftermath of IPV as opposed to more preventive actions. Lack of financial resources were uniquely cited as a barrier to more general helping, whereas concerns about privacy and lack of deservingness of help were barriers to both general helping and helping in IPV situations, although these were more pronounced in IPV situations than general helping situations. Taken together, these results suggest that although people generally see their communities as helpful and close-knit, these perceptions and scripts did not necessarily translate to helping in situations of IPV. Bystander intervention programs are needed that provide more specific helping scripts for IPV.


2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802110522
Author(s):  
Lucia E. Klencakova ◽  
Maria Pentaraki ◽  
Cathal McManus

Research highlights that romantic relationships of young people are not all ‘puppy love’ but can be also abusive. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a gendered phenomenon as it primarily affects women who are at a higher risk of more severe forms of violence and also suffer more severe consequences than young men. IPV leads to substantial negative outcomes such as mental health decline, economic insecurity and/or academic underachievement. Particularly for young females, education is a powerful protective factor against re-victimisation and economic dependence which often forces women to remain trapped in abusive relationships. This review was conducted to integrate and summarise research available on IPV and its impact on young women’s educational well-being to fill a significant gap in the literature. Under the guidance of PRISMA, terms related to the criteria of young women aged 10–24, IPV and education were searched in the databases EBSCO, PsycINFO, Scopus, ProQuest and CINAHL. While the initial search yielded 6005 articles, we were left with only 10 articles for the analysis. In summary, the evidence suggests that females tend to display issues around concentration, absenteeism and academic disengagement, as well as decline in performance such as failing grades and higher drop out rates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-91
Author(s):  
Christa Haifley

Economic abuse is another form of intimate partner violence (IPV) used by batterers to maintain power and control over their partners which often goes unreported, unrealized, and under-supported by IPV survivor advocates. Economic abuse is misunderstood as an IPV and is often incorrectly considered a financial crime, financial fraud, or white-collar crime. Economic abuse impacts the victim’s short and long-term physical and mental well-being in efforts to achieve economic wellness for basic living conditions as well as job placement and professional development opportunities. Healthy minds fuel healthy bodies and economic self-efficacy contributes to both mental and physical health. The awareness and impact of economic abuse is grossly understudied, lacking empirical evidence on victims and survivors of economic self-sufficiency during and at the conclusion of an abusive relationship. The current research has primarily collected and reported data on heterosexual women, leaving a gap in the research regarding the impact of economic abuse in LGBTQ+ relationships. This paper serves as a literature review into current economic abuse research by discussing three constructs: economic control, economic exploitation, and employment sabotage as well as possible solutions for educational opportunities and financial self-efficacy. Further research is needed to raise awareness and provide financial literacy to IPV survivors in all gender communities.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ko Ling Chan ◽  
Yulian Zhang

This study investigates the impact of the earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008 in Sichuan, China on stressed families already experiencing domestic violence. We hypothesized that cumulative postdisaster stress would increase marital aggression and that the well-being of victims would deteriorate following the quake. A total of 186 women were recruited for this study. Results show that all types of family violence, including psychological aggression and physical violence between partners, increased after the earthquake. We provided preliminary evidence that psychological aggression was significantly associated with the detrimental effects on victims’ mental and physical functioning. The findings support the need for violence assessment among victims of earthquakes, and we recommend that violence prevention be considered as part of the intervention during such natural disasters.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e040891
Author(s):  
Stephanie J Brown ◽  
Laura J Conway ◽  
Kelly M FitzPatrick ◽  
Kelsey Hegarty ◽  
Fiona K Mensah ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo investigate mental and physical health of mothers exposed to recent and early postpartum intimate partner violence (IPV) in the 10 years after having their first child.DesignProspective pregnancy cohort study.SettingWomen were recruited at six metropolitan public maternity hospitals in Melbourne, Australia and followed up at 1, 4 and 10 years post partum.Study measuresExposure to physical and/or emotional IPV was measured using the Composite Abuse Scale at 1, 4 and 10 years. At 10-year follow-up, mothers reported on physical and mental health, and functional health status.Participants1507 first-time mothers enrolled at mean of 15 weeks’ gestation.ResultsOne in three women experienced IPV during the 10 years after having their first child. Women experiencing recent IPV (19.1%) reported worse physical and mental health than women not reporting IPV. Compared with women not reporting IPV, women experiencing recent IPV had higher odds of poor functional health status (Adj OR=4.5, 95% CI 3.2 to 6.3), back pain (Adj OR=2.0, 95% CI 1.4 to 2.9), incontinence (Adj OR=1.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.6), depressive symptoms (Adj OR=4.9, 95% CI 3.2 to 7.5), anxiety (Adj OR=5.1, 95% CI 3.0 to 8.6) and post-traumatic stress symptoms (Adj OR=7.2, 95% CI 4.6 to 11.1) at 10 years. Women with past IPV at 1 and/or 4 years (15.7% of the cohort) also had higher odds of physical and mental health problems. There was evidence of a gradient in health outcomes by recency of exposure to IPV.ConclusionsBoth recent and past exposure to IPV are associated with poor maternal physical and mental health 10 years after a first birth. Health services and advocacy organisations providing support to women need to be aware of the consistent relationship between IPV and a range of physical and mental health conditions, which may persist even after IPV appears to have ceased.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 839-861
Author(s):  
Adele Marais ◽  
Caroline C. Kuo ◽  
Robin Julies ◽  
Dan J. Stein ◽  
John A. Joska ◽  
...  

Pregnancy represents a time of increased risk for intimate partner violence (IPV), and an HIV diagnosis further increases the vulnerability of this at-risk group. This study explores experiences of recent IPV using qualitative interviews with N = 12 HIV-positive pregnant women recruited from a clinical setting in South Africa, a location with a high global prevalence of IPV and HIV. Partner dynamics around IPV resulted in HIV shame and stigma and adversely affected engagement in HIV care and HIV treatment behaviors. The results highlight the challenges women face in navigating disclosure of both IPV and HIV, accessing necessary support, and engaging in both HIV-related and pregnancy-related care in the context of an abusive relationship.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document