Female Victims Of Domestic Violence Research Articles

Breaking the Silence: Exploring Peritraumatic Distress and Negative Emotions in Male and Female Physical Domestic Violence Victims.

Domestic violence is a widespread problem affecting individuals, families, and communities worldwide. Peritraumatic distress is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems among victims, but research on men's experiences is limited. We analyzed data from 48 physical domestic violence victims (16 males and 32 females) to compare their levels of peritraumatic distress and negative emotions, and to examine the types of aggressors they faced. We used descriptives to summarize sample characteristics and Peritraumatic Distress Inventory scores and used statistical tests such as Mann-Whitney U, Shapiro-Wilk, Levene's test, contingency tables, and chi-square to investigate differences and associations between variables. Female victims of domestic violence had significantly higher scores on the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory than male victims and experienced significantly higher levels of negative emotions than male victims, including impotence/inability to react, sadness, anger/frustration, loss of control, fear, guilt, and shame. Husbands and domestic partners were the most frequent aggressors against female victims, while wives and ex-wives were the most frequent aggressors against male victims. In addition, partners were found to be the most frequent type of aggressor in the sample. Descriptive statistics, box plots, and scatter plots were used to provide a clear picture of the sample characteristics. Female victims of domestic violence reported higher levels of peritraumatic distress and negative emotions compared to men victims. Partners were the most frequent type of aggressor in the sample.

Knowledge and attitudes of rural healthcare providers regarding domestic violence against women: a systematicreview.

Specific types of violence such as intimate partner sexual violence and intimate partner homicide occur more frequently in rural areas. This study aimed to systematically review the literature on the knowledge and attitudes of rural healthcare providers regarding cases of domestic violence against women. Systematic review developed at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. We conducted an electronic search of six databases, which only included observational studies, regardless of the year, language, or country of publication, except for studies that used secondary data and were exclusively qualitative. Two reviewers performed the selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment using a specific Joanna Briggs Institute tool. Six studies met the inclusion criteria. All the studies had a low risk of bias. Approximately 38% of these professionals identified injuries caused by violence in patients. When asked about knowing the correct attitude to take in cases of confirmed violence, between 12% and 64% of rural healthcare providers answered positively; most of them would refer to specialized institutions and promote victim empowerment and counseling. The number of professionals with an educational background in the field ranged from 16% to 98%. The evident disparity across studies shows that some professionals have suboptimal knowledge and require training to adopt the correct attitude when identifying female victims of domestic violence in clinical practice. This systematic review was registered in the Open Science Framework Database under the registration http://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/B7Q6S.

Self-Actualization and Anxiety in Early Adult Female Victims of Domestic Violence During Childhood

<p><em>Domestic violence (DV) is one of the forms of violence that affects not only adults but also children. Experiencing or witnessing DV in childhood can have long-term psychological impacts, such as the development of an anxious personality in adulthood. As individuals grow, they need to fulfill specific needs to achieve self-actualization, including safety needs. Individuals with high anxiety are most likely to have a threatened sense of security. Thus, the anxiety is predicted to be related to self-actualization. This research aims to investigate the relationship between self-actualization and anxiety in adult women who were victims of DV during childhood, with a total of 240 early adult women. The data analysis method is quantitative correlational. The findings revealed a correlation coefficient of -0.523 with a significance value of 0.000 (p < 0.05), indicating a negative correlation between self-actualization and anxiety in early adult women who experienced DV during childhood.</em></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>Keywords: </em></strong><em>Anxiety, Self-Actualization, Domestic Violence</em></p>

Safety Including Health Factors Contribute the Female Victims to Escape from Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Analysis

Domestic violence is one of the public health problems, and most of the victims are female. This vulnerable group can no longer bear the suffering caused by the atrocities committed by their husbands. The various abuses that the victim experiences not only impact their health but can also threaten the level of safety of everyone in the family system. This research aims to identify the safety factors including health aspect that contribute to the female victim’s violent actions being separate from their husbands. In line with the qualitative approach, in-depth interviews with 15 female informants of domestic violence were conducted around the state of Penang and this analysis using NVIVO 8 software. The results found that the theme of victim safety factors, including injury and social systems, especially children, motivates victims to free themselves from domestic violence and seek help for personal protection. The findings of this study have yielded several recommendations in the context of social work interventions to increase the positive health and social well-being of family system life, especially among female victims of domestic violence. Keywords: Female victim of domestic violence, Public Health Issues, Safety, Social work intervention.

Correction to: Barriers to Safety Planning for Female Victims of Domestic Violence in Canadian Rural, Remote, and Northern Communities

Correction to: Barriers to Safety Planning for Female Victims of Domestic Violence in Canadian Rural, Remote, and Northern Communities

Barriers to Safety Planning for Female Victims of Domestic Violence in Canadian Rural, Remote, and Northern Communities

Barriers to Safety Planning for Female Victims of Domestic Violence in Canadian Rural, Remote, and Northern Communities

Characterization of Domestic Violence among Patients Consulting a French Psychiatric Emergency Department.

The aim of the present study was to identify the prevalence of domestic violence among patients attending a French psychiatric emergency department and its association with psychiatric disorders. This retrospective study was performed, including all patients examined in the psychiatric emergency department of the Lapeyronie University Hospital of Montpellier (France) in the daytime from 1 July 2021 to 31 October 2021. A total of 152 patients were eligible during this study period. The prevalence of domestic violence was 38.2% (n = 58) overall. The percentage of female victims of domestic violence was higher than that of male victims (47.6% vs. 17.0%, p < 0.001). Among the 58 victims of domestic violence, 20.7% reported psychological abuse, 17.2% physical abuse, 3.4% sexual abuse, and 58.6% multiple forms of abuse. The risk of suicide attempt and anxiety disorder among the female patients was associated with domestic violence (p = 0.006, OR = 7.24, and p = 0.010, OR = 0.16). Our study showed that the psychiatric population should be identified as a population at risk for domestic violence, especially when the patient is female and suffers from anxiety disorders or if she has performed a previous suicide attempt.

The Effects of Reality Therapy-based Adult Group Play Therapy on Self-Esteem and Depression in Victims of Domestic Violence

The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of reality therapy-based adult group play therapy on self-esteem and depression in women victims of domestic violence. To confirm the effectiveness of the program, 7 women living in a short-term shelter for victims of domestic violence in S-city were formed as an experimental group by convenience sampling method. A self-report scale was used to measure self-esteem and depression, and the collected data were analyzed through SPSS. The program reflects the basic elements of Glasser's RWDEP system. And the contents were structured so that all the process is done through play. The program consisted of a total of 10 sessions and was conducted once a week for 120 minutes. As a result of the study, reality therapy-based adult group play therapy had a significant effect on improving self-esteem and reducing depression in female victims of domestic violence. There were differences in the presence or absence of effects in the sub-factors of depression. Negative attitude and difficulty in performance decreased significantly after participating in the program. However, there was no significant change in physical factors. The above results were discussed, and directions for developing the program were suggested.

Domestic Violence – Reasons why Battered Victims Stay with the Aggressor

Domestic violence is a social problem that deeply affects all countries in the world. Even though most societies are against it, and even more so, condemn any act of violence against women, the reality is often hidden or simply overlooked. This type of abuse causes serious traumatic consequences for both women and children, whether they are directly involved or not. This phenomenon is both a social and a health problem. The research focused on identifying the factors that influence women that are victims of domestic violence to remain with their aggressor. The research instrument is the interview, applied to 10 subjects, female victims of domestic violence. The results confirmed the hypotheses established at the beginning of the paper: family influence, financial dependence, low level of education, and children are the main factors that influence victims to remain in abusive relationships.

Self-Defence and Domestic Violence: An Analysis of Turkish Criminal Law Practice

How to assess the criminal liability of the abused woman who kills her abuser while in his sleep or in a state of unconsciousness has become a salient topic of debate in recent years. Although there is a tendency to consider these acts within the context of self-defence with the impact of “the battered woman syndrome” theory and the movement to battle against domestic violence, the debate still persists. Despite some opinions that such acts should be considered self-defence in the Turkish doctrine, the Turkish Courts, for the most part, tend to evaluate them as provocation. According to the Turkish Penal Code, only acts that are a response to occurring attacks or those that are certain to ensue are considered “self-defence.” Domestic violence is not accepted as itself as an attack if it does not meet these conditions. In this study, we will examine how such cases are treated in Turkish law practice in light of three decisions of The Court of Cassation. Prior to the explanations about self-defence and domestic violence, we will provide an overview of how this practice should be interpreted in the context of domestic violence according to the Turkish penal doctrine (I). It is argued that the conditions of self-defence are gender-neutral provisions, indicating they do not take into consideration “the battered woman syndrome” or female victims of domestic violence. This study will also focus on the conditions of self-defence in the Turkish Penal Code and will analyse it in the context of domestic violence (II). Keywords: Violence against women; domestic violence; battered woman syndrome; self-defence; provocation.

Judicial Dilemmas of Female Domestic Violence Victims: An Empirical Study Based on Chinese Civil Judgments in 2020.

Women are the primary victims of domestic violence, but their experiences are often ignored in Chinese judicial judgments. Among 350 Chinese civil judgments on domestic violence in 2020, more than 96% involved female victims, and they faced various judicial dilemmas when seeking civil remedies. The court confirmed the existence of domestic violence in 26% of the cases, and 27% of applications for personal safety protection orders were rejected. More than two-thirds of female plaintiffs' divorce applications were not approved, and they received no compensation. This study analyzed the cause of these judicial dilemmas and proposed some solutions.

Prevalence of Domestic Violence Related Brain Injury: Data from the European project BR.A.I.N.

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To determine the prevalence of females 18 years and older in Cyprus who have experienced blows to the head and/or neck, and/or strangulation and/or severe shaking in the context of domestic violence and might resulted in acquired brain injury (ABI). <h3>Design</h3> Descriptive Research Design. <h3>Setting</h3> Participants were female victims of domestic violence who called anonymously during November and December of 2021 at 1440; the helpline of the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in Family (SPAVO) in Cyprus. <h3>Participants</h3> 108 females over the age of 18 experiencing domestic violence called the helpline. From those females 75 (70.8%) reported physical abuse. <h3>Interventions</h3> Not applicable. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> Four questions were asked for the purposes of the study regarding: 1) attempted strangulation 2) head and/or neck injuries and/or severe shaken 3) loss of consciousness, dizziness, loss of memory 4) alterations in everyday life due to these incidences. <h3>Results</h3> Out of 75 females who are experiencing physical abuse, 14 (18.9%) reported attempted strangulation, 6 (8.1 %) reported blows to the head, 5 (6.8%) reported severe shaken and 6 (8.1 %) reported both. From those, one individual reported loss of consciousness during the incident/s, 6 (8.1%) reported feeling dizzy and 2 individuals (2.7%) reported combination of symptoms. Also, from those individuals one person reported persistent physical difficulties in everyday life (e.g., fatigue and sleep difficulties) along with psychological/emotional difficulties associated with these incidents; another individual reported persistent psychological/emotional difficulties associated with these incidents. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Data on prevalence of TBI among intimate partner/domestic violence survivors are emerging but are still in preliminary stage. BR.A.I.N project is ongoing and contribute to this effort by collecting data from the helpline 1440 of SPAVO in Cyprus. Identification of TBI in this context is important to ensure patients will receive appropriate intervention and referrals. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> None disclosed.

The effectiveness of the revised protocol of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) on the quality of life and psychological distress in female victims of domestic violence

Introduction: Domestic violence is one of the social issues as old as a society and, due to its extensive scope of impact, it has always drawn the attention of therapists in terms of treatment and pathology. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the revised protocol of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy on psychological distress and the quality of life among female victims of domestic violence. Method: The present study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of female victims of domestic violence, who were referred to the court, health centers, homeless shelters, and counseling centers in Karaj, Alborz province in 2020, of which 40 people were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The data collection tools included the Psychological Distress and Quality of Life questionnaire. The subjects in the experimental group received the trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral protocol in eight 90-minute sessions. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS-20. Results: The findings indicated that the trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy caused significant differences between the two groups in psychological distress (F=64.87) at the significance level of 0.001, quality of life - mental health (F=121.19) at the level of 0.001, and quality of life - physical health (F=108.27) at the significance level of 0.001. Conclusion: Based on the research results, it can be concluded that the revised protocol of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy can reduce psychological distress, and increase the quality of life in female victims of domestic violence. It, as a preventive program, can also be applied in support, health, and treatment centers and increase the efficiency of female victims of domestic violence.

Comparing the Demographic Characteristics, and Reported Abuse Type, Contexts and Outcomes of Help-Seeking Heterosexual Male and Female Victims of Domestic Violence: Part I – Who Presents to Specialist Services?

Despite longstanding investigation into the experiences and needs of female victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA), and a burgeoning literature on abused men, information on service engagement by both of these groups is limited, particularly in direct comparison. This is in part due to a lack of large-scale quantitative data on victim needs upon presentation to services. The current study presents the first of a two-part examination of data collected from specialist DVA services in the UK supporting predominantly high-risk clients between 2007 and 2017. Case data from a total of 34,815 clients (858 men and 33,957 women) was assessed across five key areas: demographic characteristics, routes of referral into service, context of abuse, reported abuse type, and outcomes and risk factors of abuse. Clients tended to be white, with men being older on average. Men and women had similar referral routes, but men were more likely to have a disability of some kind and women were more likely to have children living/visiting the home. Men were more likely to report physical abuse than women, whilst women were more likely to report sexual abuse and harassment/stalking. There were no significant differences in the frequency of reporting jealous/controlling behaviours. Results also showed that women were more likely to have attempted to leave, and to call the police, with men more likely to suffer from alcohol/drug problems and reporting poorer physical health. However, it should be noted that almost all such differences had small effect sizes, suggesting greater similarity between male and female clients than difference. Results are discussed in the context of the importance of recognising both the shared and unique risk factors of client groups upon presentation to services.

Why Do Female Domestic Violence Victims Remain in or Leave Abusive Relationships? A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT Domestic violence has severe physical and mental health consequences, yet many women remain in abusive relationships. Domestic violence is generally more prevalent among ethnic minorities than among ethnic majorities. Yet, little is known about reasons to stay and leave within ethnic minority groups. Therefore, we examined reasons for staying in and leaving abusive relationships in an ethnically diverse sample of female domestic violence victims from the United Kingdom. In-depth interviews with 20 intimate partner violence victims (40% identifying as ethnic minority) were analyzed using template thematic analysis. We identified three main themes for why women stayed. The first theme was that of investment, which contained the subthemes of marriage, pregnancy, and keeping the family together. The second theme was that of entrapment, which contained subthemes of economic dependence, physical entrapment/social isolation, learned helplessness/coping mechanisms, and religious/cultural beliefs. The third theme was love (no subthemes). Additionally, we identified three main themes for why women left. The first theme was external support, encompassing subthemes of professional support and informal support. The second main theme was fear of harm, which included the subthemes of fear for negative effects on mental health and fear of physical harm. The third theme was that of protecting the children (no subthemes). Among ethnic minority women, some specific reasons to stay appeared more prevalent (i.e., religious beliefs). Identified themes are diverse and support cost-benefit analyses of domestic violence. Applying cost-benefit analyses in practice may enable victims to leave abusive relationships.

Ambivalent and Consistent Relationships: The Role of Personal Networks in Cases of Domestic Violence

Social networks are usually considered as positive sources of social support, a role which has been extensively studied in the context of domestic violence. To victims of abuse, social networks often provide initial emotional and practical help as well useful information ahead of formal institutions. Recently, however, attention has been paid to the negative responses of social networks. In this article, we advance the theoretical debate on social networks as a source of social support by moving beyond the distinction between positive and negative ties. We do so by proposing the concepts of relational ambivalence and consistency, which describe the interactive processes by which people, intentionally or inadvertently, disregard—or align with—each other’s role‐relational expectations, therefore undermining—or reinforcing—individual’s choices of action. We analyse the qualitative accounts of 19 female victims of domestic violence in Sweden, who described the responses of their personal networks during and after the abuse. We observe how the relationships embedded in these networks were described in ambivalent and consistent terms, and how they played a role in supporting or undermining women in reframing their loving relationships as abusive; in accounting or dismissing perpetrators’ responsibilities for the abuse; in relieving women from role‐expectations and obligations or in burdening them with further responsibilities; and in supporting or challenging their pathways out of domestic abuse. Our analysis suggests that social isolation cannot be considered a simple result of a lack of support but of the complex dynamics in which support is offered and accepted or withdrawn and refused.

Empathic Love Therapy to Reduce Depression among Female Victims of Domestic Violence

Female victims of domestic violence often experience depression. This research used Empathic Love Therapy (ELT) to reduce depressive symptoms, by enabling individual to understand one-self deeper by realizing, understanding, accepting, and loving all aspects of the self, which is the early process of healing. This research is quasi-experiment research using a single group simple interrupted time series design. Five women aged 30-60 years old who experience depression, based on BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) score, participated in an eight-session therapy. Participants were recruited purposively based on theory-based or operational construct sampling. Data analysis combined quantitative and qualitative methods, of which Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used for quantitative analysis, whereas qualitative analysis adopted a descriptive analysis. Quantitative findings significant difference in BDI score between before and after treatment (Z = -2.023 with p= 0.043&lt;0.05). Qualitative findings showed that participants were able to find survival personality that emerged from past painful experiences and plays a role in the depression symptoms they are currently experiencing. With the power of love they find from God, they are able to accept themselves, and focus their lives on their potential and positive future plans. Therefore, it can be concluded that Empathic Love Therapy is effective to be used to reduce depressive symptoms.

Socio-psychological portrait of women who have been subjected to violence: general characteristics of the problem in the Scandinavian countries and Russia

The article provides a comparative analysis of the socio-psychological portrait of women who have been subjected to violence abroad and in Russia. The subject of the analysis is the psychological, social and national characteristics of women who have ever been subjected to violence. The difficulties of adopting the draft law "On the prevention of domestic violence in the Russian Federation" are considered in detail. This draft law gives a broad interpretation of the concept of "domestic violence" and proposes to accept this phenomenon as a legal problem in order to effectively combat domestic violence. It is noted that Scandinavian women differ from each other in their national and psychological characteristics, consequently, when faced with domestic violence, they will also behave completely differently. However, the socio-psychological portrait of the victims, both in Russia and in Northern Europe, will be the same. In this regard, there is an urgent need for theoretical and empirical research in the field of organizing social work with women who have been subjected to violence, where the key element is the provision of a wide range of social services by social work specialists to this category of the population. The social experience of the Northern European countries in providing assistance to female victims of domestic violence is very effective.

The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention Based on Psychological Capitals on the Experience Avoidance and Suicidal ideations in Female Victims of Domestic Violence

AbstractIntroduction: Violence against women and girls is currently one of the most important and specific forms of violence against human rights.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral intervention based on psychological capital on experience avoidance and suicidal ideations in girls victims of domestic violence in Isfahan.Materials & Methods: The research design was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all girls’ victims of domestic violence in Isfahan who were referred to a Counseling Center in Isfahan in 2019. The sample consisted of 30 girls who were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to one experimental group (cognitive-behavioral intervention based on psychological capital) and a control group (each consisting of 15 people). The research tools included Beck Scale for Suicidal ideations (BSSI) and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II). Data were analyzed by SPSS.22 software and univariate analysis of covariance. Results: The findings of this study showed that cognitive-behavioral intervention based on psychological capital was effective on experience avoidance (p <0.001) and suicidal ideation (p <0.001) in girls’ victims of domestic violence in Isfahan.Conclusion: It can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral therapy based on psychological capital is an effective treatment to reduce problems related to experience avoidance and suicidal thoughts of girls’ victims of domestic violence and can be used to improve psychological problems of girls’ victims of domestic violence.

Women Facing Psychological Abuse: How Do They Respond to Maternal Identity Humiliation and Body Shaming?

This research analyzes the decisions made by women facing simulated situations of psychological abuse. Seventy-three women (36.9 ± 13.6 years) who had been victims of domestic violence participated. The analysis was based on their coping strategies, early maladaptive schemes, and their decisions in response to vignettes describing the following domestic violence situations: humiliation to women’s maternal identity with children as witnesses and body shaming. We used Student’s t and Mann–Whitney tests to compare the results between groups. The participants presented some coping strategies (social support seeking, wishful thinking, and professional support seeking) and several early maladaptive schemes (emotional deprivation, defectiveness/shame, social isolation/alienation, failure to achieve, attachment, and subjugation) associated with their reactions facing a situation of humiliation with children as witnesses. When the humiliation was against the body image, their reactions were associated with some coping strategies (wishful thinking, professional support seeking, autonomy, negative auto-focus coping, and positive reappraisal) and one maladaptive scheme (defectiveness/shame). Women who reacted avoidantly showed higher social and professional support seeking but experienced higher indicators of discomfort and deterioration of self-esteem than those who opted for assertive decisions. The presence of children as witnesses seems to be a factor of stress in the configuration of coping strategies and maladaptive schemes in female victims of domestic violence. The evolution of early maladaptive schemes and coping strategies requires observation to avoid the risk of isolation and permanence in victimizing relationships.