This Master thesis deals with the subject of aid to women who are victims of Intimate Partner Violence, in the context of the recently passed Victims of Crime Act. The aim of the theoretical part is to describe the basic specifics of intimate partner violence and problems that arise from these specifics for the victims and for the practice of organizations and individuals helping the victims. In the subsequent part the options of aid to and protection of the victims within the criminal proceeding are discussed. The last chapter of the theoretical part covers the legislation context of giving aid to victims, with a special emphasis on the Victims of Crime Act and its possible contribution to solve problems related to this. The empirical part consists of an analysis of qualitative interviews and questionnaires with experts with at least five years of practice in aiding victims of intimate partner violence. The objective of the practical part is to deliver recommendations how to activate victims. The research aims to verify whether the problems of activation of the victims described in both domestic and foreign literature correspond to the practice of experts, what strategies have proved successful in reaction to those problems and in the end to what extent the law on victims can help in this...

This master's tesis reconstructs a process of the violent intimate relationship. It focuses on the autobiography and the active narrative interviews. On the basis of the reconstruction of the violent relationship it describes types of the acts of the aggressor regarding its impact on the relationship status. By generalization, it proposses a new categories of the violent acts and it compares it with the theoretical framework. By identification of each type of the violent acts it determines a phases of the violent relationship. It uses the framework of multiple phases to describe the identity shift of the victims. By this framework it relativizes some particularities of the theoretical knowledge of the domestic violence. It further describes the identity shifts of the victim using Herbert Mead', Erving Goffman' and Anthony Giddens' theories. It uses a parallel between the Goffman's concept of the total institution and the violent intimate relationships. It describes it's similarities based on the similar methods of the changing of the identity. It shows the dual character of the methods of the identity change: The active opression by the aggressor and the passive consequences of the state of being in the violent relationship characterized by the values transformation and the surrender before the...

Abstract Children who live with or witness domestic violence are a vulnerable group that is difficult for society to identify and help. The children who live in these conditions can develop psychological consequences which they can carry with them for large parts of their lives. The purpose of this research was to study what professional social workers perceive as significant support for children who have witnessed domestic violence. In our research report, parental role, the first meeting with the children and the development are aspects that are highlighted for the children to receive the right support they need. Society's role to intervene, support and care for children has also been highlighted as crucial points in order for the children to receive the right support. Although this is a more difficult approach since witnessing domestic violence often is a hidden social problem, it is also accentuated that cooperation and care from everyone is important to maintain and protect children's rights. The questions that the research is based upon concern how professional social workers work with children, what obstacles and difficulties exist in the line of work, what is considered good support in working with children who and what professional social workers feel needs to be developed when it comes to support measures for children who have witnessed domestic violence. Four semi structured interviews were conducted with four different social workers with vast experience within the field. The answers we got from the interviews were analyzed via a thematical analysis. The result accentuated how different children are and how they react differently to witnessing domestic violence. The result also showed how important knowledge is in this line of work. The result also showed that social workers thought the support that is given is good but there is room for improvement and development to make the support for kids even better.

In recent decades, men’s violence against women has been perceived as an increasing problem in our societies. Men’s violence against women are nowadays also classified as a serious crime against human rights. The violence in an intimate relationship between a man and a woman restricts the woman’s sense of freedom and justice. The violence results in violation of the women’s rights to a private life.  It's usually the physical and sexual abuse of women that is the center in legal contexts within the scope of domestic violence against women. It’s therefore necessary to examine other specific forms of domestic violence within the legal scope in Sweden and the European Convention on Human Rights. This study has focused on the psychological abuse against women as a form of domestic violence. The psychological abuse against women is a serious matter in the Swedish society. This study has examined whether the psychological abuse against women is included in the Swedish criminal classifications. It has also examined whether the psychological abuse is, or should, apply within the state’s positive obligations especially in article 8 in the European Convention.  The results of this study have shown that Sweden do not have legal security for all forms included in psychological violence even though it’s such a serious issue in the Swedish society today. It has also shown that the right to privacy and a private life may be one of the reasons why Sweden hasn’t come up with a criminal provision against psychological abuse against women. Women’s right to a private life and freedom from all forms of abuse are therefore not fulfilled under the state’s positive obligations without this criminal provision, according to the positive obligations that article 8 in the European Convention should provide to all individuals.  Key words: Human rights, Women’s rights, State’s positive obligation, Domestic violence, Psychological abuse, Intimate relationship, Private life, European Court, European Convention on Human Rights, Swedish legal context.