Addressing Intimate Partner Violence With Latina Women: A Call for Research

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Alvarez ◽  
Gina Fedock

Latina women, especially those who are immigrants, have an increased vulnerability to intimate partner violence, yet they also have a low rate of using formal services (i.e. health care and legal services). Existing research focused on Latina women’s help seeking for intimate partner violence has identified multiple factors, such as the presence of children, cultural values, and type of victimization, that influence women’s formal help seeking. Immigrant Latina women in particular commonly report many barriers to formal services; however, heterogeneity and nuanced patterns of help seeking exist across Latina survivors. While research has focused mainly on understanding factors that are barriers to help seeking by Latina women, there is an overwhelming dearth of research about interventions and factors that facilitate effective help-seeking experiences for Latina IPV survivors. In an effort to improve Latina IPV survivors’ access to services, we examine the gaps in research across dimensions of access to care (i.e. availability, affordability, accessibility, accommodation, and acceptability of services). Research within each of these facets of access to services for Latina survivors is lacking. This brief commentary illustrates the sparse data to inform evidence based interventions for Latina IPV survivors and is a call for research in order to determine best practices and to move the knowledge base from the vast descriptive base to evidence-based, culturally appropriate and acceptable interventions.

2020 ◽  
pp. 107780122096386
Author(s):  
Rachel J. Voth Schrag ◽  
Kristen Ravi ◽  
Sarah Robinson ◽  
Elyssa Schroeder ◽  
Diana Padilla-Medina

Engaging with formal intimate partner violence (IPV) services can buffer the impacts of violence and reduce future risk. Many survivors do not access or engage with such services. However, much of our knowledge related to the experiences and perspectives of IPV survivors comes from samples drawn from those seeking formal services. Qualitative interviews with 23 survivors of violence who are not currently engaged with formal IPV services were conducted, focused on the process and outcomes of choosing to seek help. Themes emerged within the categories of formal help-seeking experiences, informal help seeking, and recommendations for providers.


2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nawal H. Ammar ◽  
Leslye E. Orloff ◽  
Mary Ann Dutton ◽  
Giselle Aguilar-Hass

This paper addresses the experiences of battered immigrant Latina women when contacting police for assistance in attempting to reduce, end or flee violence. The research consists of interviews with 230 battered immigrant Latina women experiencing violence. The analysis examined the factors contributing to the extent, frequency and readiness of the women to call the police. The police response to and the effect of seeking help by battered immigrant Latina women on arrest of the perpetrator were also explored. The results show that the number of times and the frequency of contacting the police among battered immigrant Latina women was far less than would be expected based on their experiences with intimate partner violence. The factors which led women to call the police were mostly related to the stability of their immigration status, their children's exposure to violence, the women's region of origin and the frequency of domestic violence. The police response to this group of women demonstrates a lack of cultural sensitivity, and produces concerns regarding language accessibility and low rates of arrest. The paper concludes with recommendations about the need to better incorporate immigration as an additional factor in understanding intimate partner violence and help-seeking from police. We propose more thorough diversity training of police focusing particularly on immigrant battered women; the availability of interpreters for such calls within the immigrant communities; educating of the police about appropriate culturally based services available in their communities and better understanding of immigration options for battered immigrant women, including the protections afforded by the Violence Against Women Act.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solveig Lelaurain ◽  
Pierluigi Graziani ◽  
Grégory Lo Monaco

Abstract. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global social concern: many women are affected by this phenomenon and by the difficulty of putting an end to it. This review of the literature aims to identify help-seeking facilitating and inhibiting factors in response to IPV. It was carried out on the PsycINFO and Medline databases using the following keywords: “intimate partner violence,” “domestic violence,” “help-seeking,” and “help-seeking barrier.” Ninety out of 771 eligible publications were included on the basis of inclusion criteria. The results highlight that (1) research on this phenomenon is very recent and underdeveloped in Europe, (2) theoretical and conceptual frameworks are poorly developed and extended, (3) there is a significant impact of violence characteristics (e.g., severity, type) on help-seeking, and (4) help-seeking is a complex and multifactorial process influenced by a wide range of factors simultaneously individual and social. To conclude, these findings lead us to propose a psychosocial conceptualization of the help-seeking process by indicating how the levels of explanation approach in social psychology can be applied to this field of research in order to increase our understanding of this phenomenon.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene Walker ◽  
Kimina Lyall ◽  
Dilkie Silva ◽  
Georgia Craigie ◽  
Richelle Mayshak ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Adam M. Messinger

Many nations today recognize intimate partner violence (IPV) in romantic-sexual relationships as a major public health threat, yet not all victims are treated equally. Contrary to myths, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and queer (LGBTQ) people are more likely to experience IPV than heterosexual-cisgender people. Unfortunately, LGBTQ victims face major barriers to reaching safety in a world that too often stigmatizes their identities and overlooks their relationships when forming victim services and policies. Offering a roadmap forward, LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence: Lessons for Policy, Practice, and Research is the first book to synthesize nearly all existing research from the past forty years on this pressing issue. At once highly organized and engaging, it provides evidence-based tips for academic and nonacademic audiences alike.


Author(s):  
Heather Phillips ◽  
Eleanor Lyon ◽  
Elizabeth E. Krans ◽  
Carole Warshaw ◽  
Judy C. Chang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Birna Thorvaldsdottir ◽  
Sigridur Halldorsdottir ◽  
Rhonda M. Johnson ◽  
Sigrun Sigurdardottir ◽  
Denise Saint Arnault

Abstract Background Even though traumatization is linked to substantially reduced health-related quality of life, help-seeking and service utilization among trauma survivors are very low. To date, there has not been available in Iceland a culturally attuned, self-reported measure on help-seeking barriers after trauma. This study aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the English version of Barriers to Help-Seeking for Trauma (BHS-TR) scale into the Icelandic language and context. Methods The BHS-TR was culturally adapted following well-established and rigorous guidelines, including forward-backward translation, expert committee review, and pretesting through cognitive interviews. Two rounds of interviews with 17 female survivors of intimate partner violence were conducted using a think-aloud technique and verbal probing. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, a combination of deductive and inductive approaches. Results Issues with the BHS-TR that were uncovered in the study were classified into four categories related to general design, translation, cultural aspects, and post-trauma context. The trauma-specific issues emerged as a new category identified in this study and included concepts specific to trauma experiences. Therefore, modifications were of great importance—resulting in the scale becoming more trauma-informed. Revisions made to address identified issues improved the scale, and the process led to an Icelandic version, which appears to be semantically and conceptually equivalent to the original version; additionally, the results provided evidence of content validity. Conclusions As a cognitive interview study, it adds to the growing cognitive interviewing methodology literature. Furthermore, the results provide essential insights into the self-report response process of trauma survivors, highlighting the significance of making health-related research instruments trauma-informed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110001
Author(s):  
Ran Hu ◽  
Jia Xue ◽  
Xiying Wang

In China, women who domestically relocate from rural or less developed regions to major cities are at a higher risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) than their non-migrant counterparts. Few studies have focused on Chinese domestic migrant women’s help-seeking for IPV and their use of different sources of support. The present study aimed to identify factors that influence migrant women’s help-seeking decisions. In addition, we also examined factors that contribute to migrant women’s use of diverse sources of support for IPV. A sample of 280 migrant women victimized by IPV in the past year at the time of the survey was drawn from a larger cross-sectional study conducted in four major urban cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Using a multinomial logistic regression model and a zero-inflated Poisson model, we found that factors influencing migrant women’s help-seeking decisions and their use of diverse sources of support included socioeconomic factors, IPV type, relationship-related factors, knowledge of China’s first anti-Domestic Violence Law, and perception of the effectiveness of current policies. We discuss implications for future research and interventions.


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