Men abuse women every day. It has become a Health Problem which we affects all of us. Help is available for those women who have the strength to seek it. Health care personnel are often these women’s only contact with the surrounding world. As professionals, health care personnel need the right knowledge and resources in order to help abused women. Our aim with this study was to describe abused women’s experiences when they seek health care, and also to document health care experiences and attitudes towards these women. A literary review of 14 scientific articles was conducted. The result was then divided into two sections: women’s perspectives and health care personnel’s perspectives. Abused women felt a lack of confidence with the health care personnel. They had been violated, and felt that the health care personnel did not listen. The health care personnel felt that they needed more training and resources in order to work with abused women and help them. The lack of health care personnel’s ability to create a safe and confident environment where women feel that they can open up and ask for help is a major social problem. In order to correct these flaws, people need to take a stand in the matter. / Dagligen misshandlas kvinnor av män. Det är ett folkhälsoproblem som alla har ansvar för att lösa. Hjälp finns att få för de kvinnor som har styrkan att söka den. Oftast är vården enda kontakten som kvinnorna har med omvärlden. Vårdpersonal möter dessa kvinnor i sin yrkesroll och de behöver ha den rätta kunskapen och de rätta verktygen för att kunna hjälpa kvinnorna. Syftet med studien var att med aktuell litteratur beskriva hur kvinnor som blivit misshandlade av sin partner upplever mötet med vården, samt vårdpersonalens erfarenheter och inställningar till mötet med misshandlade kvinnor. 14 internationellt vetenskapliga artiklar granskades och sammanställdes sedan i två delar . I den ena fokuseras på kvinnornas perspektiv och i den andra vårdpersonalens. Misshandlade kvinnor upplevde att de hade lågt förtroende för vårdpersonalen. De kände sig kränkta och inte hörda. Vårdpersonalen å sin sida kände att de inte hade adekvat utbildning, resurser och verktyg för att kunna möta misshandlade kvinnor. Det finns brister hos vårdpersonalens kompetens för att skapa en trygg och förtrolig plats där kvinnorna upplever att de kan söka stöd och råd. För att häva dessa brister krävs det att alla människor tar ställning i frågan om kvinnomisshandel.

Domestic violence remains a serious social issue. In North America, millions of women are victimized each year, and many of these women are victims of violence at the hand of their intimate partners. A small but growing body of research on domestic violence has shown that companion animals are among the victims of such violence. Abuse of or threats to the pets are used to control, manipulate and emotionally abuse the female partner. However, the majority of this research has focused on the perspective of the abused female partner; the male perspective is missing. Through semi-structured interviews with ten incarcerated men who have committed intimate partner violence (IPV), this thesis explores the abuser’s motivations for abuse of the pet as well as their perspective of pets in the context of a violent relationship. The findings indicate that, contrary to previous research, most men do not abuse pets in the relationship, and in fact have positive relationships with their pets. Just as pets are sources of comfort for women in abusive relationships, pets can be sources of comfort and support for the abusive men as well. When incorporated into violence intervention and treatment programs, relationships with pets can provide a venue for men construct a masculine identity in a positive way, and the treatment of animals can illustrate how violence is not an effective solution.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive, worldwide public health problem and one of the most common violations of human rights. The aim of this thesis were twofold: (i) to study the process and factors related to ending of IPV of Nicaraguan women and (ii) to examine to what extent IPV exposure is associated with the child linear growth and women’s contraceptive use after pregnancy. Methods: Data were collected from a panel study which followed 398 women who were inquired about their IPV exposure during pregnancy and at follow-up a median of 43 months after delivery. Three hundred seventy five of their children were available for anthropometric assessment. Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with women exposed to physical/sexual IPV during pregnancy but not at follow-up. For analysis both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used. Results: Women experienced four patterns of abuse: never abused, ending abuse, continued abuse, and new abuse. Of the women who experienced any IPV before or during pregnancy, 59% (95% CI 52-65%) reported no abuse at follow-up (135/229).  Women exposed to a continued abuse pattern and those exposed to any IPV, emotional or physical IPV at follow-up had higher odds of reversible contraceptive use. Further, exposure to any IPV and controlling behavior by a partner during pregnancy impaired the index child linear growth. Girls whose mothers had low social resources during pregnancy were the most affected. Women felt that being inquired about IPV while pregnant contributed to process of ending the abuse. Ending IPV was experienced as a process with three phases: “I came to a turning point,” “I changed,” and the “Relationship ended or changed.” Successful strategies to ending abuse mainly involved utilizing informal networks. Ending IPV did not always mean ending the relationship. IPV awareness, severity of the abuse, and economic independence were individual factors associated with ending of abuse. At the relationship level, diminishing or no exposure to controlling behavior by their partner was a key element. At the community level, a supportive and less tolerant to IPV environment as well as exposure to IPV inquiry during pregnancy facilitated the process of ending abuse. Conclusion: The study found that IPV exposure is associated with the children’s linear growth and women’s reversible contraceptive use. In addition, it is clear that gender norms regarding IPV are not static and that they play an important role in facilitating the process ending the abuse by increasing abused women’s access to emotional and material support. Our results emphasize the relevance of improving public services response to IPV.

Domestic violence remains a serious social issue. In North America, millions of women are victimized each year, and many of these women are victims of violence at the hand of their intimate partners. A small but growing body of research on domestic violence has shown that companion animals are among the victims of such violence. Abuse of or threats to the pets are used to control, manipulate and emotionally abuse the female partner. However, the majority of this research has focused on the perspective of the abused female partner; the male perspective is missing. Through semi-structured interviews with ten incarcerated men who have committed intimate partner violence (IPV), this thesis explores the abuser’s motivations for abuse of the pet as well as their perspective of pets in the context of a violent relationship. The findings indicate that, contrary to previous research, most men do not abuse pets in the relationship, and in fact have positive relationships with their pets. Just as pets are sources of comfort for women in abusive relationships, pets can be sources of comfort and support for the abusive men as well. When incorporated into violence intervention and treatment programs, relationships with pets can provide a venue for men construct a masculine identity in a positive way, and the treatment of animals can illustrate how violence is not an effective solution.

Religious coping and spiritual well-being were found to be culturally important resilience factors for African American women suffering from abuse and depressive symptoms. This investigation aimed to investigate whether: (1) spiritual well-being and its two components of existential and religious well-being mediate the Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)-Depressive Symptoms (DS) link; (2) positive and negative religious coping moderate the IPV-DS association; and (3) the mediating effect of spiritual well-being in the IPV-DS link is moderated by level of religious coping (i.e., moderated mediation). The study utilized data from 208 low income, suicidal and abused African American women, ages 18-55. Only the existential component of spiritual well-being was found to fully mediate the IPV-DS link. This indirect effect weakened at higher levels of negative religious coping. As predicted, higher levels of negative religious coping were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Surprisingly, higher levels of negative religious coping were also associated with increases in existential well-being which, in turn, led to decrease in depressive symptoms. The findings underscore the importance of addressing existential well-being and religious coping in clinical interventions and in training for mental health professionals. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed and future directions recommended.

Den här studien undersöker kvinnor utsatta för våld i heterosexuella parförhållanden med syftet att undersöka vad som kan påverka att en del kvinnor under lång tid stannar i destruktiva och våldsamma relationer. Den teoretiska referensramen hämtas från ett strukturellt/kulturellt perspektiv i teorin om våldets normaliseringsprocess samt från ett socialpsykologiskt perspektiv genom teorin om det traumatiska bandet. För att uppnå studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod använts i form av intervjuer. Fem kvinnor med tidigare erfarenhet av våld i nära relationer har intervjuats. Genom en tematisk analysmetod har intervjumaterialet sedan analyserats. Analysen är uppdelad i de tre temana relationernas början, våldets utveckling samt våldets bindande kraft. Slutsatserna av studien är att de våldsutsatta kvinnorna genomgått ett nedbrytningsförlopp som männen styr över där de successivt brutits ner och manipulerats. Slutsatserna visar även att de känslor som kvinnorna beskrivit har haft en bindande verkan till männen vilket bidragit till att de stannat kvar i de destruktiva relationerna under en längre period.

Forskningen är motstridig när det kommer till huruvida män är utsatta för våld i nära relation. Det talas om ett symmetriskt och om ett asymmetriskt våld. Det första syftar på att män i samma utsträckning som kvinnor blir offer för relationsvåld medan det senare står för att majoriteten som utsätts för denna typ av våld är en kvinna. Överens är man dock om att den typ av våld som män och kvinnor utsätts för i en relation är av olika art. Män är mer utsatta för psykisk misshandel medan kvinnor ofta drabbas värre fysiskt.  Brottsförebyggande rådet presenterar siffror där var femte utsatt person för relationsvåld i Sverige är en man. I denna artikel presenteras tidigare forskning som berör utsatta män. För att ta reda på vad socialjour, mansjour, polisen och brottsofferjouren i Stockholm anser om problematiken utsatta män har fyra intervjuer genomförts. Finns det utsatta män vilket Brå´s statistik tyder på, kommer verksamheter i kontakt med de utsatta männen och i så fall finns det någon hjälp att ge dem?

Although scholars have been studying domestic violence for four decades now, it is only recently that domestic violence occurring in non-heterosexual relationships has received attention. The purpose of this study is to explore the interconnections between the experiences of survivors of lesbian intimate partner violence (IPV), the lesbian communities' beliefs regarding IPV, and available shelter services. The ultimate goal of this project is to describe how the experiences and practices of all three ultimately affect survivors of lesbian IPV. To accomplish this, members of the lesbian community were asked to complete an on-line survey, and qualitative interviews were conducted with both shelter employees and lesbian IPV survivors. While more than 50% of lesbians completing the online survey reported experiencing IPV in a lesbian relationship, most agreed that lesbian IPV was ignored in lesbian communities. Lesbians also agreed that survivors would not seek help from local DV shelters or police, but did believe there were appropriate services available in their area. DV shelters reported allowing lesbian survivors to access their heterosexually focused services, but offered no services specifically addressing the unique needs of lesbian survivors. Lesbian survivors reported feeling isolated, trapped and helpless due to the lack of acknowledgement and support in their communities and scarcity of available services. The findings of this study suggest that IPV is common in lesbian relationships. Despite this finding, denial in the lesbian community and the lack of appropriate shelter services continue the isolation and marginalization of lesbian survivors.

The current study explored the association between sexual minorities’ experiences in schools and relationships. Socio-political-psychological theory provided a framework for the exploration of how retrospective reports of sexual orientation violence in school (SOVS) and school environment predicted the experience and perpetration of sexual minority intimate partner violence (SMIPV). Because of its relation to both school and interpersonal violence, alcohol was also hypothesized to predict rates of experiencing and perpetrating SMIPV. Group differences for all scales were explored on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, race/ethnicity, and education. Chi-square and analysis of variance analyses revealed several significant differences. Logistic regressions revealed that the experience of SOVS was not found to significantly affect the risk of experiencing or perpetrating SMIPV. However, a negative school environment was found to affect the risk of experiencing and perpetrating SMIPV differentially by gender and race, respectively. Results also revealed that alcohol significantly predicted the perpetration of SMIPV.

Victim offender overlap is a relatively new area of research with most studies having focused on applying this concept to the study of assault and homicide. Research in intimate partner violence has found that there exists a group of victim offenders or individuals who are involved in initiating, sustaining, and engaging in intimate partner violence as both victims and offenders (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Steinmetz, 1980). This Master’s thesis explored the concept of victim offender overlap in connection to intimate partner violence (IPV). Bivariate analyses were conducted using Paul C. Friday, Vivian Lord, M. Lyn Exum, and Jennifer L. Hartman’s (2003-2005) data, Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina. The findings suggest that there is a separate group of individuals involved in intimate partner violence who are both victims and offenders. Furthermore, the three groups (offenders only of IPV, victims only of IPV, and victim/offenders of IPV) were found to be different across gender, past criminal involvement, and future criminal activity as predicted. Suggestions for future research and the implications of the findings are discussed.