scholarly journals Intimate Partner Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of the Phenomenon from Victims’ and Help Professionals’ Perspectives

Author(s):  
Giulia Lausi ◽  
Alessandra Pizzo ◽  
Clarissa Cricenti ◽  
Michela Baldi ◽  
Rita Desiderio ◽  
...  

Social isolation is considered one of the main risk factors leading to intimate partner violence episodes; this evidence also emerged during the application of stay-at-home policies to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, we aimed to collect data on intimate partner violence over the last year, comparing data reported by victims with data collected by help professionals. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, through keywords related to abuse, pandemic and containment measures, 3174 articles were identified for screening. After full-text reading and risk of bias analysis, 19 studies were included, and a thematic synthesis was conducted according to two categories: “studies with victims” and “studies with help professionals”. The results of the present review showed that there were significant differences between the data provided by victims and the data collected by health care facilities and police departments; additionally, differences among different forms and severity of victimization emerged. The results have been discussed according to the literature; in particular, we reflected on how containment measures have apparently made it more difficult for victims to report, thus making the existence of the dark figure of crime even more salient.

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Abayomi Olusola Ayodapo ◽  
Olutoyin O Sekoni ◽  
Michael C Asuzu

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem. Despite being a phenomenon that occurs globally, few studies have reviewed the issue of intimate partner violence among pregnant women as it relates to disclosure of abuse. This study sets out to determine the prevalence and pattern of disclosure of intimate partner violence among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Oyo East Local Government of Oyo State. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study among pregnant women aged 18–49 years. A total of 350 pregnant women in the sole secondary health care facility and 3 out of the 18 primary health care facilities randomly selected by balloting were consecutively recruited. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire adapted from the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence was used to collect data. Data were analysed with SPSS® version 16. Results: Of 252 (72.0%) women who had been exposed to violence by their partner in pregnancy, 72 (28.6%) disclosed their IPV experience. The experience was disclosed to relatives, friends and religious leaders. Of the 72 that disclosed their IPV experience, 31 (43.1%) reported for the purpose of seeking redress through religious or local leaders, healthcare professionals and law enforcement agencies. Conclusion: Intimate partner violence is common among pregnant women, but a culture of silence still persists, making identification of the exposed difficult. These data may encourage healthcare providers to include screening for IPV in the curriculum of the antenatal care. (Full text of the research articles are available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2017; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2016.1272245


2021 ◽  
pp. 143-160
Author(s):  
Martta October ◽  
Marianne Mela ◽  
Suvi Nipuli ◽  
Jarmo Houtsonen

Finland is committed to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The Convention entered into force in Finland on August 1st 2015. The Current Government Programme of the Prime Minister also includes several initiatives to better combat domestic violence. In 2020, 10,800 incidents of domestic violence and intimate partner violence offences were reported to the authorities. The number of reported offences decreased by 1,2 per cent from 2019. Among all the adult victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence, 75.2 per cent were women, whereas 78.1 per cent of suspects were men. In 2020, there were in total 29 shelters for victims of domestic violence in Finland. There are several NGOs supporting victims of domestic violence and providing perpetrator programmes in Finland. When discussing the good practices of cooperation, ‘Anchor’ ('Ankkuri') teams shall be mentioned. 'Anchor' teams are multi-agency teams working in several police departments in Finland. These teams often consist of police officers, social workers, and psychiatric nurses. The Anchor model supports the well-being of children and adolescents and prevents juvenile crime and violent radicalisation.


Crisis ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenora Olson ◽  
Frank Huyler ◽  
Arthur W Lynch ◽  
Lynne Fullerton ◽  
Deborah Werenko ◽  
...  

Suicide is among the leading causes of death in the United States, and in women the second leading cause of injury death overall. Previous studies have suggested links between intimate partner violence and suicide in women. We examined female suicide deaths to identify and describe associated risk factors. We reviewed all reports from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator for female suicide deaths occurring in New Mexico from 1990 to 1994. Information abstracted included demographics, mechanism of death, presence of alcohol/drugs, clinical depression, intimate partner violence, health problems, and other variables. Annual rates were calculated based on the 1990 census. The New Mexico female suicide death rate was 8.2/100,000 persons per year (n = 313), nearly twice the U. S. rate of 4.5/100,000. Non-Hispanic whites were overrepresented compared to Hispanics and American Indians. Decedents ranged in age from 14 to 93 years (median = 43 years). Firearms accounted for 45.7% of the suicide deaths, followed by ingested poisons (29.1%), hanging (10.5%), other (7.7%), and inhaled poisons (7.0%). Intimate partner violence was documented in 5.1% of female suicide deaths; in an additional 22.1% of cases, a male intimate partner fought with or separated from the decedent immediately preceding the suicide. Nearly two-thirds (65.5%) of the decedents had alcohol or drugs present in their blood at autopsy. Among decedents who had alcohol present (34.5%), blood alcohol levels were far higher among American Indians compared to Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites (p = .01). Interpersonal conflict was documented in over 25% of cases, indicating that studies of the mortality of intimate partner violence should include victims of both suicide and homicide deaths to fully characterize the mortality patterns of intimate partner violence.


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 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Gracia ◽  
Marisol Lila ◽  
Faraj A. Santirso

Abstract. Attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) are increasingly recognized as central to understanding of this major social and public health problem, and guide the development of more effective prevention efforts. However, to date this area of research is underdeveloped in western societies, and in particular in the EU. The present study aims to provide a systematic review of quantitative studies addressing attitudes toward IPVAW conducted in the EU. The review was conducted through Web of Science, PsychINFO, Medline, EMBASE, PUBMED, and the Cochrane Library, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. This review aimed to identify empirical studies conducted in the EU, published in English in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2018, and analyzing attitudes toward IPVAW. A total of 62 of 176 eligible articles were selected according to inclusion criteria. Four sets of attitudes toward IPVAW were identified as the main focus of the studies: legitimation, acceptability, attitudes toward intervention, and perceived severity. Four main research themes regarding attitudes toward IPVAW emerged: correlates of attitudes, attitudes as predictors, validation of scales, and attitude change interventions. Although interest in this research area has been growing in recent years, the systematic review revealed important gaps in current knowledge on attitudes toward IPVAW in the EU that limits its potential to inform public policy. The review outlines directions for future study and suggests that to better inform policy making, these future research efforts would benefit from an EU-level perspective.


2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa L. Beeble ◽  
Deborah Bybee ◽  
Cris M. Sullivan

While research has found that millions of children in the United States are exposed to their mothers being battered, and that many are themselves abused as well, little is known about the ways in which children are used by abusers to manipulate or harm their mothers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that perpetrators use children in a variety of ways to control and harm women; however, no studies to date have empirically examined the extent of this occurring. Therefore, the current study examined the extent to which survivors of abuse experienced this, as well as the conditions under which it occurred. Interviews were conducted with 156 women who had experienced recent intimate partner violence. Each of these women had at least one child between the ages of 5 and 12. Most women (88%) reported that their assailants had used their children against them in varying ways. Multiple variables were found to be related to this occurring, including the relationship between the assailant and the children, the extent of physical and emotional abuse used by the abuser against the woman, and the assailant's court-ordered visitation status. Findings point toward the complex situational conditions by which assailants use the children of their partners or ex-partners to continue the abuse, and the need for a great deal more research in this area.


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