The Lived Experience of Men in Chaotic and Violent Relationships

Because a substantial proportion of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence is experienced at a young age, primary prevention of these forms of violence must begin early. Prevention efforts should take into consideration that female sexual violence and stalking victimization is perpetrated predominately by men and that a substantial proportion of male sexual violence and stalking victimization (including rape, unwanted sexual contact, noncontact unwanted sexual experiences, and stalking) also is perpetrated by men. CDC seeks to prevent these forms of violence with strategies that address known risk factors for perpetration and by changing social norms and behaviors by using bystander and other prevention strategies. In addition, primary prevention of intimate partner violence is focused on the promotion of healthy relationship behaviors and other protective factors, with the goal of helping adolescents develop these positive behaviors before their first relationships. The early promotion of healthy relationships while behaviors are still relatively modifiable makes it more likely that young persons can avoid violence in their relationships.

<p>Although intimate partner violent men have been found to be different from non-violent men on a number of variables, little research has compared partner violent men to men who engage in violence outside of relationships. The present research explored the similarities and differences between men with and without a history of physical partner violence within a sample of high risk violent men who attended New Zealands' High Risk Special Treatment Units. Pre-treatment psychopathology, measured on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III;Millon, Davis, & Millon, 1997) was compared between these two groups and few differences were found. Comparisons on criminal history, criminal risk and change in dynamic risk also revealed no significant differences between these two groups. This research also explored whether similar or different psychopathology subtypes exist among men with and without a history of intimate partner violence. A latent profile analysis was conducted to examine psychopathology subtypes, and the proportions of men with and without a history of partner violence within each subtype were compared. The results showed that there were similar proportions of men from both groups within each of the subtypes, suggesting that men with and without a history of intimate partner violence share similar psychopathology profiles. The likelihood of reconviction or reimprisonment within 1 year of release from prison was also comapred between men with and without a history of intimate partner violence. The two groups were found to be reconvicted at a similar rate for any offence, violent offences, and were at a similar likelihood of being re-imprisoned. To conclude, the results suggest some similarity between men with and without a history of intimate partner violence, but future research should explore a wider range of factors that may distinguish between these two groups and inform whether men who engage in partner violence are unique from men who engage in other forms of violence.</p>

<p>Although intimate partner violent men have been found to be different from non-violent men on a number of variables, little research has compared partner violent men to men who engage in violence outside of relationships. The present research explored the similarities and differences between men with and without a history of physical partner violence within a sample of high risk violent men who attended New Zealands' High Risk Special Treatment Units. Pre-treatment psychopathology, measured on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III;Millon, Davis, & Millon, 1997) was compared between these two groups and few differences were found. Comparisons on criminal history, criminal risk and change in dynamic risk also revealed no significant differences between these two groups. This research also explored whether similar or different psychopathology subtypes exist among men with and without a history of intimate partner violence. A latent profile analysis was conducted to examine psychopathology subtypes, and the proportions of men with and without a history of partner violence within each subtype were compared. The results showed that there were similar proportions of men from both groups within each of the subtypes, suggesting that men with and without a history of intimate partner violence share similar psychopathology profiles. The likelihood of reconviction or reimprisonment within 1 year of release from prison was also comapred between men with and without a history of intimate partner violence. The two groups were found to be reconvicted at a similar rate for any offence, violent offences, and were at a similar likelihood of being re-imprisoned. To conclude, the results suggest some similarity between men with and without a history of intimate partner violence, but future research should explore a wider range of factors that may distinguish between these two groups and inform whether men who engage in partner violence are unique from men who engage in other forms of violence.</p>

Violences sexuelles entre partenaires intimes : caractéristiques et enjeux cliniques

Toward a Theory of Behaviour Change in Social Marketing

Background Gender-Based (GB) intimate partner violence is a social and public health issue globally. Several risks of violence related to male sexual partners’ perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) following the disclosure of their female intimate partners’ HIV + status have been reported. No research has been conducted on male sexual partner’s perspectives of perpetrating IPV following their female intimate partners’ disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive status as a risk factor for the perpetration of IPV in Ghana. Objective The objective of this study is to explore and describe male sexual partners’ views or perspectives of perpetrating IPV following their female intimate partners’ disclosure of being HIV positive in Ghana. Methods Interpretive phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyse data from a purposive sample of 18 Male participants whose female intimate relations informed them of being HIV + in Ghana. The sample population was taken from Ghana because such research has been reported elsewhere but none has been done in Ghana. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect the data. The interview guide covered topics such as background information, participants’ reaction to HIV positive disclosure, lived experiences of participants, and Participants’ understanding of different forms of IPV. Results The findings of this study reveal five main themes that emerged from the interviews which include views on the perpetration of emotional, psychological, and verbal abuse; views on the perpetration of sexual deprivation; views on the perpetration of social isolation; views on the perpetration of financial abuse and views on escalated perpetration of physical abuse. Conclusion From the data, HIV positive status disclosure served as a risk factor for different forms of GB IPV against HIV positive women in Ghana, thus making this group more vulnerable and exposed to more GB IPV. Strategies to prevent the perpetration of IPV against women newly diagnosed as HIV positive are needed. We recommend screening all newly diagnosed HIV-positive women for abuse as an additional prevention strategy for IPV associated with disclosure of positive HIV status. KEY MESSAGES HIV positive status disclosure serves as a risk for the perpetration of IPV. Men are predisposed to violence upon hearing that their female heterosexual intimate partners are HIV positive. HIV infection information is distressful to receive from an intimate partner.

IntroductionViolence against women perpetrated by their intimate partners is a social problem with adverse health consequences. Intimate partner violence has acute and chronic as well as direct and indirect health consequences related to physical, psychological, and reproductive health. Studies exploring relationships of intimate partner violence and health consequences are rare in Nepal. Hence, this study aimed to examine the relationships between intimate partner violence and sexually transmitted infections.MethodThis study used data from the nationally representative Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2011, which collected data through a two-stage complex sampling technique. Women 15–49 years were asked about domestic violence including intimate partner violence. For this analysis, 3,084 currently married women were included. Questions about domestic violence were adapted from the Conflict Tactic Scale. Relationships between different forms of physical and sexual intimate partner violence and reported signs and symptoms of sexually transmitted infections were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis.ResultsApproximately 15% of currently young and middle-aged married women experienced some form of violence in the last 12 months. About one in four women who were exposed to physical and sexual intimate partner violence reported sexually transmitted infection in the last 12 months. The odds of getting sexually transmitted infection were 1.88 [95% CI:1.29, 2.73] times higher among women exposed to any form of intimate partner violence in the last 12 months compared to women not exposed to any form of intimate partner violence.ConclusionIntimate partner violence was common among currently married women in Nepal. Being exposed to intimate partner violence and getting signs and symptoms of sexually transmitted disease were found to be associated. Integration of intimate partner violence prevention and reproductive health programs is needed to reduce the burden of sexually transmitted disease among currently married women.

IntroductionSexual violence victimization in the context of intimate partner among young women has been less addressed than other types of dating violence.MethodsThe aim was to describe the prevalence of intimate partner sexual violence victimization among heterosexual female university students in Spain and to explore the presence of polyvictimization. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving female university students (n = 1064) from 10 degrees at a public university in northern Spain in 2018. Five types of intimate partner violence victimization were analyzed (coercion, detachment, humiliation, sexual violence, and physical violence).ResultsOf the female university students, 20.8% experienced intimate partner sexual violence victimization. Among victims of intimate partner sexual violence, sexual debut before the age of 16, having had three or more partners, having interrupted that violent relationship, and having a family history of intimate partner violence were more frequent. Victimization of intimate partner sexual violence was significantly associated with other forms of intimate partner violence, especially coercion and detachment.ConclusionsIntimate partner sexual violence victimization is frequent among female university students and usually does not appear on its own. Rather, it occurs in the context of other types of intimate partner violence, especially psychological violence.Policy ImplicationsAt the beginning of adulthood, many young women attend university and many of them are suffering IPSV, making this an appropriate environment to address this important problem through various actions such as: information campaigns to improve the recognition of abusive behavior or the creation of care offices as a nearby resource for university women who are victims of violence.

Background and Aims: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a silent pandemic, associated with 10% of all violent deaths and 290,000 years lost to morbidity. Intimate partner violence has been explicitly associated with not only health consequences of gynaecological and psychological nature among women but also deaths. The sexual form of intimate partner violence which increases in intensity during pregnancy is associated with higher risk of morbidity. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner sexual violence during pregnancy among pregnant women in Lamwo district, Northern Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done at 6 facilities in Lamwo district from January-February 2022. Stratified and simple random sampling were used to sample 260 pregnant women out of a pregnant women population size of 810 women who sought antenatal care on a monthly basis from health facilities. The structured interviews were used for data collection. Data was entered in Epi Info version 7.0 and analysed in SPSS version 25 using the log-binomial model. A multivariate analysis was done. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The results showed a 24% prevalence of IPSV with 73% of pregnant women denying the use of measures to protect them from sexually transmitted infections. Pregnant women who were carrying their first, second, and third pregnancies were more likely to experience IPSV than women with more than 3 pregnancies (aPR 5.307 [CI = 1.965 -14.335], p = 0.001). In addition, women whose spouses had a habit of engaging in fights, had ever physically abused them, and had a preference for the gender of children demonstrated an increased prevalence of IPSV. Conclusion: Out of every 10 pregnant women in the sample, two of them were sexually violated. The lower the gravidity and parity, the more likely to experience IPSV. Gravidity correlated more with IPSV than any other IPSV factor. The findings from this study may inform health interventions aimed at reducing intimate partner sexual violence.

Cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) detected, and COVID-19 associated mortality increased since the first case was confirmed in Uganda. While adherence to WHO-recommended measures to disrupt COVID-19 transmission has since been implemented, it has been reported to be sub-optimal. An increase in intimate partner violence (IPV) cases was linked to enforcement of COVID-19 lockdowns and other preventive measures especially in informal settings of Kampala. We determined the association between adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and intimate partner violence among women dwelling in informal settings in Kampala, Uganda. Between July and October 2020, we conducted a three-month prospective cohort study of 148 women living in informal settlements of Kampala during the COVID-19 lockdown and easing of restrictive measures. Participants were surveyed at baseline, at 3-weeks and 6-weeks (endline). The dependent variable was adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures (remained adherent vs poorly adherent) between baseline and endline surveys. This composite outcome variable was computed from implementing all four variables: social distancing, wearing face masks, frequent hand washing and use of hand sanitizers at baseline and endline surveys. The key independent variable was IPV measured as experiencing at least one form of physical, emotional, or sexual IPV. Covariates were age, education, marital status, household size, occupation, and having problems getting food. Adjusted logistic regression analyses tested the independent association between adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and intimate partner violence. Among 148 respondents, the mean age (SD) was 32.9 (9.3) years, 58.1% were exposed to at least one form of IPV, and 78.2% had problems getting food. Overall, 10.1% were poorly adherent to COVID-19 preventive measures during the first COVID-19 wave. After controlling for potential confounders, remaining adherent to COVID-19 preventive measures were more likely to experience intimate partner violence when compared to women who were poorly adherent to COVID-19 preventive measures during the first COVID-19 wave in Uganda [OR 3.87 95%CI (1.09, 13.79)]. Proportions of women in informal settlements of Kampala experiencing at least one form of IPV during the first COVID-19 wave is substantial. Remaining adherent to preventive measures for COVID-19 transmission may increase IPV exposure risk among women living in informal settlements in Kampala. Contextualizing COVID-19 interventions to the needs of marginalized and vulnerable women and girls in informal settings of Kampala is warranted. Processes to integrated violence prevention and response strategies into the Uganda COVID-19 prevention strategy are underscored.

Background: Intimate partner violence, especially during pregnancy is an important public health and human rights issue associated with fatal and non-fatal adverse health outcomes for the pregnant woman and her baby. The paucity of data, seeming urgency, and significance of this topic warrants the attention of all stakeholders of health and relationship matters Objective: This study aims to determine the magnitude of intimate partner violence among pregnant mothers and associated factors Since there is inadequate data and intimate partner violence is common in this study area, we needed to study this topic. Materials and Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was carried out from Oct 15/2020 –Dec 15/2020. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The collected data were entered into Epi Info version 7.2.1.0 and then exported into the statistical package for social science version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were conducted. Bivariate analysis was done to select candidate variables for multivariate analysis. Finally, variables that had significant associations with intimate violence during pregnancy were identified based on p-value<0.05 and AOR with a 95% CI. Result: About 44.3% (95% CI 44.2-44.4) of pregnant women had faced at least one form of intimate partner violence during the current pregnancy. Psychological violence (29.1%), sexual violence (24.4%), and physical violence (23.9%) were the forms of violence the respondents encountered. Respondents who were primary educated (AOR 2.99, 95%CI 1.23–7.25), secondary educated (AOR 2.36, 1.047-5.34), respondents in the age group of 26-34years (AOR 0.20 95%CI 0.065–0.64), and age group of >=35years (AOR 0.26, 95%CI 0.09-0.77). Respondents with a history of miscarriage, abortion and/ stillbirth (AOR 0.5,95%CI 0.32-0.78), respondents who accepted their partner had the right to beat them(AOR 1.83, 95% CI 1.82-2.82), respondents whose partners were in the age group of 40-49 years(AOR 2.22,95%CI 1.10-4.47), tertiary educated (AOR 0.38, 95%CI 0.20-0.71), had a history of fighting with other men (AOR 1.77 95%CI 1.14- 2.75) were factors significantly associated with IPV during pregnancy. Conclusion: The prevalence of intimate violence in the Negele Borena town selected public health facility is among the highest. Policymakers need to consider screening for IPV in the antenatal care service as one component. It is also better to include IPV screening as one component of the community health extension package Keywords: Intimate partner violence, pregnancy, Negele Borena, Oromia,

Intimate partner violence, firearms, and sleep disturbances: The influence of coercive control and partner firearm ownership

Women veterans are at high risk for intimate partner violence (IPV), which has previously been defined as psychological, physical, or sexual violence from an intimate partner. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently added stalking to its uniform definition of IPV, but little is known about the occurrence of stalking victimization among women veterans who experience IPV, its overlap with other forms of IPV, and its contribution to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology among this population. Lifetime intimate partner stalking, as well as physical, sexual, and psychological IPV, was assessed as part of a larger study of women veterans who completed a 2014 Web-based survey (75% participation rate). Women with a history of IPV or stalking (55%, n = 225) completed the PTSD Checklist-5 to assess PTSD symptoms related to IPV and items assessing military sexual trauma and combat exposure. Among 225 women veterans with a history of IPV, approximately 64% (n = 145) reported lifetime stalking by an intimate partner. Women who experienced both stalking and other forms of IPV were 4.2 times more likely to experience probable PTSD than were women who experienced IPV without stalking, odds ratio (OR) = 4.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.91, 9.13]. After adjusting for military sexual trauma and lifetime sum of other types of IPV, women who experienced partner stalking remained 2.5 times more likely than women without a history of partner stalking to experience probable PTSD, OR = 2.49, 95% CI [1.07, 5.78]. Stalking from an intimate partner is a common form of IPV experienced by women veterans that strongly contributes to risk for probable PTSD. In addition to other forms of IPV, identification and treatment efforts should attend to stalking victimization among this rapidly growing population. (PsycINFO Database Record

Failure to find a behavioral surrogate for STD incidence--what does it really mean?

BackgroundIn Japan and elsewhere, there is major concern over individuals who are uninterested in health and reluctant to change their health behaviors. While previous studies have investigated cognitive and behavioral characteristics in this population, there is limited evidence on whether they recognize the significance of health, nor is it clear how to motivate necessary behavior changes. This study identified specific characteristics of positive psychological and behavioral change in individuals who were uninterested in health, then constructed a model for their behavior change process, as advised via professional health expertise in the Japanese context.MethodsThis qualitative survey study was conducted among 86 health professionals (public health nurses, registered dieticians, and city/prefectural employees). These participants reported their demographic characteristics (gender, age, job, and length of service) and entered free descriptions concerning perceived cognitive and behavior changes in individuals who were uninterested in health. Finally, we thematically analyzed the contents on psychological/behavioral change and constructed a thematic map.ResultsWe obtained 409 relative descriptive codes and four main themes, including (1) Health awareness: Recognize the significance of health via personal experience and/or illness among family/friends; (2) Psychological readiness: Preparative psychological state toward health behavior; (3) Gateway behavior: Precursory behavior leading to health behavior; and (4) Health behavior: Traditional healthy lifestyle behavior, with 45 subthemes. We constructed the abovementioned thematic map according to the Transtheoretical Model. Herein, health awareness may catalyze changes in health behavior, while changes in both psychological readiness (e.g., new interest in health behaviors and attitude toward appearance) and gateway behaviors (e.g., new points of discussion and information gathering) may arise before changes in health behavior.ConclusionsThis study clarified positive cognitive and behavior changes in individuals who were uninterested in health and elucidated their behavior change process. As behavior changes in such individuals tend to be rigid, they are often left behind by health care systems and programs. In this regard, we identified pertinent cognitive and behavioral characteristics during the behavior change process and constructed a relevant model. These findings should be useful in developing interventions that can motivate the desire for behavior change.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1265/ehpm.22-00072.