“I'm Just Like, You Know What, It’s Now or Never”: Exploring How Women of Color Experiencing Severe Abuse and Homicide Risk Journey Toward Formal Help-Seeking

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110051
Author(s):  
Shannon B. Harper
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Breaking Points

Women in the United States are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than anyone else, and prior, severe domestic violence (DV) is typically involved in such intimate partner homicides (IPH). Black women experience disproportionately high rates of DV and IPHs, severe injury, and abuse with weapons. Distinct patterns of escalating DV are associated with impending risk of re-victimization and lethal violence. One of the most common predictors associated with formal DV help-seeking is severity of physical violence. The current study uses semi-structured interviews with 11 severe abuse survivors to answer the following research questions: (1) How do women experiencing severe abuse make sense of DV resources across the course of their abusive relationships? (2) How do women experiencing severe abuse make sense of services when fear of death/homicide risk is present? Approximately 91% of the sample is comprised of women of color (WOC) survivors. Results demonstrate that WOC survivors navigated complex journeys toward formal DV help-seeking that involved resisting help-seeking when the abuse still felt manageable; delaying help-seeking to protect themselves from escalating violence; and hastening help-seeking when breaking points were reached and the risk of death felt tangible. DV resources took on a different meaning in participants’ lives as abuse became more severe across the abuse lifecourse, and in relation to life circumstances and patterns of abuse, and personal perceptions of homicide risk. WOC participants also often experienced multiple structural barriers to formal help-seeking and waited until the violence was severe and/or life-threatening to make first contact, which highlights the necessity of immediate risk assessment with responsive service offerings that address the link between DV and poverty, as well as regular follow-up and ongoing support.

Help-Seeking Behaviors and Barriers Among Black Women Exposed to Severe Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From a Nationally Representative Sample

2020 ◽  
pp. 107780122091746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krim K. Lacey ◽  
Tina Jiwatram-Negron ◽  
Karen Powell Sears
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Help Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Nationally Representative

This article examined general help-seeking utilization and barriers among U.S. Black women reporting severe physical intimate partner violence (IPV). Data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), the largest and most detailed survey on Blacks residing in the United States, were analyzed. Among U.S. Black women reporting severe physical IPV, many sought the help of a psychiatrist (13.8%) or other mental health professionals (14.0%). Multivariate findings revealed associations between help-seeking utilization and sociodemographic factors. Queries from open responses suggested potential cultural and ethnic differences between African American and Caribbean Black women reporting intimate partner violence in relation to barriers to help-seeking.

Racial Disparities in Pregnancy-associated Intimate Partner Homicide

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199083
Author(s):  
Aaron J. Kivisto ◽  
Samantha Mills ◽  
Lisa S. Elwood
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Intimate Partner Homicide ◽  
Homicide Victimization ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Pregnancy-associated femicide accounts for a mortality burden at least as high as any of the leading specific obstetric causes of maternal mortality, and intimate partners are the most common perpetrators of these homicides. This study examined pregnancy-associated and non-pregnancy-associated intimate partner homicide (IPH) victimization among racial/ethnic minority women relative to their non-minority counterparts using several sources of state-level data from 2003 through 2017. Data regarding partner homicide victimization came from the National Violent Death Reporting System, natality data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and relevant sociodemographic information was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. Findings indicated that pregnancy and racial/ethnic minority status were each associated with increased risk for partner homicide victimization. Although rates of non-pregnancy-associated IPH victimization were similar between Black and White women, significant differences emerged when limited to pregnancy-associated IPH such that Black women evidenced pregnancy-associated IPH rates more than threefold higher than that observed among White and Hispanic women. Relatedly, the largest intraracial discrepancies between pregnant and non-pregnant women emerged among Black women, who experienced pregnancy-associated IPH victimization at a rate 8.1 times greater than their non-pregnant peers. These findings indicate that the racial disparities in IPH victimization in the United States observed in prior research might be driven primarily by the pronounced differences among the pregnant subset of these populations.

scholarly journals Balancing race, gender, and responsibility: Conversations with four black women in educational leadership in the United States of America

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322199183
Author(s):  
Natasha N Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender

This article focuses on equitable leadership and its intersection with related yet distinct concepts salient to social justice pertinent to women and minorities in educational leadership. This piece is rooted and framed within the context of the United States of America, and the major concepts include identity, equity, and intersectionality—specific to the race-gender dyad—manifested within the realm of educational leadership. The objective is to examine theory and research in this area and to discuss the role they played in this study of the cultures of four Black women, all senior-level leaders within the realm of K-20 education in the United States. This work employed the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology, focusing on the intersecting factors—race and gender, specifically—that impact these women’s ability and capability to perform within the educational sector. The utilization of in-depth, timed, semi-structured interviews allowed participants to reflect upon their experiences and perceptions as Black women who have navigated and continue to successfully navigate the highest levels of the educational leadership sphere. Contributors’ recounted stories of navigation within spaces in which they are underrepresented revealed the need for more research specific to the intricacies of Black women’s leadership journeys in the context of the United States.

Counting Frequency

Social Text ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-49
Author(s):  
Christen A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Female ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Body Counting

Abstract Examining Black women's experiences with policing, this article argues that police terror is not predicated upon gender; rather, it enacts gender by undoing gender. Thus, it requires a new arithmetic of time and space in order to read beyond normative, hypermasculine narratives of police violence. While the dominant discourse of race and policing asserts that police terror disproportionately affects Black men, the frequency of Black women's experiences with police terror attunes to a lingering yet deadly impact beyond the linear, Cartesian dimensions of body counting, a frequency the article terms sequelae. Policing stretches and bends time and space as part of its (un)gendering practice. Through a brief survey of cases in Brazil and the United States, this article considers sequelae as a new arithmetic for calculating the multiple frequencies of police terror against Black women. Specifically, the article examines the case of Luana Barbosa dos Reis, a Black lesbian mother who was beaten to death by police officers in São Paulo in 2016. The article argues that her beating was an act of (un)gendering—a desire to both discipline her as a Black female/mother and erase her potential humanity by denying her desired gender identification (female). In this sense, her death was an act of anti-Black terror “in the wake.” Through a close reading of the police ledger, the police report, and the physical violence she endured, the article argues that her story teaches us the need for a new way of counting the frequency of police terror in relationship to time, space, and the Black female/mother body.

Transgender Intimate Partner Violence and Help-Seeking Patterns

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051988017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Kurdyla ◽  
Adam M. Messinger ◽  
Milka Ramirez
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Convenience Sample

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against transgender individuals is highly prevalent and impactful, and thus research is needed to examine the extent to which survivors are able to reach needed assistance and safety. To our knowledge, no U.S.-based quantitative studies have explored transgender utilization patterns and perceptions regarding a broad range of help-giving resources (HGRs). The present article fills this gap in the literature by exploring help-seeking attitudes and behaviors of a convenience sample of 92 transgender adults and 325 cisgender sexual minority adults in the United States. Results from an online questionnaire indicate that, among the subsample experiencing IPV ( n = 187), help-seeking rates were significantly higher among transgender survivors (84.1%) than cisgender sexual minority survivors (67.1%). In addition, transgender survivors most commonly sought help from friends (76.7%), followed by mental health care providers (39.5%) and family (30.2%), whereas formal HGRs such as police, IPV telephone hotlines, and survivor shelters had low utilization rates. Among all transgender participants, IPV survivors were significantly less likely than nonsurvivors to perceive family, medical doctors, and survivor hotlines as helpful HGRs for other survivors in general. Finally, transgender survivors were significantly less likely than nonsurvivors to self-report a willingness to disclose any future IPV to family. Although replication with larger, probability samples is needed, these findings suggest that friends often represent the primary line of defense for transgender survivors seeking help, and thus bystander intervention trainings and education should be adapted to address not just cisgender but also transgender IPV. Furthermore, because most formal HGR types appear to be underutilized and perceived more negatively by transgender survivors, renewed efforts are needed to tailor services, service advertising, and provider trainings to the needs of transgender communities. Directions for future research are reviewed.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular Health Score and Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Bundy ◽  
Hongyan Ning ◽  
Victor W. Zhong ◽  
Amanda E. Paluch ◽  
Donald M. Lloyd-Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Black Men ◽  
White Women ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
United States Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lifetime Risk ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Risk Of Death

Background: Long-term risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) according to levels of cardiovascular health (CVH) have not been characterized in a diverse, representative population. Methods and Results: We pooled individual-level data from 30 447 participants (mean [SD] age, 55.0 [13.9] years; 60.6% women; 31.8% black) from 7 US cohort studies. We defined CVH based on levels of 7 American Heart Association health metrics, scored as ideal (2 points), intermediate (1 point), or poor (0 points). The total CVH score was used to quantify overall CVH as high (12–14 points), moderate (9–11 points), or low (0–8 points). We used a modified Kaplan-Meier analysis, accounting for the competing risk of death, to estimate the lifetime risk of CVD (composite of incident myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, or CVD death) separately in white and black men and women free of CVD at index ages of <40, 40 to 59, and ≥60 years. High CVH was more prevalent among women compared with men, white compared with black participants, and in younger compared with older participants. During 538 477 person-years of follow-up, we observed 6546 CVD events. In women aged 40 to 59 years, those with high CVH had lower lifetime risk (95% CI) of CVD (white women, 12.6% [2.6%–22.6%]; black women, 0.0%) compared with moderate (white women, 16.6% [13.0%–20.2%]; black women, 12.7% [6.8%–18.5%]) and low (white women, 33.8% [30.6%–37.1%]; black women, 34.7% [30.4%–39.0%]) CVH strata. Patterns were similar for men and individuals <40 and ≥60 years of age. Conclusions: Higher baseline CVH at all ages in adulthood is associated with substantially lower lifetime risk for CVD compared with moderate and low CVH, in white and black men and women in the United States. Public health and healthcare efforts aimed at maintaining and restoring higher CVH throughout the life course could provide substantial benefits for the population burden of CVD.

Reimagining VAWA: Why Criminalization Is a Failed Policy and What a Non-Carceral VAWA Could Look Like

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-101
Author(s):  
Leigh Goodmark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Primary Response ◽  
Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is the signature federal legislative accomplishment of the anti-violence movement and has ensured that criminalization is the primary response to intimate partner violence in the United States. But at the time of its passage, some anti-violence activists, particularly women of color, warned that criminalization would be problematic for a number of reasons, a caution that has borne fruit in the 25 years since VAWA’s passage. This article critiques the effectiveness of criminalization as anti-domestic violence policy and imagines what a non-carceral VAWA could look like.

Mortality of Women From Intimate Partner Violence in South Africa: A National Epidemiological Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naeemah Abrahams ◽  
Rachel Jewkes ◽  
Lorna J. Martin ◽  
Shanaaz Mathews ◽  
Lisa Vetten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
National Study ◽  
Police Records

The purpose of this article is to describe mortality of women from intimate partner violence (IPV) in South Africa using a retrospective national study in a proportionate random sample of 25 mortuaries. Homicides identified from mortuary, autopsy, and police records. There were 3,797 female homicides, of which 50.3% were from IPV. The mortality rate from IPV was 8.8 per 100,000 women. Mortality from IPV were elevated among those 14 to 44 years and women of color. Blunt force injuries were more common, while strangulation or asphyxiation were less common. The national IPV mortality rate was more than twice that found in the United States. The study highlights the value of collecting reliable data across the globe to develop interventions for advocacy of which gender equity is critical.

He Said, She Said: Comparing Men’s and Women’s Descriptions of Men’s Partner Violence

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051988853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Rodriguez ◽  
Sandra K. Burge ◽  
Johanna Becho ◽  
David A. Katerndahl ◽  
Robert C. Wood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Relationship Length

More than one in three women and one in four men in the United States report victimization by intimate partner violence. Women and men often disagree about the frequency or severity of violent acts, and researchers have proposed various reasons for discordant reports. Using daily surveys and qualitative interviews, we compared men’s and women’s reports about men’s partner aggression and examined language they used to describe their experiences. Fifteen heterosexual couples in violent relationships completed an 8-week study that involved daily telephone surveys about violent behaviors and household environment; baseline and end-of-study surveys addressing predictors and outcomes of violence; and qualitative end-of-study interviews to provide perspective about their relationships. Most participants were Latinos with low income. Relationship length was 5.5 years, median. In daily surveys, both partners reported similar frequencies of men’s physical violence (4% of days), but men reported more physical violence by women than women did (8% vs. 3% of days). The qualitative analysts compared men’s and women’s accounts of male-to-female violence and observed gender-specific variations in style of reporting. Men used indirect language to describe their violent behavior, implied definitions of abuse, and justified their aggression. These findings have implications for clinical guidelines to screen and intervene with victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence in primary care and emergency settings. Future research should focus on perpetrators of violence and examine effective ways for health care providers to identify and manage their care.

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