Intimate partner violence (IPV) in sexual and gender minority relationships is an underexplored and misunderstood phenomenon. Much of what has been investigated has explored IPV from a heterosexual lens, without taking into account the complexities of these relationship dynamics. Further, outcomes of IPV traditionally focus on negative sequelae, such as depression or anxiety. In this study, we examined the propensity to forgive partner abuse as a means of adaptively coping with the trauma. Further, we looked at resilience as a possible factor in the process of forgiveness. We hypothesized that psychological resilience significantly moderates the forgiveness process in sexual and gender minorities who have experienced IPV. Our sample of 77 gender- and sexual-minority participants completed measures of psychological and physical IPV, resilience, and forgiveness. A regression analysis found our model accounted for 36% of the variance in forgiveness of self (adj. R2=.36, F (4, 72) = 10.34, p < .01) and 20% of forgiveness of others (adj. R2=.20, F (4, 72) = 5.01, p < .01). However, there was no significant moderating effect, nor was IPV a significant contributor to forgiveness. Results suggest trauma does not influence one’s likelihood to forgive, though some personal trait, such as resilience, is more likely to contribute to the forgiveness process. Implications are discussed.

Demographic and Health Surveys from 2015-16 as well as previous research suggest that a majority of women in Tanzania justify intimate partner violence (IPV) and that such violence is very prevalent. Semi-structured interviews with women in rural and urban Babati, Tanzania, were conducted in February-March 2016, in which women gave conditional answers to questions on justification of IPV. The aim of this thesis is thus to offer a theoretical explanation for the ambivalence informants expressed regarding IPV. To do so, the theory of double consciousness, which has not been applied to gender issues before, was applied in a qualitative content analysis of informants’ statements. This thesis will argue that double consciousness offers a plausible explanation for the conditional answers given by informants, since they reflected a two-ness among women, in the form of non-justification of IPV, but ideas about women’s obligations that are incompatible with ideals of gender equality. Women are thus aware of the gender oppression, while they still, to some extent, adapt to it.

Abstract AN EXPLORATION OF THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: LISTENING TO OLDER WOMEN By Suzanne Faries Lowe, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008 Chairman of Committee Laura J. Moriarty, Ph.D. Professor of Criminal Justice Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs There has been a great deal of research during the past four decades on the topic of domestic violence. Very little research has been conducted, however, on the effects of long-term intimate partner violence on older women. The four women who participated in this in-depth study ranged in age between 63 and 70, and each had been in a violent and abusive relationship for at least twenty years. Two of the women were divorced from their abusers, while two were still married. Each of the women was interviewed twice, for a total of between 4 ½ and 6 hours. The interview topics included discussions of their childhood, courtship, marriage, and relationships with their now adult children. Social learning, social bond, feminist, and exchange theories were used as a framework for understanding the dynamics involved in these abusive relationships. The respondent’s experiences, observations, health issues and suggestions have been used, together with an examination of the pertinent academic literature on the topics, to formulate policy recommendations and ideas for fertile areas of future research.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy increases the risks of adverse outcomes for both mothers and their unborn children, including maternal and fetal death. However, more research is needed to determine if IPV increases in frequency or severity during pregnancy and to determine what the risk factors are for IPV during pregnancy. Objectives: To use data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study to determine (1) if abuse is more prevalent during the pregnancy period, 2) if abuse during the pregnancy period increases in frequency or severity, 3) if pregnant women who are abused are at increased risk for intimate partner homicide, and 4) what the risk factors are for intimate partner violence during pregnancy. Methods: A chi square test of independence was performed on the crosstabulation of the pregnancy and the abuse variables. The means of the scores on three validated abuse measures for women recently pregnant and not recently pregnant at the time of interview were compared using an independent samples t-test. Chi square tests of independence were performed on crosstabulations of abuse frequency and severity variables and the pregnancy variable. Logistic regressions were performed to generate crude and adjusted odds ratios for IPV for the sample characteristics, first for the complete sample and then for the recently pregnant subsample. Results: The prevalence of IPV was about the same in the recently pregnant (68.2%) and recently not pregnant samples (71.1%). The chi square value for the crosstabulation of the pregnancy and the abuse variable were not significant (X2 = 0.606, df = 1, p = 0.436). HARASS scores were not significantly different for recently pregnant and recently not pregnant women. Power and Control scores were significantly lower for recently pregnant women (t = -2.081, df = 483, p = 0.038), however this difference was very small (mean difference = -0.317, SE = 0.152). Danger Assessment scores were not significantly different for recently pregnant and recently not pregnant women. The chi square value on the crosstabulation of the abuse frequency variable and the pregnancy variable was not significant (X2 = 0.344, df = 1, p = 0.557). The chi square value on the crosstabulation of the abuse severity variable and the pregnancy variable was not significant as well (X2= 0.412, df = 1, p-value = 0.521). Adjusted odds ratios for IPV for the pregnant subsample indicated that the only factor that increased risk was having between 0 and 6 social supports (aOR = 12.39, 95% CI = 3.27 to 46.88). Conclusions: In this high-risk sample, abuse was not more prevalent during the pregnancy period. Abuse during the pregnancy period did not increase in severity or intensity. Furthermore, pregnant women were not at greater risk for intimate partner homicide. Having fewer social supports put recently pregnant women at greatest risk for abuse. This may be because abusers frequently employ tactics to isolate victims from social supports in order to better maintain control of their victims. Having fewer social supports is particularly risky for this group, as pregnant women need more outside support to negotiate the demands of childbearing. More research is needed to determine the unique risk factors for domestic violence during pregnancy.

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Abstract The main topic of this study is IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) with a focus on the men that are exposed. The empirical data was examined from a stigma and a gender perspective. The purpose of my thesis was to investigate how different beliefs and social norms about male and female affect how men exclude themselves and are excluded, for example, from social safety nets. I started my study with inspiration from internet-based material about a woman and a man's experience with IPV. I fetched empirical data by attending a seminar on Youth IPV and in semi-structured interviews of two professionals, one who works with male victims of IPV and one who works with violence victims in generally. I also interviewed four men who has been exposed to IPV. Through my informants' stories I was able to investigate whether there were social circumstances that could affect IPV, which came about through varying concrete examples. Also how IPV distinguishes itself when the man is the vulnerable instead of the woman because most of the information and material available in Sweden is about the woman's over-represented vulnerability. With the help of previous research and literature that I used in my study, I came to the conclusion that the most effective method of analyzing IPV among men is through the personal meeting in an interview because the subject is otherwise taboo. My study showed that IPV differs where the practitioner is male or female because women use more mental violence while men use most physical violence and since the mental violence is easier to hide, the subject remains unlit partly because of the men's own silence and partly because the environment is not equipped to emphasize this kind of problem.

In this thesis I investigate intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in heterosexual relationships by analysing the accounts of women and men in the Anglophone Caribbean country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since IPV occurs in the context of a range of abusive practices (Dobash and Dobash 2004) participants' talk on the use and experiences of violent acts, violent threats, as well as other controlling and coercive tactics are examined as part of this study. Analytically, I focus on the points at which discourses of gender converge with narratives of violence. In other words, the current work examines the ways in which participants construct, (re)produce, disturb and/or negotiate gender in their accounts of IPV, and the kinds of power dynamics that are implicated in these verbal performances. I apply a feminist poststructuralist framework to the study of IPV against women. Synthesising feminist theories of gender and power, and poststructuralist insights on language, subjectivity, social processes and institutions, feminist poststructuralism holds that hegemonic discourses of gender are used to subjugate women (Weedon 1997; Gavey 1990). The points at which individuals complicate dominant discursive practices will also be assessed as part of this approach. In-depth interviews conducted with 34 participants - 19 women and 15 men - between 2007 and 2008 are analysed by using a version of discourse analysis (DA) compatible with the feminist poststructuralist framework outlined in the thesis. My analysis begins by highlighting the ways in which narratives of gender inscribe asymmetrical relations of power. The focus then shifts to a comparison of women's and men's accounts on a range of abusive acts. Traditional scripts on gender are often used to police the boundaries of femininities and masculinities, tying these to female and male bodies respectively. This is the context in which control, coercion, violence and violent threats are discussed in these accounts. Understandings of manhood and womanhood also emerge in the analysis of the strategies used to explain violence. I conclude with a summary and discussion of the analysis, and I suggest possible areas for further research on IPV in the Anglophone Caribbean.

This study examined the relation between stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of men who have sex with men (MSM). It was hypothesized that enacted stigma would result in lower reporting of IPV and that the type of IPV would moderate the relationship between enacted stigma and reporting. Using an online survey, we measured IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual violence) and stigma (perceived, enacted, and internalized). Participants (N = 46) were asked if they had ever experienced any of those forms of violence, as well as if they had ever reported the violence through an online survey. They were then asked how likely they would be to report the violence if it happened again in the future. Responses were analyzed using logistical regression with moderation to determine if a) enacted stigma was associated with lower reporting of intimate partner violence and if b) type of violence moderated stigma and reporting, such that physical violence would have the strongest relation between stigma and reporting of IPV. Results showed that enacted stigma was associated with more IPV reporting across all types of violence: physical (coefficient: 1.539, p<.0005), sexual (coefficient: .999, p<.05), and psychological (coefficient: 1.203, p<.005). Results of testing the moderating role of violence type on the relationship between enacted stigma and IPV were non-significant for all types of violence. In conclusion, the more enacted stigma that was experienced, the more reporting occurred. In addition, type of violence did not moderate the relation between enacted stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) as it stands today still exists in many violent cases involving intimate relationships. Intervention programs seek to address this issue, however, fails to meet their intended outcomes to reduce prevalence rates of IPV. The research study evaluated the use of a prevention program and measures its effectiveness among high school students. This study sought to explain IPV prevention programs, making it explanatory and necessitates a quantitative research design. This study used secondary data analysis to assess effectiveness of this particular prevention program. Data was collected from 130 high school students within the Inland Empire who completed pre-surveys and post-surveys. Through data analysis, the study found the prevention program was effective by increasing the high school students’ knowledge about local resources for those experiencing IPV, specifically where to go for help. Another key finding revealed a majority of the participants were able to correctly define types of relationships and communication styles. However, the prevention program does not necessarily assess for participants’ knowledge on how to address conflict in a healthy manner, as measured by questions asked within the pre-surveys and post-surveys. This is not to say this particular prevention program was not effective in some areas. Still, there is room for improvement as far as future research; collaboration with seasoned researchers, school administrators, and social workers; and policy recommendations on this topic of school-based IPV prevention programs.

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.