Dating Violence Among Chinese College Students: Unaided Victims and Legal Lacunae.

This research draws on literature review and case analyses revealed that the main reasons for Chinese dating violence's high prevalence are the long-term influence of patriarchy and gender culture and low recognition and awareness of the issue among students. Current Anti-domestic Violence Act does not apply to dating violence rendering victims devoid of preventive skills or relief recourse critiqued. Research exploring the lack of education on intimate partner violence in colleges has made students oblivious to the risks. Finally, the review provides detailed recommendations on expanding the practical scope of the Anti-domestic Violence Act to include dating violence and provide judges with clarification on the relevant elements of a dating relationship and cooperation of the legal system and education system in preventing dating violence.

Primary healthcare nurses' experiences of addressing intimate partner violence in supportive legal and health system contexts.

AIM: To explore the experiences of primary healthcare (PHC) nurses caring for women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in a context of institutional support for the management of this health issue. DESIGN: Secondary qualitative analysis. METHODS: A purposeful sample (n = 19) of registered nurses, working in a PHC setting, with experience providing care to women who had disclosed intimate partner violence completed an in-depth interview. Thematic analysis was used to code, categorize and synthesize the data. RESULTS: Four themes were developed from the analysis of the interview transcripts. The first two themes address the characteristics of the type of violence most frequently encountered by participants, and how these characteristics shape the needs of women and the care nurses provide them. The third theme encompasses uncertainties and strategies developed to deal with the aggressor during the consultations as the woman's companion or as the patient himself. Finally, the fourth theme reflects the positive and negative consequences of caring for women exposed to intimate partner violence. CONCLUSION: When there is a supportive legal framework and health system to address IPV, nurses are able to implement evidence-based best practices in caring for women experiencing intimate partner violence. The predominant type of violence experienced by women at the time they enter the healthcare system shapes their needs and the service/unit they reach. These varying needs should be considered in the development of training programmes for nurses and should be adapted for different healthcare services. Caring for women experiencing intimate partner violence implies an emotional burden even in an institutional supportive context. Therefore, actions to prevent nurses' burnout should be considered and implemented. IMPACT: Lack of institutional support usually hinders the potential role nurses can play in the care provided to women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Findings from this study demonstrated that primary healthcare nurses are able to implement evidence-based best practices in the care for women experiencing intimate partner violence when there is a supportive legal framework and the health system context is openly favourable to addressing intimate partner violence. Findings from this study could inform the design and implementation of programmes and/or policies to improve nurses' responses to intimate partner violence in primary healthcare services.

The Hidden Pandemic of Family Violence During COVID-19: Unsupervised Learning of Tweets.

BACKGROUND: Family violence (including intimate partner violence/domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse) is a hidden pandemic happening alongside COVID-19. The rates of family violence are rising fast, and women and children are disproportionately affected and vulnerable during this time. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to provide a large-scale analysis of public discourse on family violence and the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter. METHODS: We analyzed over 1 million tweets related to family violence and COVID-19 from April 12 to July 16, 2020. We used the machine learning approach Latent Dirichlet Allocation and identified salient themes, topics, and representative tweets. RESULTS: We extracted 9 themes from 1,015,874 tweets on family violence and the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) increased vulnerability: COVID-19 and family violence (eg, rising rates, increases in hotline calls, homicide); (2) types of family violence (eg, child abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse); (3) forms of family violence (eg, physical aggression, coercive control); (4) risk factors linked to family violence (eg, alcohol abuse, financial constraints, guns, quarantine); (5) victims of family violence (eg, the LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning] community, women, women of color, children); (6) social services for family violence (eg, hotlines, social workers, confidential services, shelters, funding); (7) law enforcement response (eg, 911 calls, police arrest, protective orders, abuse reports); (8) social movements and awareness (eg, support victims, raise awareness); and (9) domestic violence-related news (eg, Tara Reade, Melissa DeRosa). CONCLUSIONS: This study overcomes limitations in the existing scholarship where data on the consequences of COVID-19 on family violence are lacking. We contribute to understanding family violence during the pandemic by providing surveillance via tweets. This is essential for identifying potentially useful policy programs that can offer targeted support for victims and survivors as we prepare for future outbreaks.

Critical discourse analysis of policies impacting the intersection of health and experiences of intimate partner violence for rural women in Ontario, Canada.

INTRODUCTION: Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts approximately one quarter of Canadian women, and services provided to support women are heavily influenced by policy. Policy sets the stage and tone for action in all sectors. To date, there have been no critical discourse analyses examining how provincial, hospital, and women's shelter policies intersect and impact women in rural communities. METHODS: A critical discourse analysis using a case study of one rural community in south-western Ontario was undertaken by a multisectoral team of researchers using a critical, feminist, intersectional lens. The selected policies were (1) Domestic Violence Action Plan for Ontario (ODVAP), (2) the rural women's shelter policy, and (3) the hospital policy. RESULTS: The internal analysis of the policies revealed that ODVAP focused on societal solutions to violence requiring cross-sectoral cooperation with a focus on marginalized populations, whereas the rural shelter policy focused on creating a philosophical orientation to underpin their work with clients. There was no formal hospital policy related to the provision of services for women who have experienced violence. The policies revealed a disconnect between the stated goals and the specifics concerning how the policies would come together to achieve these goals. Obstacles such as having no clear link for how ODVAP and the shelter policy would work together, idealization of training but a lack of specificity on what training would be useful, and the requirement of affirmative action on the part of women to engage with services functioned as a means to maintain the status quo, that is, working in a siloed approach to care. CONCLUSIONS: Integrative systems are important for women who have experienced IPV given the wide range of health, social, and economic consequences of violence. Policy alignment is important for women who have experienced or are experiencing IPV, particularly in rural contexts where services are fraught with additional barriers.

Intimate Partner Violence Screening in the Prenatal Period: Variation by State, Insurance, and Patient Characteristics.

Objective To measure the proportion of women screened for IPV during prenatal care; to assess the predictors of prenatal IPV screening. Methods We use the CDC's 2012 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, representative of births in 24 states and New York City (N = 28,581). We calculated descriptive and logistic regressions, weighted to deal with state-clustered observations. Results 49.2% of women in our sample reported being screened for IPV while pregnant. There were higher screening rates among women of color, and those who had not completed high school, never been married, received WIC benefits, initiated prenatal care in the first trimester, and were publicly insured. State screening rates varied (29.9-62.9%). Among states, mandated perinatal depression screening or training was positively associated with IPV screening. 3.6% of women in our sample reported prenatal IPV but were not screened during pregnancy. Conclusions for Practice Current efforts have not led to universal screening. We need to better understand when and why providers do not screen pregnant patients for IPV.

Hate the Players, or the Game? The Role of Court Mediators and Hearing Officers in the Civil Protection Order Process.

Civil Protection Orders (CPOs) are among the most common legal tools that victims of intimate partner violence and abuse (IPV/A) use to protect themselves. The current study adds to the CPO research by using quantitative data to look at how female survivors' experiences with court personnel (attorneys, mediators, and hearing officers) shape their satisfaction with the court process, and what types of individual and court-related factors are related to perceived fairness of court personnel. The current study uses in-depth quantitative data collected from women over the age of 18 who sought a CPO due to violence from a male current or former partner. The findings indicate that women's satisfaction with the court process is significantly impacted by the perceived fairness of court personnel. In turn, specific behaviors by court personnel predict women's ratings of fairness of those personnel. Additionally, women's socioeconomic status impacts how fair they perceive the hearing officers to be. Court personnel play an integral role in helping victims navigate the legal system in ways that could protect their safety and influence how they perceive the CPO system as it relates to the abuse they have experienced.

Turnover Intention and Job Satisfaction Among the Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault Workforce.

This study examined multi-level factors associated with turnover intention and job satisfaction among the intimate partner violence and sexual assault workforce. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis with data from 530 respondents. Key measures included turnover intention, job satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, and areas of work-life fit. Regression analyses examined multi-level associations with turnover intention and job satisfaction. In the first model, lower satisfaction with supervision, higher burnout scores, lower salaries and identifying as African American were significantly associated with higher turnover intention. In the second model, workplace community and control, lower rates of secondary traumatic stress, and increased use of coping were associated with higher job satisfaction. Lower satisfaction with unpaid and paid leave predicted lower job satisfaction. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

When Abused Women Decide to Seek Help From a Victims Assistance Program: Their Perceived Needs and Self-Reported Mental Health Symptoms.

This study examines the nature of perceived needs of women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and their association with social demographic characteristics and self-reported mental health symptoms. The study uses data from case records of women victims of IPV (n = 154) seeking help from a victim assistance program housed within city police station located in the southwest, United States. The majority of the women in this study reported needs related to counseling, protection orders, Crime Victims' Compensation Rights, legal services, and Temporary Aid for Needy Families. Findings also indicate that perceived needs of women were significantly associated with self-reported mental health symptoms. Some needs had a stronger relationship to women's mental health symptoms than others. Overall these findings suggest that it is imperative to emphasize responses that can address all the needs of women (in addition to stopping IPV) to reduce mental health symptoms.

Participants' Views About the Survivor Contact Element of IPV Perpetrator Programs: A Preliminary Study.

Advocacy services, for victims and survivors, are at the core of our response to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). The survivor contact element of IPV perpetrator programs is recognized as a necessary safety measure for their operation. Within the context of equivocal evaluations of these programs, and the impetus to find opportunities to enhance their effectiveness, this study report explores the service user perspective on survivor contact work. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with 18 perpetrators and 18 survivors involved in three Irish-based programs, and findings were analyzed using grounded theory principles. Almost without exception, survivors were positive about their engagement with an outreach service. There was evidence to suggest that perpetrator program outreach services do reach survivors who may not ordinarily make contact with an advocacy service. In general terms, survivors felt validated as survivors, they felt supported, they learned about abusive behaviors and some saw the service as a monitor of what their partner was saying during group work. However, some survivors described their fear that any reports of ongoing abuse, which they offered, would attract reprisals from their partner or the attentions of child protection services. More determined application of criminal justice measures, and enhanced resourcing of the survivor contact element of these programs, should be considered.

Associations Between Attachment Insecurities and Psychological Violence in a Sample of Court-Mandated Batterers.

We conducted a survey-based study looking at the associations among attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance), relationship functioning, and psychological domestic violence. We looked at three relationship functioning variables (i.e., anger management, communication, and conflict resolution) and three domestic psychological violence variables (i.e., derogation and control, jealous-hypervigilance, and threats-control of space). Data were collected from 76 male and 21 female court-mandated batterers. Participants completed the self-report measures of attachment insecurities, relationship functioning, and psychological domestic violence-related variables. Overall, attachment insecurities were negatively associated with relationship functioning and positively associated with psychological domestic violence outcomes. Among the whole sample, attachment anxiety correlated positively with derogation and control and with jealous-hypervigilance. There were also differential attachment associations by gender. Attachment anxiety correlated positively with threats of controlling space only among men, and with derogation and control and jealous-hypervigilance only among women. Finally, avoidance correlated negatively with communication only among women. Overall, this pattern of results is consistent with predictions derived from attachment theory: attachment insecurities are associated with poor relationship functioning and high rates of domestic violence.

Characterizing the spatial mismatch between intimate partner violence related healthcare services and arrests in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

BACKGROUND: Routine screening and intervention for intimate partner violence (IPV) in healthcare settings constitutes an important secondary prevention strategy for identifying individuals experiencing IPV early and connecting them with appropriate services. Considerable variation in available IPV-related healthcare services exists and interventions are needed to improve the quality of these services. One way to prioritize intervention efforts is by examining the level of services provided in communities most at risk relative to local incidence or prevalence of IPV. To inform future interventions, this study examined the spatial relationship between IPV-related healthcare services and IPV arrests in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and identified predictors of the observed spatial mismatch. METHODS: Survey data collected in 2014 from 278 health facilities pertaining to IPV services were geocoded, computed into a density layer, and aggregated at the census tract level to create a population-based normalized comprehensiveness score (NCS) as a proxy for IPV-related healthcare resources. IPV arrests from 2011 to 2015, collected from the county court, were geocoded and summarized by census tracts to serve as a proxy for IPV prevalence. These measures were combined into a resource disparity score (RDS) that compared relative service density to relative arrest rates, where positive RDS represented over-resourced neighborhoods and negative RDS corresponded to under-resourced neighborhoods. We used correlation analyses and a two-phase spatial modeling approach to evaluate correlates of NCS and RDS. RESULTS: A spatial lag model did not yield an association between NCS and IPV arrests, demonstrating a spatial mismatch, which we visualized using a Geographic Information System (GIS). A spatial error model revealed that the percentage of white non-Hispanic residents was positively associated with RDS, while percent black non-Hispanic, median age, ethnic heterogeneity, and economic disadvantage were negatively associated with RDS. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the need to further evaluate the adequacy of IPV-related healthcare resources for secondary prevention relative to local IPV arrest rates, particularly within economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Our approach demonstrates the utility of GIS for identifying potential priority regions for IPV prevention efforts and resource allocation.

Factors shaping political priorities for violence against women-mitigation policies in Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND: Although violence against women (VAW) is a global public health issue, its importance as a health issue is often unrecognized in legal and health policy documents. This paper uses Sri Lanka as a case study to explore the factors influencing the national policy response to VAW, particularly by the health sector. METHODS: A document based health policy analysis was conducted to examine current policy responses to VAW in Sri Lanka using the Shiffman and Smith (2007) policy analysis framework. RESULTS: The findings suggest that the networks and influences of various actors in Sri Lanka, and their ideas used to frame the issue of VAW, have been particularly important in shaping the nature of the policy response to date. The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs led the national response on VAW, but suffered from limited financial and political support. Results also suggest that there was low engagement by the health sector in the initial policy response to VAW in Sri Lanka, which focused primarily on criminal legislation, following global influences. Furthermore, a lack of empirical data on VAW has impeded its promotion as a health policy issue, despite financial support from international organisations enabling an initial health systems response by the Ministry of Health. Until a legal framework was established (2005), the political context provided limited opportunities for VAW to also be construed as a health issue. It was only then that the Ministry of Health got legitimacy to institutionalise VAW services. CONCLUSION: Nearly a decade later, a change in government has led to a new national plan on VAW, giving a clear role to the health sector in the fight against VAW. High-level political will, criminalisation of violence, coalesced women's groups advocating for legislative change, prevalence data, and financial support from influential institutions are all critical elements helping frame violence as a national public health issue.

What Women Think Should Be Done to Stop Intimate Partner Violence in Ghana.

This aricle expands scholarship on intimate partner violence in Ghana by discussing what should be done to stop it, using data from the Northern region. The data came from 53 survey participants who provided useful responses to an open question: "what should we do to stop intimate partner violence"? The 53 respondents were part of 443 women non-randomly sampled at public health centers across the region to participate in a survey on intimate partner violence. Although the survey used a questionnaire, responses to the open question constituted qualitative data for this article. All 53 written responses were typed out verbatim into a Microsoft word document to generate a transcript for analysis. Responses entered in the transcript were numbered to distinguish one from another. Each numbered unit of text represented the complete response of a participant. Data were content-analyzed and reduced to five meaning categories for interpretation and conclusion-drawing. These are: provide behavior change support to couples; institute and enforce legal sanctions against perpetrators; empower women; provide public education for social change; and pray and preach against violence. Discussion of the findings is situated within discourse analysis and the article concludes with a note on implications for policy and practice.

Provider Perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence in Bluefields, Nicaragua.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence represents a significant public health problem and a substantial human rights' issue for women and girls throughout the world. Design and Purpose: The purpose of this study was to answer these research questions: What are the current practices for addressing gender violence in the RACS? What do professionals consider to be the current strengths and gaps in policies related to gender violence in this region? By employing a qualitative descriptive approach (Sandelowski, 2000 ), researchers traveled from the US to Bluefields, Nicaragua, in 2012. The multidisciplinary team of two US nurses, a prosecutor, and a victim-witness advocate interviewed 18 key informants, police officers, advocates, and nurses, and observed court processes. METHODS: Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in the language the interview was conducted in. Researchers coded data independently and identified emergent themes. FINDINGS: Informants described the complexity of the nature and dynamics of gender violence, strongly informed by Nicaragua's fairly progressive laws. The participants described holistic, fully integrated services as the intended functioning of the system. These services were often thwarted by gaps-fragmentation and lack of resources-and were additionally hampered by substantial individual and structural economical obstacles.

Gender-based violence against female sex workers in Cameroon: prevalence and associations with sexual HIV risk and access to health services and justice.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Female sex workers (FSWs) are at risk for HIV and physical and sexual gender-based violence (GBV). We describe the prevalence of lifetime GBV and its associations with HIV risk behaviour, access to health services and barriers in accessing justice among FSWs in Cameroon. METHODS: FSWs (n=1817) were recruited for a cross-sectional study through snowball sampling in seven cities in Cameroon. We examined associations of lifetime GBV with key outcomes via adjusted logistic regression models. RESULTS: Overall, 60% (1098/1817) had experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. GBV was associated with inconsistent condom use with clients (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.49, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.87), being offered more money for condomless sex (AOR 2.09, 95% CI 1.56 to 2.79), having had a condom slip or break (AOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.87) and difficulty suggesting condoms with non-paying partners (AOR 1.47, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.87). Violence was also associated with fear of health services (AOR 2.25, 95% CI 1.61 to 3.16) and mistreatment in a health centre (AOR 1.66, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.73). Access to justice was constrained for FSWs with a GBV history, specifically feeling that police did not protect them (AOR 1.41, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.78). DISCUSSION: Among FSWs in Cameroon, violence is prevalent and undermines HIV prevention and access to healthcare and justice. Violence is highly relevant to FSWs' ability to successfully negotiate condom use and engage in healthcare. In this setting of criminalised sex work, an integrated, multisectoral GBV-HIV strategy that attends to structural risk is needed to enhance safety, HIV prevention and access to care and justice.

The relationship between the Maria da Penha Law and intimate partner violence in two Brazilian states.

BACKGROUND: Globally, inequality between men and women manifests in a variety of ways. In particular, gender inequality increases the risk of perpetration of violence against women (VAW), especially intimate partner violence (IPV), by males. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 35 % of women have experienced physical, psychological and/or sexual IPV at least once in their lives, making IPV unacceptably common. In 2006, the Maria da Penha Law on Domestic and Family Violence, became the first federal law to regulate VAW and punish perpetrators in Brazil. This study examines the relationship between Brazilian VAW legislation and male perpetration of VAW by comparing reported prevalence of IPV before and after the enactment of the Maria da Penha Law. METHODS: To assess changes in magnitude of IPV before and after the law, we used data from the 2013 Brazilian National Health Survey; we replicated the analyses conducted for the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence Against Women-whose data were collected before the passage of the Maria da Penha Law. We compare findings from the two studies. RESULTS: Our analyses show an increase in the reported prevalence of physical violence, and a decrease in the reported prevalence of sexual and psychological violence. The increase may result from an actual increase in physical violence, increased awareness and reporting of physical violence, or a combination of both factors. Additionally, our analysis revealed that in the urban setting of São Paulo, physical violence was more likely to be severe and occur in the home; meanwhile, in the rural state of Pernambuco, physical violence was more likely to be moderate in nature and occur in public. CONCLUSION: The Maria da Penha Law increased attention and resources for VAW response and prevention; however, its true impact remains unmeasured. Our data suggest a need for regular, systematic collection of comparable population-based data to accurately estimate the true prevalence of IPV in Brazil. Furthermore, such data may inform policy and program planning to address specific needs across diverse settings including rural and urban communities. If routinely collected over time, such data can be used to develop policies and programs that address all forms of IPV, as well as evidence-based programs that address the social and cultural norms that support other forms of VAW and gender inequality.

[Domestic and sexual violence against women. Implications of WHO guidelines for Germany]. / Häusliche und sexuelle Gewalt gegen Frauen. Implikationen der WHO-Leitlinien für Deutschland.

Domestic violence and sexual violence are widespread and have serious health effects for those affected. If the problem is identified and confidence in responding exists, healthcare providers can make a significant contribution to support and intervention. In 2013 the WHO published evidence-based guidelines for responding to the issue in healthcare, training of healthcare providers and health policy. In principle, the guidelines confirm existing recommendations, best-practice guidelines and handbooks. They also encourage a review and further development-for example, regarding the issue of sexual violence. If and how the present recommendations are put into practice in healthcare and training of healthcare staff can currently be looked at only with the use of examples, given the lack of data in Germany. Examples from Berlin show that implementation is quite possible. However, there is a lack of clear mandate, of sustainability and of obligation. Existing good practice models are highly reliant on organisations' and employees' commitment. For Germany, the WHO guidelines indicate the need to develop national standards for healthcare in cases of domestic and sexual violence. A (legal) obligation for the healthcare system should be drawn up. A systematic embedding in training curricula of health care professions is needed. Quality assurance and a systematic evaluation of the practical implementation are required.

Women's status in the Polish Society in light of legal regulations till year 2015 / Sytuacja kobiet w polskim spoleczenstwie z punktu widzenia obowiazujacego prawa do roku 2015

INTRODUCTION: Gender equality and women's rights are the subjects of ongoing discussions in societies all over the world. Women, more often than men, are likely to become victims of gender-based violence. The studies carried out in Europe show that only the every second woman is aware of gender-based legal regulations in her country, 19% cannot recognise any support service, and what is particularly important for the health care system ­ 87% would like their medical doctor to ask patients with physical injuries about potential violence experienced. AIM: The Paper aims at presenting the women's status in the Polish society in light of current legal regulations implemented to guarantee equal treatment of both genders in every walk of life, which then reflects in the society's physical and emotional health condition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Authors analysed the current legal regulations in Poland with the aim to draw a preliminary evaluation of the women's status in Poland as far as the realisation of the Third Millennium Development Goal within the UN Millennium Project Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women is concerned. RESULTS: The basic tool to combat violence in Poland is so-called the Blue Cards system. Till 2015 the Polish current law protected the women's rights to a great extent. However, many issues were not covered by legal regulations, and in a great number of cases, women's rights were practically not respected. Consequently, despite resolutions and international conventions ratified by Poland in order to legally protect women's rights, they still remain a partially solved issue.