Violence against women is an issue faced by women all over the world. Violence conducted by a partner or husband is the most common form of violence that women are targeted by. Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is internationally recognized as a human rights violation as well as a major global health issue. Economic empowerment is sometimes presented as means to reduce this violence. However, if it generates protection or increased risk is debated and contradictory findings characterize the research field. This study aims to contribute by testing the two main theories (the marital dependency theory and the relative resource theory) within a previously unstudied setting: the national level. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regressions find a negative relationship between female labor force participation and physical and sexual IPV prevalence among women. Support is thereby provided for the marital dependency theory. No relationship at all is found when focusing on attitudes towards physical IPVAW and the conclusion emphasis that economic empowerment is helpful but not sufficient as a national strategy to reduce intimate partner violence targeting women.

Kvinnor begår färre våldsbrott än män, och endast en tiondel av alla mord begås av kvinnor. Detta speglas i att relativt lite forskning om kvinnor som begår dödligt våld har genomförts. När kvinnor dödar är det ofta en nuvarande, eller före detta, intim partner som faller offer. Men varför dödar kvinnor en person som de tidigare valt att spendera sitt liv med? Finns det några likheter mellan dessa kvinnor? Denna systematiska litteraturstudie visar att en majoritet av de kvinnor som tar livet av sin partner, gör det efter att ha utsatts för fysiskt och psykiskt våld av sin partner under lång tid. Tidigare partnervåld, och den överhängande risken att utsättas för ännu en episod av grovt våld, leder till att dessa kvinnor lever med ständig skräck, rädsla och ångest. Många av dessa kvinnor upplever även en känsla av isolation, vilket förstärks av att mannen ofta förbjuder dem att arbeta utanför hemmet. Kvinnor som dödar sin partner gör det ofta i, vad de själva anser är, självförsvar. Många av dessa kvinnor menar att de dödade sin partner för att de var tvungna. Hade de inte gjort det hade de själva förmodligen blivit mördade. / Women commit fewer violent crimes than men, with only one tenth of all murders committed by females. This is reflected in the fact that relatively little research has been conducted about women who kill. When women kill, the victim is often a current or former intimate partner. But why do some women kill an individual whom they have previously chosen to spend their life with? Are there any similarities between these women? This systematic literature review shows that a majority of women who take the life of an intimate partner, do it after having been subjected to physical and psychological violence by their partner for a long period of time. Former partner violence, and the imminent risk of being subjected to yet another episode of serious violence, leads to these women living with constant fear, horror and anxiety. Many of these women also experience a sense of isolation, which is reinforced by the fact they their partner often forbids them to work outside of the home. Women who kill their intimate partner often do so in, what they feel is, self-defence. Many of these women say that they killed their partner because they had to. Had they not killed him, they themselves would probably have been murdered.

Vård av kvinnor utsatta för våld i nära relationer är en komplex och krävande del av sjuksköterskors arbete. Våldet är vanligen förenat med fysiska, psykiska såväl som sociala utmaningar och kräver kunskapsbaserad vård. Trots ökad medvetenhet om våld i nära relation finns det fortsatta brister i förståelsen av sjuksköterskors upplevelser och hantering av vården på våldsutsatta kvinnor. Syftet är att belysa sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att vårda kvinnor utsatta för våld i nära relation inom somatisk vård. Genom att få insikt i deras perspektiv kan eventuella brister i vården identifieras och förbättringar föreslås för att öka effektiviteten och stödet för både sjuksköterskor och patienter. En integrerad sammanställning av kvalitativ forskning inspirerad av metasyntes utfördes. Genom att systematiskt granska och syntetisera befintliga kvalitativa forskningsstudier kring sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att vårda kvinnor utsatta för våld i nära relationer, identifierades olika teman. Sjuksköterskor beskrev svårigheter att vårda dessa kvinnor och betonade utmaningarna med att identifiera och stödja dessa patienter. Det framgick även hur arbetet kan innebära en känslomässig påverkan på sjuksköterskan. Resultaten sammanställdes och visade på behovet av ökad utbildning och bättre samarbete mellan olika vårdinstanser. Denna metod möjliggjorde en djupare förståelse för sjuksköterskors upplevelser genom en sammanvägning av flera studiers resultat. Litteraturstudien betonar behovet av stöd och förbättringar i utbildning och samarbete mellan vårdgivare för att bättre tillgodose behoven hos sjuksköterskor såväl som för våldsutsatta kvinnor. / The care of women exposed to intimate partner violence is a complex and demanding aspect of nurses' work. Violence is often associated with physical, psychological, and social challenges, requiring knowledge-based care. Despite increased awareness of intimate partner violence, there are continued gaps in understanding nurses' experiences and management of care for abused women. The aim is to highlight nurses' experiences in caring for women exposed to intimate partner violence within somatic healthcare. By gaining insight into their perspectives, any deficiencies in care can be identified, and improvements suggested to enhance effectiveness and support for both nurses and patients. An integrated compilation of qualitative research inspired by metasynthesis was conducted. By systematically reviewing and synthesizing existing qualitative research studies on nurses' experiences in caring for women exposed to intimate partner violence, different themes were identified. Nurses described difficulties in caring for these women and emphasized the challenges in identifying and supporting these patients. It also emerged how the work could have an emotional impact on the nurse. The results were compiled, indicating the need for increased education and better collaboration between different healthcare entities to enhance care. This method allowed a deeper understanding of nurses' experiences by combining results from several studies. The literature-based study emphasizes the need for support and improvements in education and collaboration among healthcare providers to better meet the needs of both nurses and abused women.

Many studies on intimate partner violence often focus on men as perpetrators and women as victims, but this study shifts the focus to men's experiences of being victims of violence. Using the theories of stigma, masculinity, and script theory, the authors aimed to address the study's purpose, which was to investigate how men articulate their experiences of violence in close relationships. Additionally, the study explored the strategies employed by professionals working with abused men to effectively counteract the stigma associated with the challenges posed by ideals of masculinity. A qualitative approach was employed, involving the analysis of self-narratives from podcasts where abused men shared their experiences. Simultaneously, two interviews were conducted with welfare professionals specializing in assisting abused men, combining primary and secondary data. The authors concluded that the issue described by both men and welfare professionals is highly complex. Stigmatization and societal norms of masculinity present significant obstacles to men being open about their experiences of being victims of violence and seeking help. By fostering awareness of these norms among professionals and adapting support strategies accordingly, conditions are created for abused men to feel validated during the help-seeking and treatment processes.

Thesis (M.A. (Criminology and Criminal Justice)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study intended to explore Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women in the Seshego Zone 1 area, which is situated in the Polokwane Municipality of the Limpopo Province. The different types of IPV against women, the prevalence of IPV against women, the causes of IPV against women, the reasons for not reporting IPV against women, as well as the available measures taken to combat this scourge guided this study. This study followed a qualitative research approach, where 17 participants were purposively selected, and this was coupled with snowball sampling. Face-to-face in depth semi-structured interviews were utilised to collect data to explore the IPV against women. The collected data was analysed by means of Inductive Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). The responses were audio recorded and written down to add value to the study findings. Themes and sub-themes were solicited from the participants’ verbatim expressions. This study established that the rate of IPV against women cases are high and has been increasing during the period of study because the victims are not taken seriously when reporting. It was also confirmed that jealousy and poverty are the major causes of IPV against women in the area. The victims often fail to seek support and do not report to the police when the violence takes place. It was also evident that most people seem to lack exposure on the issues of IPV against women and the lack of economic and employment opportunities in the area hinder women empowerment against violence and this should be urgently addressed. This study recommends that the local police should learn to take the cases of IPV against women seriously so that the rate of violence can decrease and the victims of IPV against women should be able to identify the signs and prevalence of this practice to effectively prevent it. Moreover, the victims should be encouraged to report cases to the police, and they must demand progress reports on the cases. As a result, the women continue to suffer due to violence in the study area. Moreover, this study suggests that there must be local support groups for women who experience violence in the community to help in detailing the consequences of IPV against women. This should be aided by various awareness campaigns to alert men that IPV against women is a criminal offence, and it is punishable. The government should also support women to start small businesses to reduce full dependence on their partners, thereby reducing the risks of IPV.

The discourse about intimate partner violence often centers around men’s homicide against women, whereas women’s homicide against men is a topic that rarely receives attention. Hence, this study aims to investigate how female perpetrators of intimate partner homicide rationalize their reasons for committing the act. To address the purpose of the study, the following research questions have been formulated: How do women rationalize committing intimate partner homicide? Which accounts do women use in the court in their reasonings of committing intimate partner homicide? The study does not intend to explain influencing factors but rather to understand the women’s reasonings. The empirical data consists of preliminary investigation protocols. Womens interrogations have been analyzed through qualitative text and thematic analysis. Scott & Lyman’s (1968) theory of accounts and a feminist perspective consisting of Hunnicutt’s (2009) approach to patriarchy within the context of criminology has made up the theoretical framework of the study. Some key findings concern the women’s intimate relationship with the victims. Common in all but one case is that the intimate relationship was characterized by violence, control, and dominance, which urged the women to find a way out of the situation. In most cases, the act was not intentional in the sense that the violence would have a deadly outcome, but rather that the women felt the need to use violence in different situational contexts. The result suggests that the woman, as a victim of intimate partner violence committed homicide in self-defense, as revenge, or as an accident caused by fear. The results also include a case that stands out from the rest, where the relationship was not characterized by any violence or dominance, but where the woman rationalized the homicide as a humanitarian deed.

The effects of childhood exposure to parental intimate partner violence (EPIPV) on dating violence (DV) were examined through two layers of mediations. Based on attachment theory, individuals who are exposed to parental intimate partner violence are less likely to experience secure parent-child attachment, which in turn transfers to insecure adult attachment that is prone to perceive significant others as less trustworthy and less reliable as well as higher likelihood of over-reacting and/or staying in an unhealthy relationship. In the second layer of mediation, insecure adult attachment would lead to biased SIP which in turn, would result in an increase of DV. A total of 327 university students participated in the study by voluntarily completing the research questionnaires. Among them, 253 reported having experienced mild to severe DV and were included in the final data set. The data analyses procedures included examinations of the measurement models and structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses. Findings from the final models best supported by the data indicated that EPIPV predicted both dating violence perpetration and victimization and that EPIPV predicted adult attachment anxiety and avoidance, both of which are consistent with existing literature. However, findings revealed that EPIPV did not predict SIP and SIP was not predictive of DV perpetration. In addition, neither adult attachment anxiety nor attachment avoidance was predictive of DV perpetration and victimization. For DV victimization SEM model, adult attachment anxiety predicted SIP, however, SIP did not predict DV victimization. Findings are discussed based on DV literature and attachment theory. Limitations, clinical implications, and future research directions are also outlined.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Sandra Stith / Recent literature has highlighted the importance of considering personal and relationship factors in predicting IPV perpetration. The present study sought to investigate whether trait mindfulness is associated with IPV, as well as the mechanisms by which mindfulness might predict IPV. Utilizing longitudinal data collected from 247 undergraduate students, the study tested a hurdle model of IPV occurrence and frequency at Time 3 being predicted by trait mindfulness at Time 1 and other known risk factors at Time 2. Results indicated that trait mindfulness at time 1 was associated with IPV perpetration at Time 3; however, when controlling for other known risk factors at time 1, the association between mindfulness at Time 1 and IPV at Time 3 was no longer significant. Finally, results from the mediational analysis revealed a significant indirect effect of trait mindfulness on IPV through relationship satisfaction and conflict resolution while all variables were measured at the same time point, but no indirect effect of trait mindfulness at time 1 on IPV at time 3.These results indicate that although mindfulness might not be a significant direct predictor of IPV when other known risk factors are controlled for, it is important since mindfulness indirectly predicts IPV through other relationship processes when measured at the same time point. Suggestions for future research and clinical intervention are offered.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared Anderson / This meta-analysis used data from 285 studies (yielding 983 effect sizes and a combined sample size of 627,726) to quantitatively evaluate the link between substance use and physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. Results indicated that overall substance use, alcohol use, and drug use were significantly related to both IPV perpetration and victimization, with mean effect sizes ranging from r =.18 to .23. Moderator analyses also compared males and females for overall substance use, alcohol use, and drug use; subcategories of alcohol use and drug use; and different types of drugs, for males and females, and for IPV perpetration and for victimization. This is the first meta-analysis to compare alcohol versus drug use for IPV perpetration and IPV victimization. The analyses revealed drug use to be a significantly stronger risk marker for victimization, and a non-significantly stronger risk marker for perpetration, compared to alcohol use. Alcohol consequence measures (i.e., abuse and dependence) were significantly stronger risk markers than consumption measures for IPV victimization, but non-significantly different for IPV perpetration. Furthermore, more frequent alcohol use (few times a week, almost daily, and daily) was a significantly stronger risk marker for perpetration compared to other alcohol frequency measures. Drug consequence measures (abuse/dependence) were significantly stronger risk markers for perpetration than simply drug use measures. There were no significant differences between different drug types, and no significant difference between stimulants versus non-stimulants for IPV perpetration and victimization (though these smaller comparisons may have been underpowered, and thus unable to detect differences). The findings of this study are important because they provide the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of the link between substance use and IPV to date.

Bakgrund I dagens samhälle förekommer det våld mot män i nära relationer. Arbetet belyser att mäns utsatthet för våld i heterosexuella och homosexuella relationer är ett otillräckligt utforskat område. Sjuksköterskans roll är att identifiera samt hjälpa de drabbade männen. Syfte Studiens syfte var att A) Undersöka hur våldet som utförs av kvinnor mot män eller mellan män i samkönade relationer beskrivs i litteraturen. B) Hur den våldsutsatta mannens möte med vården ser ut och vilka konsekvenser våldet kan ge. Samt C) Undersöka var hjälpen finns för en  våldsutsatt man i Europa och USA. Metod Studien är en litteraturstudie där  artiklar söktes med hjälp databaserna PubMed, och SCOPUS. Sökord som användes var exempelvis: “Intimatepartner violence”; among men; Gay. 33 artiklar valdes men 19 föll bort på grund av att de inte matchade inklusionkriterierna. De 14 artiklar som återstod granskades med två kvalitetsgranskningsmallar för att bedöma artiklarnas kvalitet i studien. Beauchamps och Childress teori om vårdens fyra etiska principer har används som teoretisk referensram. Resultat  Våldet som män och kvinnor utsätts för skiljer sig inte åt. Bemötande av män som lider av intimt partnervåld (IPV) är viktigt för att få män att dela med sig av sin situation. Många män i samkönade relationer önskar att vårdpersonal ställde frågan om våld. Många söker inte hjälp på grund av misstro till myndigheterna eller på grund av rädslan för diskriminering. Slutsats Hälso- och sjukvården i Sverige är idag inte tillräckligt anpassad för att kunna hjälpa de män som lider av intimt partnervåld. Mer studier och framförallt mer utbildning för sjukvårdspersonal behövs idag för att de män som söker hjälp ska kunna få den, utan rädsla för diskriminering. / Background In todays society there is an occurence of violence against men in intimate relationships. This essay focuses on mens exposure to violence in hetero- and homosexual relationships and the fact that it is an insufficiently studied area. The nurses role is to identify and help the affected men. Bakgrund I dagens samhälle förekommer det våld mot män i nära relationer. Arbetet belyser att mäns utsatthet för våld i heterosexuella och homosexuella relationer är ett otillräckligt utforskat område. Sjuksköterskans roll är att identifiera samt hjälpa de drabbade männen. Aim The aim of this study was A) to investigate how the violence perpetrated by women or between men i same-sex relationships is described in the literature. B) to inviestigate how the vulnerable mens meeting with the health care is and which consequenses the violence has.  C) to investigate where help is available for vulnerable men in Europe and the US. Method The method of the study was a literature review. Articles were searched using the databases PubMed and SCOPUS. With keywords such as; “Intimatepartner violence”; Among men; Gay. Prior to the search, 33 articles were chosen, 19 of them were excluded due to not matching the inclusioncriteria. the 14 remaining articles were quality reviewed using two templates to acess the quality of the studies. Beauchamp and Childress’  Principles for biomedical ethics were used as a theoretical referenceframe. Result The violence that men and women are subjected to is not different. Attitude of health personnel towards men suffering from intimate partner violence (IPV) is important to get men to open up about their situation, many men in same-sex relationships wish health workers would ask them about violence. Many do not seek help due to distrust of the authorities or due to fear of discrimination. Conclusion Health services in Sweden are not sufficiently adapted to help men suffering from intimate partner violence. More studies, and especially more training for health care professionals is needed. So that the men who seek help are able to get it, without fear of discrimination.