Domestic Violence Service Providers Research Articles

Service providers’ Perception of Black Immigrant Domestic Violence Survivors’ Use of Support Services

ABSTRACT The accessibility, acceptance, and effectiveness of domestic violence (DV) services and resources are crucial for survivors, but previous research indicates that Black immigrant survivors face barriers in receiving and using support from formal services. The purpose of this study was to investigate how service providers perceive the available services and resources for survivors of domestic violence, particularly for Black immigrant survivors, and assess the adequacy of these services. This study aims to explore the following questions: 1. How do service providers perceive the adequacy and accessibility of support resources and services for Black immigrant survivors of DV in Calgary? 2. To what extent do existing services and supports meet the needs of Black immigrant survivors of DV, as perceived by service providers? A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted with 10 domestic violence service providers in Calgary who were interviewed in-depth to address these questions. The findings revealed that while numerous services and support are available for domestic violence survivors, Black immigrant survivors face barriers in accessing these services due to limited culturally relevant services, language barriers, transportation issues, financial issues, and lack of training among professionals. This research significantly contributed to the body of knowledge and recommendations to facilitate positive experiences for Black immigrant survivors receiving formal services. Overall, the study highlights the need for culturally sensitive services and training for professionals to support Black immigrant survivors of domestic violence better. The implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed in the study.

Integration of religious beliefs and faith-based resources in domestic violence services to migrant and ethnic minority communities: A scoping review

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a problem that cuts across borders and communities. There is an urgency for domestic violence service providers in multicultural societies like the United Kingdom (UK) to adapt to the diverse backgrounds of victims, survivors and perpetrators to design and provide appropriate support services and interventions. Religious beliefs are an integral part of many people’s lives and identities, while religious mediators often serve as a first point of reference for victimized parties to turn to, with both positive and negative impacts. It is currently unclear to what extent religious sensibilities are being addressed in DVA services, or how best to engage with religious beliefs and faith-based resources effectively. Recognizing this, we conducted a scoping review to identify existing approaches and practices for integrating religious beliefs and faith-based resources in domestic violence services. The review that had an international scope was conducted in English and included 30 publications. The synthesis of the evidence pointed to numerous approaches and efforts in integrating religious beliefs and faith-based resources in DVA services, differences and tensions in generalist and community-based responses, and the need for various measures in DVA services to cater to multicultural populations.

Supporting victims of domestic violence in rural and island communities during COVID-19: the impact of the pandemic on service providers in North East Scotland and Orkney

We investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence service providers in rural and island communities in North East Scotland and Orkney. Domestic abuse and violence in rural areas is typically underestimated and might be more hidden due to stigma, a surveillance culture, and the practical difficulties of accessing services. The geographical challenges of rural and remote areas in relation to domestic violence are, to some extent, further amplified in small island locations, given population sizes, terrain and separation by sea. In such communities, visits to a service organisation’s offices, or a visit by one of their staff, might publicly mark a service user out as a domestic abuse survivor. This article focuses on the move to digital and telephone provision of support in areas where broadband internet access is inconsistent and service users may live many miles from sources of support. At the same time, the move to online modes of communication was welcomed by staff in relation to offering opportunities for training and networking. There was also use of social and local media to raise awareness of the prevalence of domestic violence in these locations and to counter the myth of idyllic and abuse-free rural and island communities.

Sarah Waller's Help-Seeking Model: Understanding African American Women Intimate Partner Violence Survivors' Help-seeking Process.

African American women overwhelmingly experience the poorest outcomes resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Despite theoretical advancements, there remain a paucity of theories that explicate this marginalized population's comprehensive help-seeking process that includes the domestic violence service provision system and the Black church. We conducted 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who self-identified as African American. We utilized sensitizing concepts from the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Intersectionality theories, along with Agency framework and employed constructivist grounded theory methodology. Sarah's Help-Seeking Model emerged from the data and includes nine phases: (1) Awareness, (2) Acknowledgment, (3) Assessment, (4) Enough, (5) Enlist, (6) Escalate, (7) Reject, (8) Resolve, and (9) Restoration. This is the first theory that identifies how this vulnerable and underserved population's mental health and social support-seeking process is partially mediated by mistrust of law enforcement, disappointment in linkage to care and services, fear of death, and willingness to survive.

Victim-Survivors, Family and Domestic Violence Service Providers and Support People: Identification of Priority Issues for Research and Translation into Policy and Practice

Victim-Survivors, Family and Domestic Violence Service Providers and Support People: Identification of Priority Issues for Research and Translation into Policy and Practice

Online Guidance for Domestic Violence Survivors and Service Providers: A COVID-19 Content Analysis.

To assess COVID-19 information and services available to domestic violence service providers, survivors, and racially and culturally specific communities in the U.S., a content analysis of 80 national and state/territorial coalition websites was performed in June 2020. COVID-19 information was available on 84% of websites. National organizations provided more information for survivors related to safety and mental health and for racially and culturally specific communities. State/territorial coalitions provided more information for providers on COVID-19 and general disaster preparedness. COVID-19 and social distancing measures implemented to control it diminished help-seeking in unique ways. Greater online access to information and resources may be needed to address changing needs of survivors during disasters and emergencies.

"I Am the One That Needs Help": The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

African American women survivors of intimate partner violence disproportionately experience homicide due, in part, to the racism and racial discrimination they experience during their help-seeking process. Yet, existing scholarship neglects to examine how this multiply-marginalized population of women navigate sociocultural barriers to obtain crisis services and supports from the domestic violence service provision system. Fundamental to developing culturally-salient interventions is more fully understanding their help-seeking behavior. We conducted 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who self-identified as African American. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was employed. Sensitizing concepts from the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Intersectionality theories, along with Agency framework were conceptually bound. The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior emerged from the data. This nascent theory provides practitioners and researchers with a theoretical model to examine African American women's nuanced help-seeking efforts.

North Carolina LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative: Building Capacity to Provide Safe, Affirming Services.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is as prevalent or more so as reported by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals compared with non-LGBTQ individuals. Yet largely due to prior harmful and nonaffirming experiences with service providers, they are reluctant to seek services from domestic violence service providers (DVSP). These factors, combined with the reality that those who do seek services may not be provided with safe, affirming, and effective responses, exacerbate the impact of IPV on LGBTQ health and recovery. The North Carolina (NC) LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative (NC Initiative) was developed to increase DVSP capacity to serve LGBTQ survivors. This article describes the first four phases of the Initiative's development: (1) formative focus group research with DVSPs statewide, identifying agencies' interest in improving their responses to LGBTQ survivors; (2) Initiative launch, including funding and identification of partners; (3) development of capacity assessment tools; and (4) review of baseline capacity assessment findings. The development of tools, specifically designed to assess capacity of DVSPs to serve LGBTQ survivors, is a unique contribution as no tools existed to do so. The common capacity-building needs and data-informed recommendations identified provide a starting point for agencies expanding into LGBTQ-focused work, who may not have the benefit of grant funding, tools, or evaluators to assist. Our findings, lessons learned, and tools may be used by agencies to evaluate and inform their own practices, thereby creating safer, more affirming agencies that are capable provide effective care to meet unique needs of LGBTQ survivors.

Introduction: A Message to Those Experiencing Violence

Introduction: A Message to Those Experiencing Violence Bethany , Jacqui , Lourdes , Taniya , and Wanda So it is better to speakrememberingwe were never meant to survive —Audre Lorde, A Litany for Survival, 1978 We are five women who daily recognize we are alive. We do not take this for granted because for years we each experienced physical violence in our homes. We are the victims and survivors of domestic violence.1 We are referred to and defined by these terms in court documents; in state services; counseling; and by friends, family, and colleagues. These terms impact our own understandings of domestic violence and living after getting out of abuse. I was a victim. I am a survivor. However, these terms do not always fit how we feel or how we see our situations and the requirements to fit these terms have caused us to stumble, withdraw, or scream with despair. Victim. Survivor. The words have such distinct meanings and evoke specific states of being. Yet living with and after domestic violence never feels this concise. The timeline between victim and survivor slides across each term and any number of things can trigger us to embrace or reject either term, while we simultaneously embrace our surviving and our strengths. We met in a counseling group for women navigating life after getting out of domestic violence.2 The group had fourteen to twenty participants with two-thirds identifying as women of color.3 Most had all been in long-term [End Page 146] domestic partnerships or marriages with men, some with women,4 most of us had children, and we ranged in age from thirty-four to sixty-two. We were at various stages of getting out—some living separately from their abuser for a few months, some a year; some divorced, some in limbo, some in ongoing legal battles; some with sole custody of children, some with visitation; some in temporary housing, some in rental apartments or homes, some living in the house where abuse occurred. We all worked full time in business, customer service, finance, medical, nursing, teaching, or technology professions and earn middle income.5 The similarities in experiences of the women in this group were striking and the five of us found strength and sadness in these similarities. Strength because we recognized ourselves in each other and sadness because if such similarities exist surely things could be done to prevent or shorten the time anyone experiences domestic violence. The short form reflective narratives and prose in this colloquium were written with these emotions and impetus. This colloquium arose from our relations of commonalities and differences as five middle-income, racially diverse women (Black, Latina, multiracial, and white) who were in domestic violence relationships with men. We are women with privileges—privileges of professional job security and middle-income access to resources. Yet, while attempting to get out of domestic violence, we each experienced difficultly being seen and heard and continue to face challenges living after getting out. A cursory look at research on domestic violence service provision may provide insight to our difficulties. Although a “Third Women’s Caucus” was formed in 1978 to focus on structural barriers intersectional women of color faced in accessing domestic violence services (Allen 1985; Arnold and Perkins 1984–1985; Rasche 1988; Zambrano 1985; Williams 1981), domestic violence research has not fully embraced the necessity of an intersectional approach (Decker et al. 2019; Donnelly et al. 2005). Recent research points to the “subtle ways in which white privilege affects services to battered women of color” (Donnelly et al. 2005, 31). In reference to Black women, Kenney (2021) writes “there is limited research that examines how, if, and to what extent counselors’ cultural competence informs their interventions with African American women to encourage positive therapeutic alliances with those victims” (1). It is hard to find research focused on racially diverse women, even harder to find diverse middle-income women’s experiences of domestic violence, and most domestic violence research assumes heteronormativity. In 1987, Lettie Lockhart conducted one of the first studies looking at heterosexual domestic violence across gender, race (Black and white), class (low, [End Page 147] middle, upper), education attainment, and violence in...

Teenagers’ access to digital technologies and refuge life: balancing safety, risk and protectionism

Refuges or shelters have been central to UK domestic violence service provision since the 1970s. In 2013, UK policy transformed teenagers into primary service users of domestic violence refuges. Digital technology is central to teenagers’ lives but moving to a refuge can cause serious disruption in this respect. The study was undertaken in 20 refuges in England. Repeat qualitative interviews with 20 young people aged 13–18 and single interviews with refuge staff explored teenagers’ experiences of refuge life. Access to digital technology emerged as a central theme for this group of young people. Teenagers described difficulties in accessing digital technology and the internet in refuges and this impacted on their education, support networks and leisure. Restrictions concerning online access in refuges were attributed to safety concerns and resource shortfalls. This study found that restrictions on internet access lacked consistency across refuges and were underpinned by protectionist attitudes towards teenagers. Refuges need to seek a balance between risk and protectionism and identify opportunities to use digital technologies to increase the safety and support available to teenagers.

Exploring Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Domestic Violence Service Provision

Background: The experiences of domestic violence survivors are unique, varied, and complex, and services for those seeking support must be responsive to these diverse needs. Methods: To understand equity, diversity, and inclusivity within domestic violence service provision, surveys were completed by 70 professionals belonging to a local domestic violence collective. Results: Using an intersectional lens, thematic analysis of survey data revealed a gap in the literature specific to equity in service delivery and limited understanding and provision of equitable, diverse, and inclusive services. Barriers to inclusive service delivery included a lack of cultural considerations and cultural competency while proposed solutions to barriers identified the need for ongoing cultural competence education and training, expanded partnerships, and refined agency policies and procedures. Conclusion: Future studies should explore the impact of implementing sector and system level changes on those who provide and receive DV services while examining the role of cultural humility, safety, and ethical space within the DV environment.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service Providers' Perspectives on Nigerian Immigrants' Domestic Violence Experiences.

We investigated 13 domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault agency directors' perspectives regarding Nigerian immigrants' experiences of violence, DV-related service needs, and best strategies for providing those needs. Directors across five U.S. states were surveyed. Descriptive analyses showed the most common DV types were controlling behavior and cultural/traditional. The most important DV support needs were informational, informal, and legal. Formal support from DV agencies, support groups, and law enforcement was rated the most helpful strategies. Participants wanted to learn more about Nigerian immigrants' DV experiences. Findings highlight implications for the development of Nigerian-specific DV services.

Rural Victimization and Policing during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Rural criminal justice organizations have been overlooked by researchers and underfunded in the United States, exacerbating problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Access to victims’ services has been a longstanding issue in rural communities, but has become more difficult due to stay-at-home orders and changes in daily activities. Requirements such as social distancing, necessitated by COVID-19, have increased the risk of domestic violence and rural service providers are less prepared than those in more populated areas. Rural law enforcement agencies, on the other hand, have traditionally operated with smaller budgets and staffs—conditions that have complicated the response to the unprecedented event. Many of the recommended practices for policing during a pandemic have been more applicable to larger urban and suburban departments with more resources and officers extended across many units. The strain on rural victims’ services and law enforcement has been felt only a few months into the coronavirus pandemic, while the long-term effects are not yet known.

Recurrent Male-To-Female Partner Violence in Mkoba High Density Suburb of Gweru Town in Zimbabwe

The study aimed to establish factors responsible for repetitive intimate partner violence and its effects in high density suburbs of Zimbabwe. This qualitative study was informed by a phenomenological design to have a deeper understanding of repetitive domestic violence in Mkoba. The study relied on data from seven victims and three perpetrators of domestic violence snowballed in Mkoba suburb of Gweru. This data was complemented with literature review, observations and key informant interviews with five purposively selected domestic violence service providers. Data were thematically analysed. It emerged that repetitive intimate partner violence results from economic and patriarchal forces amid administrative inadequacies of service providers. Domestic violence recurrence results in stunted social development and infringement on women and children’s rights. The study recommends for comprehensive women empowerment and protection of measures, and awareness raising for communities to re-think anti-human rights norms. Keywords: Intimate partner, violence, domestic violence, patriarchy, repetitive

Knowledge and Perspectives of Domestic Violence Service Providers about Survivors with Mental Health Disability

Domestic violence (DV) impacts women’s mental health. DV survivors need access to services that can effectively assure safety and healing. DV service providers are positioned to provide accommodations for survivors who are experiencing mental health disability in order for survivors to fully engage with and benefit from DV-related services. Using qualitative methods, 11 focus groups were conducted with staff (n = 45) and administrators (n = 17) from five DV advocacy agencies and shelters in a Midwest state of the US to assess service providers’ needs related to working with survivors with mental health disability. Participants shared their personal experiences and challenges of working with survivors who have mental health disability. Findings point to the need to further build capacity within agencies to respond to the complex mental health needs of survivors. These findings also indicate the need for DV agencies to effectively implement integrated trauma informed care models that promote healing when working with DV survivors who have mental health disability.

Intimate Partner Violence and Women with Severe Mental Illnesses: Needs and Challenges from the Perspectives of Behavioral Health and Domestic Violence Service Providers.

Women with severe mental illnesses face high rates of violence victimization, yet little is understood about the unique needs and challenges these women present to the domestic violence and behavioral health agencies that serve them. To help address this knowledge gap, focus groups were conducted with 28 staff members from local behavioral health and domestic violence service agencies. Results from this exploratory study suggest that women with severe mental illnesses who experience intimate partner violence face additional challenges that exacerbate behavioral health and domestic violence issues and put these women at greater risk for continued victimization. DV and behavioral health agency staff experience individual-, provider-, and system-level barriers to serving this high-risk, high-need population. Recommendations and implications for domestic violence and behavioral health providers are discussed.

Intimate Partner Violence and Women with Severe Mental Illnesses: Needs and Challenges from the Perspectives of Behavioral Health and Domestic Violence Service Providers

Intimate Partner Violence and Women with Severe Mental Illnesses: Needs and Challenges from the Perspectives of Behavioral Health and Domestic Violence Service Providers

What Do Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service Providers Need to Know About Survivors to Deliver Services?

Using survey data, we investigate perspectives of 80 program directors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault agencies regarding whether gathering specific information at intake is helpful in determining survivors' needs for five service areas: legal advocacy, medical advocacy, support group, counseling, and shelter. We explore whether directors' opinions of information-type usefulness differ by type of service agency (single- or dual-focus). Findings show directors perceive the information most helpful to early service provision includes survivors' goals, experiences of violence and trauma, and health status. MANOVA results show no significant differences among directors from single- or dual-focus agencies.

Domestic Violence Service Providers’ Capacity for Supporting Transgender Women: Findings from an Australian Workshop

Previous research has consistently found that transgender women experience high levels of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). Yet, to date, no studies have explored the efficacy of training workshops aimed at increasing the capacity of service providers to meet the needs of transgender women. This paper reports on findings from one such workshop developed and run in South Australia. Workshop participants (n ¼ 25) from three domestic violence services completed both pre- and post-workshop measures of attitudes towards working with transgender women, comfort in working with transgender women and confidence in providing services to transgender women. In addition, participants responded to open-ended questions regarding terminology, and awareness of referrals related to the link between DVA and animal abuse. Statistically significant changes were identified on all measures, with workshop attendees reporting more positive attitudes, greater comfort and greater confidence after completing the workshop. Analysis of open-ended responses found that attendees developed a better understanding of both appropriate terminology, and referrals for women who present to services with animal companions. We conclude with suggestions for how programmes and services may become more welcoming and inclusive of transgender women experiencing DVA.

Revictimized Adult Women: Perceptions of Mental Health Functioning and Associated Services

In this study, using a sample of adult women (N = 418) from various environments, mental health outcomes and perceptions about different types of support following childhood and adulthood sexual and physical violence were assessed. The respondents were from three locations: general community, state prison, and sexual assault and domestic violence service providers. A cluster analysis based on victimization experiences was conducted; subsequent analyses showed that women who endured more types of abuse had more self-reported mental health difficulties. Somewhat paradoxically, women who utilized more therapeutic services held more negative perceptions of their mental health functioning, while use of tangible services had no significant association. Those who found therapeutic services helpful had significantly higher self-reported concurrent mental health functioning.