Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a recognized and widely discussed social problem  that affects women in a global perspective. One group that is considered to be particularly vulnerable are women who have been subjected to violence and also struggle with addiction. There are relatively few studies that have been conducted in this field, especially on how women's shelters work with these women. This essay aims to increase knowledge about the professional discretion in providing support to women who have been subjected to violence and struggle with addiction within women's shelters. We chose to analyze the data by using Lipsky's theory of Street-Level Bureaucracy, where we focused on the professionals' discretion. The empirical material consisted of semi-structured interviews with eight professionals from various women's shelters. The results show that the professional's discretion is influenced by individual factors in the form of their own attitudes towards the women and their view of the assignment. The results also show that organizational factors such as the board's interests, financial resources and competence, affects the professional's discretion.

Men’s violence against women is a global social problem that occurs in all arenas of society, regardless of factors such as age, ethnicity, and social class. The portrayal of the victimized woman and dominant discourses present in guiding documents establish a framework for determining the appropriate support measures to address the needs that arise as a result of violence. Women who are victims of violence risk being left without support from social services if they do not identify with the institutional identity provided. Therefore, a critical examination of the subject positions for women who are victims of violence and how their support needs are portrayed in government propositions becomes important to understand the intentions behind the legislated support. The purpose of this study is to use critical discourse analysis to examine how government propositions in the field of intimate partner violence portray women who are victims of violence and their support needs. As part of this, the study aims to identify dominant discourses by highlighting and creating an understanding of how different subject positions and support needs are made visible or invisible in the examined material. The study is based on a qualitative research approach, and the research material consists of three government propositions in the field of intimate partner violence. Discourse analysis, based primarily on Fairclough's three-dimensional model, has been used as the methodological approach. Discourse analysis has also been used as a theoretical framework, complemented by intersectional perspectives. The results reveal a hidden aspect of dominance in the linguistic expression and modality of the material that risks disregarding marginalized perspectives and neglecting specific needs.

Violence against women is an issue affecting women worldwide. Due to the high rates of women exposed to intimate partner violence, it is nearly impossible not to meet them in everyday nursing practice. Intimate partner violence is complex since it concerns physical violence as well as emotional, sexual, financial, and material aspects of abuse. Some women go to seek medical attention and herein lies the responsibility of the nurse to respond. Whilst many countries have handbooks or guidelines on how to support women exposed to intimate partner violence, nurses may encounter challenges in supporting these women in practice. This is particularly challenging in Jamaica, where there are reportedly high rates of intimate partner violence, but where various factors including limited resources and social and cultural norms, may limit the opportunities for nurses to support women exposed to intimate partner violence. Due to limited earlier research on the topic in Jamaica, there is a need for increased knowledge and understanding about how nurses in Kingston, Jamaica experienced the care they provide and how it affects them. / Våld mot kvinnor är ett problem som påverkar kvinnor globalt. På grund av den höga andelen kvinnor som utsätts för våld i nära relation är det nästan omöjligt att inte möta dem i den vardagliga vårdverksamheten. Våld i nära relation är komplext eftersom det berör fysiskt våld samt känslomässiga, sexuella, ekonomiska och materiella aspekter av övergrepp. En del av dessa våldsutsatta kvinnor uppsöker vård, och här ligger sjuksköterskans ansvar att reagera. Trots rutiner kring våld i nära relation, kan sjuksköterskor stöta på utmaningar vid mötet med dessa kvinnor i praktiken. Detta är särskilt utmanande i Jamaica, där det rapporteras att det förekommer höga siffror av våld i nära relation, men där olika faktorer inklusive begränsade resurser, sociala och kulturella normer kan begränsa möjligheterna för sjuksköterskor att stödja dessa kvinnor. På grund av begränsad tidigare forskning om ämnet i Jamaica finns det ett behov av ökad kunskap och förståelse om hur sjuksköterskor i Kingston, Jamaica upplevde den vård de ger och hur den påverkar dem.

Världshälsoorganisationen har definierat mäns våld mot kvinnor som ett världshälsoproblem och är ett förekommande problem i det svenska samhället. Detta utgör en utmaning för folkhälsan och en kränkning av kvinnors mänskliga rättigheter. Historiskt har kvinnor kämpat för jämlikhet och lagstiftning som skyddar dem från våld, men trots formella rättigheter upplever kvinnor fortfarande våld som ger allvarliga fysiska och psykiska konsekvenser. Denna litteraturöversikt av kvalitativa studier vill belysa hur våldsutsatta kvinnor upplever vårdmötet. Elva artiklar har analyserats som kan appliceras till svensk sjukvård och ett resultat har yttrat sig i två huvudteman: "Emotionella upplevelser av vårdmötet” och “Vårdens betydelse för den våldsutsatta kvinnan”, samt fem tillhörande under teman. Resultatet visar att våldsutsatta kvinnors känslomässiga upplevelser av vårdmötet påverkas av hur vårdpersonal bemöter dem. Kvinnors upplevelser av vårdmötet inkluderar känslor av att bli ignorerade och skuldbelagda men även upplevelser av att bli sedd och bli lyssnad till när vårdpersonalen tar sig tid, är lyhörd, visar empati och skapar en trygg miljö. På grund av olika hinder som dålig vårdmiljö, rädsla hos kvinnor och okunskap hos vårdpersonal skapar det svårigheter i kommunikationen för att kvinnan ska våga be om hjälp och vårdpersonalen att hjälpa. Det ligger på vården att ta initiativ att lyfta frågan om våld samt skapa kontinuitet för att fånga upp och stödja kvinnor som utsatts för våld i hemmet. Det krävs stora insatser som mer resurser, mer personal och utbildning på organisatorisk nivå och individnivå för att skapa förutsättningar för en god vård samt främja läkningsprocessen och återuppbygga förtroendet hos våldsutsatta kvinnor. / World health organization has defined men's violence against women as a global public health issue and it’s a prevalent problem in the Swedish society. This poses a challenge to public health and a violation of women's human rights. Historically, women have fought for equality and legislation to protect them from violence, but despite formal rights, women still experience violence that results in severe physical and psychological consequences. This literature review of qualitative studies aims to shed light on how abused women experience the healthcare encounter. Eleven articles have been analyzed, that can be applied to Swedish healthcare and the result manifest in two main themes: "The emotional experiences of the healthcare encounter" and "The significance of healthcare for the abused woman," with five related sub-themes. The findings indicate that abused women's emotional experiences of the healthcare encounter are influenced by how healthcare professionals treat them. Women's experiences of the healthcare encounter include feelings of being ignored and blamed, but also experiences of being seen and listened to when healthcare professionals take the time, are responsive, show empathy, and create a safe environment. Due to various obstacles such as poor healthcare environment, fear among women, and lack of knowledge among healthcare personnel creates difficulties in communication for the woman to dare to seek help and for healthcare professionals to provide assistance. It is up to the healthcare professionals to take the initiative to address the issue of violence and create continuity to identify and support these women. Significant efforts are needed as more resources, more healthcare personnel and education, at an organizational- and individual level to create conditions for good healthcare and promote the healing process and rebuilding trust for abused women.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether professionals' work with women exposed to violence has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study has focused on investigating whether the pandemic has affected the interaction and meeting between women exposed to violence and  professionals, as well as the presumed impact on women's opportunity to seek help during this period through the professionals' perception. This work follows a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews. Six Interviews have been made with five social secretaries and one social worker within a non-profit organization. The collected empirical evidence has undergone a thorough thematic analysis in relation to our theories; professionals' room for action, the professional approach and non-verbal communication. The results of the study show that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the work with women exposed to violence, to the extent that adjustments have been made to the work even though the actual way of helping has persisted and not changed. The pandemic has in many ways made the human interaction between professional and client more difficult, and women's search for help has been affected to some extent. The isolation has lead women to be more cautious and therefore made it more difficult to seek help. In order to facilitate the professionals' work and enable the meeting with clients, digitization has been of great help in this and the biggest change in the professional work as a result of the pandemic. However, professionals feel that digitization as a tool should be used with great caution, as they work with women who do not live free and are exposed to violence. The digital communication can easily be discovered by the perpetrator of violence. It is in the professionals greatest interest to ensure the safety and security of their clients, both in terms of the spread of the virus but also in the use of digital tools. The conclusion of this study is that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the work by making digitization a new way of executing their work, which in turn has contributed with both advantages and disadvantages. It can affect the interaction between the professional and the client, as it can be a risk to communicate via digital tools, and the human encounter can be difficult to maintain. It may also be beneficial in many cases as it is an efficient and time-saving way of working, for both parties. In conclusion, the use of digital tools will most likely not disappear, even if the pandemic will. It is largely appreciated and will be useful for various aspects in the future of social work.

Våld i nära relation är ett allvarligt och utbrett samhällsproblem. Bara i Sverige har fler än 300 kvinnor dött till följd av våld i nära relation de senaste 20 åren och var femte vuxen kvinna i Sverige någon gång under sitt liv blivit utsatt för psykiskt eller fysiskt våld av en partner. Hur våldsrelationer porträtteras i samtida skönlitteratur kan ha en inverkan på läsarens uppfattning av fenomenet. Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på om teorier gällande våld i nära relation reflekteras i beskrivningarna av våld i nära relation som återfinns i skönlitterära böcker.  I denna studie analyseras tre samtida skönlitterära bästsäljare utifrån teorin om normaliseringsprocessen, som bryts ner i tre delar; normalisering, internalisering och externalisering, samt teorier kring barns inverkan på våldsutsattas beslut att lämna eller att stanna kvar i relationen. Målet med studien är att undersöka om och hur dessa teorier speglas i litteraturen. Resultatet visar att delar av samtliga teorier speglas i alla tre författares berättelser. Hur tydligt teorierna speglas skiljer sig åt mellan böckerna, men vår uppfattning är att böckerna antagligen har bidragit till mer kunskap gällande våld i nära relation för läsaren. / Intimate partner violence, IPV, is a serious and widely-spread societal issue. In Sweden alone, more than 300 women have died during the last 20 years due to IPV and one in five adult women in Sweden have experienced psychological or physical violence from their partner during their lifetime. How IPV is portrayed in contemporary fiction may affect the readers image of the issue. The aim of this study is to explore if scientific theories about IPV are reflected in the descriptions of IPV in fictional books. Three contemporary bestsellers are analysed based on the concept of the normalisation process, which is broken down into three parts; normalisation, internalisation and externalisation, as well as theories regarding the impact children can have on the victim's decision to leave the relationship. The goal is to investigate whether and how these theories are reflected in the literature. The results show that all three theories are reflected in the books. How clearly the theories are reflected differs between the books, but our opinion is that the books have probably contributed to more knowledge regarding IPV for the reader.