Rural and Urban/Suburban Victim Professionals' Perceptions of Gender-Based Violence, Victim Challenges, and Safety Advice During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study surveyed a national sample of victim service professionals (N = 222) and compared rural versus urban/suburban participants' perceptions of a variety of issues, such as the impact of the pandemic on gender-based violence victimization and safety advice for isolated victims. Increased interference with victim employment and the abuser monitoring of online activities were reported by participants across all communities. However, urban/suburban participants rated the magnitude of all victim challenges as greater, while more rural participants noted child abuse as a particular problem in their communities. The results highlight the importance of community context for improving coordinated responses to gender-based violence (n = 101).

"Always Know Where the Gun Is": Service Providers Perceptions of Firearm Access, Violence, and Safety Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Given the heightened risk for fatality and known non-fatal harm firearms pose in abusive situations, it is critical to consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on firearm-related abuse and safety planning-particularly considering the surge in firearm sales in 2020. This study documented the impact of the pandemic on firearm access and violence, advice and safety planning surrounding firearms, and firearm-related abuse tactics through the perspective of victim service providers across the US participants included victim service professionals from both rural (n = 93) and urban/suburban (i.e., non-rural; n = 78) areas who worked with victims of gender-based violence (i.e., intimate partner abuse and dating violence, child abuse, elder abuse, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking victims). Results revealed that nearly half of participants reported that abusers threatening to shoot victims or others became more frequent since the start of the pandemic, while nearly 30% reported that homicide involving firearms became more frequent during the pandemic. Further, nearly 40% of participants indicated an increase in firearm sales during pandemic-with higher sales in non-rural versus rural areas. Common themes related to safety planning with firearms included advising the victim to contact the system for help, assessing the location of firearms and/or remove the firearms, and leaving the abuser. The results stress the importance for safety planning around firearms when victims are isolated with an abuser at home and potential impact of abuser firearm access on public safety.

Firearm-related Abuse and Protective Order Requests Among Intimate Partner Violence Victims.

Firearms play a critical role in the murder of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims and there is evidence that laws prohibiting protective order (PO) respondents from possessing a firearm reduce IPV fatalities. However, little research has compared specific abuse tactics involving firearms among victims who have and have not sought a PO against an abuser. This study investigates IPV victims' experiences with a range of firearm-related abuse tactics across victim race/ethnicity, in addition to the relationship between firearm IPV and PO requests, above and beyond IPV not involving firearms. Questionnaires were administered to 215 female victims recruited from six domestic violence shelters in Texas. Over one-half of victims who sought a PO were threatened to be shot by their abuser and victims who experienced high levels of firearm abuse incurred a 302% increase in the odds of requesting a PO. There were no significant differences between White, Black, and Hispanic victims regarding firearm IPV tactics. The results shed light on the magnitude of risk IPV victims can experience when seeking a PO against an abusive partner.

Strength Versus Sensitivity: The Impact of Attorney Gender on Juror Perceptions and Trial Outcomes in a Rape Case.

We examined the impact of attorney gender on perceptions of a criminal rape trial. Community members (N = 208) read a trial summary describing a rape scenario in which the gender of the prosecuting and defense attorney were manipulated. The results revealed indirect effects of prosecuting and defense attorney gender on verdict through perceptions of characteristics related to attorney competency. Qualitative analyses further showed that the terms "strength" and "powerful" were central to juror perceptions of male attorneys, whereas the terms "sensitive" and "sympathy" were central when the attorneys were female.

Increased Risks or Peace of Mind? Exploring Fear, Victimization, and Safety Strategies Among Women Planning to Get a Gun.

Much of the research on firearm owners implies that the U.S. population can be divided into two groups-those that own guns and those that do not; however, there is a third group-those thinking of getting a gun and almost nothing is known about this group. A survey on gun ownership, experiences, and behaviors was deployed online via Prolific in June and July 2020 to recruit women from the general U.S. population who were planning on getting a gun (n = 187), who owned a gun (n = 288) and who did not own or plan to own guns (n = 968). Results show that women planning on getting a gun worried more about their personal safety and more had experienced recent interpersonal violence victimization compared to the other two groups. Almost all of the women planning on getting a gun believed that carrying a gun would make them safer. Even though women planning on getting a gun had limited experience with guns, they expressed fewer gun related worries than nongun owners. Additionally, women planning on getting a gun had more depression symptoms and more of them indicated they had thoughts of self-harm in the past two weeks than current gun owners. Depression symptoms were significantly associated with plans to get a gun in the multivariate model. Given the risks associated with having firearms in the household, interventions could target those considering getting a gun as well as educating friends and family about what to say when someone close is considering obtaining a firearm for safety.

Firearm exposure and the health of high-risk intimate partner violence victims.

RATIONALE: The negative physical and mental health consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) have been well-documented, as those who are exposed to trauma experience more physical health issues. Further, an abuser's direct access to a firearm drastically increases the risk for fatality, which can exacerbate ongoing stress and trauma in an abusive relationship. However, very little research has investigated the intersection of exposure to firearms and adverse health outcomes in the context of IPV. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the sensitivity of firearm exposure in IPV contexts by examining if abusive partner firearm ownership-regardless of actual use of a gun in the abuse-is associated with negative health outcomes. METHODS: The research team administered questionnaires to IPV victims (N = 215) from six domestic violence shelters across rural and urban locations in a single state. RESULTS: Having an abusive partner who owned a firearm was associated with significantly worse physical health-above and beyond IPV experienced in the relationship. Even so, IPV involving firearms was not significantly associated with physical health beyond partner firearm ownership. The relationship between partner firearm ownership and negative health outcomes was primarily attenuated by sleep disturbances among victims. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide initial information about the role that firearms play in adverse victim health beyond injuries (e.g., gunshot wounds) and fatalities.

Coercive Control, Stalking, and Guns: Modeling Service Professionals' Perceived Risk of Potentially Fatal Intimate Partner Gun Violence.

Intimate partner homicides often involve coercive control prior to the murder while stalking following separation has been associated with control within the relationship as well as with lethal violence. The goal of the present study was to investigate how rural and urban community professionals who encounter intimate partner violence (IPV) victims perceive potential risk factors for intimate partner homicide related to firearms and coercive control. Criminal justice and victim service professionals (N = 133) from one urban and four rural communities participated in structured key informant interviews. A purposeful sampling procedure was employed to target professionals with expertise in domestic violence and/or firearms, followed by snowball sampling to maximize the response rate. The only risk factor that was directly associated with perceived risk of potentially fatal intimate partner gun violence was the perceived risk of an abuser threatening a victim with a gun. However, coercive control, separation, and stalking all mediated the relationship between the perceived risk of an abuser's access to a gun and the perceived risk of an abuser threatening the victim with a gun. These results highlight the importance of controlling behavior following separation for risk assessment and that participants in the present study were aware of the potentially dangerous ramifications of such nonphysically violent risk factors for the risk of injury or death by a firearm at the hands of an intimate partner.

The Impact of Threat Type and Prior Abuse History on Perceptions of Intimate Partner Sexual Coercion.

Intimate partner sexual victimization often involves perpetrators using threats to coerce victims into sexual activity. However, little research has investigated perceptions of this coercion. We presented 99 community members with intimate partner sexual coercion vignettes that varied abuse history (between-participants) and type of threat used to coerce the victim into sex (within-participants; that is, physical assault, financial, children taken). We found that physical assault threats led to higher pro-victim judgments than nonviolent threats. These findings provide insight into how sexual violence involving coercion is perceived in different contexts.

Intimate partner violence, firearms, and sleep disturbances: The influence of coercive control and partner firearm ownership.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of diverse forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) and firearms in the context of IPV in sleep disturbances. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey of domestic violence victims. SETTING: Six domestic violence shelters (both urban and rural) in the state of Texas. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred fifteen women recruited from domestic violence shelters. METHODS: Seven items pertaining to sleep disturbances during the past 30 days were employed as dependent variables (in addition to a composite index). Measures of non-gun IPV (i.e., coercive control, physical abuse, and sexual abuse) as well as three forms of gun IPV (implicit threats, explicit threats, and gun-related abuse) were constructed. A dichotomous item assessing partner gun ownership was also employed. Ordinary least squares and Logistic regression models adjusting for covariates were estimated. RESULTS: Independent of other forms of abuse, coercive control was associated with the sleep disturbances index and five of the seven individual sleep items. Ancillary analyses revealed that this association was party explained by post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology. Moreover, while gun IPV and sleep disturbances were unrelated, partner gun ownership was associated with five of the seven sleep disturbance items. CONCLUSIONS: Coercive control appears to be central to the sleep health of IPV victims, and partner gun ownership may represent an additional risk factor for sleep disturbances beyond experiences of abuse. The consequences of abuse and firearms in the context of intimate partner abuse may extend beyond physical injury to other health outcomes including sleep disturbances.

Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Coercion: Measurement Invariance in a Population-Based Sample of Male and Female High School Students.

Purpose: Though researchers have documented that adolescents are vulnerable to coercion focused on reproductive and sexual autonomy, measures to assess this type of coercion for both adolescent females and males have not been validated in a population-based sample. Method: The present study used secondary data collected from high school students across Kentucky (n=16,137 from two independent samples in 2010 and 2014) to 1) determine if five items measuring adolescent reproductive and sexual coercion (ARSC) are appropriate for use among both females and males; and 2) estimate prevalence of identified ARSC factors by sex. Results: For both male and females, given measurement items, the results supported a two-factor model of ARSC comprised of 1) verbal relationship manipulation and 2) contraceptive interference. Measurement invariance by sex was also supported. Additional findings indicated the high prevalence of ARSC and its associated subscales. Approximately 4 in 10 females and 3 in 10 males reported experiencing ARSC in the previous year, with almost all of those reporting contraceptive interference also reporting verbal relationship manipulation. Conclusions: Findings suggest verbal relationship manipulation and contraceptive interference (together forming ARSC) may restrict the autonomous sexual and reproductive decision-making of both female and male adolescents.

Implementing Domestic Violence Gun Confiscation Policy in Rural and Urban Communities: Assessing the Perceived Risk, Benefits, and Barriers.

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of why communities differing in culture and resources are willing and able to implement gun confiscation as part of a protective order in the absence of a uniform statewide gun law. Specifically, the perceived risk of intimate partner homicide and gun violence, effectiveness of implementing gun confiscation, and the barriers to implementing gun confiscation were assessed. Interviews were conducted with key community professionals (N = 133) who worked in victim services and the justice system in one urban community and four rural, under-resourced communities. Analyses revealed that professionals in the rural communities viewed the risk of intimate partner homicide and gun violence as lower, and the process of implementing gun confiscation as less effective than professionals in the urban community. In addition, urban justice system professionals, in comparison with all other professionals, reported fewer barriers to enforcing the gun confiscation police and were more likely to downplay law enforcement limitations in the community. The results have implications for developing more effective regional strategies in states that lack domestic violence gun laws as a means to increase a community's ability to enforce gun policies and initiatives.

Alcohol Use, Hostile Sexism, and Religious Self-Regulation: Investigating Risk and Protective Factors of IPV Perpetration.

Research suggests that the relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV) is moderated by a range of other factors. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between alcohol use, hostile sexism, and religious self-regulation with perpetration. Using a national sample of 255 men, we found that hostile sexism was associated with physical violence toward a partner and alcohol use was positively associated with psychological abuse toward a partner. With regard to religious self-regulation, we found that introjected religious self-regulation was positively associated with hostile sexism and positively associated with perpetrating physical IPV. Identified religious self-regulation was negatively associated with physical violence perpetration. We also found significant interactions among our independent measures on physical IPV perpetration. These analyses suggest that increased alcohol consumption elevates the risk for physical violence perpetration among men who are high in introjected religious self-regulation and low in hostile sexism, while reducing the risk for perpetration in men who are high in identified religious self-regulation and low in hostile sexism. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Great Sexpectations: The Impact of Participant Gender, Defendant Desirability, and Date Cost on Attributions of a Date Rape Victim and Defendant.

We investigated the effect of the desirability of the defendant and the cost of a date on how participants assigned blame in a date rape context. Community participants (N = 211) read one of four date rape trial summaries that differed based on the two manipulated independent variables: the desirability of the defendant (i.e., high vs. low desirability) and the cost of the date (i.e., expensive [US$175] vs. inexpensive [US$30]). Participants then rated the victim and defendant on various attributes related to the trial (credibility, blame, and guilt) and post-date sexual behavior (expectations, want, and deservingness of sex). Overall, men viewed the victim more negatively and the defendant more positively than women. Participants in the high defendant desirability condition also viewed the victim as having higher want of sex following the date and rated the defendant as more credible. With regard to the cost of date manipulation, men viewed the defendant as more credible when a desirable defendant paid for an inexpensive date in comparison with an undesirable defendant. However, when the date was expensive, women viewed the desirable defendant as more credible than the undesirable defendant. Finally, we also found that participants' perceptions of the victim's expectations and want for sex and the defendant's deservingness for sex mediated the effects of participant gender and defendant desirability on victim and defendant blame.

Dangerous Liaisons: Examining the Connection of Stalking and Gun Threats Among Partner Abuse Victims.

Little is known about the scope and nature of how guns are used to threaten (ex)partners particularly during periods of stalking, which often occurs after victims leave their abusers. This study examines survey results from over 500 women from across the United States who contacted the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Specifically, this study (a) describes the prevalence and characteristics of partner abuse victims who were and were not stalked and who were and were not threatened with guns, (b) compares types of gun threats experienced by partner abuse victims who were and were not stalked, (c) examines worries about gun threats for those who were and were not stalked among partner abuse victims not threatened with a gun, and (d) assesses factors associated with advice to obtain a gun for personal safety. This article also provides open-ended comments selected to highlight themes from the quantitative information around participant fears and worries about gun threats and stalking. Findings from this study show one-third of the participants had experienced threats with guns, and one-fifth of those without gun threats worried their (ex)partner would harm them with a gun. Furthermore, there was a significant association between stalking and gun threats, as three-fourth of those who were threatened with a gun reported being stalked. Victims who experienced stalking were also more likely to report their (ex)partner threatened others with guns and were more likely to carry a firearm on their body or in their car, which suggests stalkers who threatened with guns may pose a significant risk to public safety. Implications for future research are discussed.

Food Insecurity and Violence in the Home: Investigating Exposure to Violence and Victimization Among Preschool-Aged Children.

Children experiencing or witnessing violence in the home are at risk of a number of cognitive, social, and behavioral challenges as they age. A handful of recent studies have suggested that food insecurity may be one factor associated with violence against children in the home. The present study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort to explore the link between household food insecurity during the first three waves of data collection (i.e., the first few years of life) and witnessing or being the victim of violence in the home among very young children (~ age 4). The results suggest that the predicted probability of early childhood exposure to violence and/or victimization in the home is nearly 6 times greater in persistently food-insecure households (i.e., households that are food insecure across all three waves) relative to food secure households. Limitations and avenues for future research are noted.

Ambivalent Sexism, Alcohol Use, and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration.

Research on risk factors for men's perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) has shown a high correlation with problem alcohol use. Additional studies, however, indicate that the alcohol-IPV link is neither simple nor necessarily direct and that a range of factors may moderate this relationship. Using a national, community-based sample of 255 men, the present study examined the moderating effects of ambivalent sexism (i.e., hostile and benevolent sexism) on the relationship between alcohol use and IPV perpetration. The findings show that both greater alcohol consumption and high hostile sexism are positively associated with IPV perpetration, and that hostile sexism moderates the alcohol-IPV relationship for perpetration of physical IPV, but not for psychological IPV. Moreover, high levels of alcohol consumption have a greater impact on physical IPV perpetration for men low in hostile sexism than for men high in hostile sexism, lending support to the multiple threshold model of the alcohol-IPV link. Implications of the findings for prevention, intervention, and future research are discussed.

"You Better Say Your Prayers and Get Ready": Guns Within the Context of Partner Abuse.

The present study used focus groups to collect qualitative data to better understand the complexity of how women with domestic violence experiences feel about gun violence and protections from gun violence within the context of partner violence. Participants consisted of 42 women who were recruited through domestic violence shelters and programs in a single U.S. state. Three main themes were examined in the focus group discussions: (a) guns used within the context of partner abuse, (b) victims using guns as protection from an abuser, and (c) mandated gun restrictions as protection in partner abuse. A total of nine subthemes were organized under the three general themes. Within the first main theme, participants discussed that although abuse occurs with and without guns, guns are uniquely dangerous. In the second main theme, participants expressed concern regarding the dangers of using a gun for self-defense as well as the individual right to own a gun for self-defense. In the third main theme, participants expressed their frustrations that victims are not taken seriously by the justice system and the difficulties of enforcing mandated gun restrictions. The findings have implications for developing protective strategies against gun violence for victims of partner violence.

Adverse Housing Conditions and Early-Onset Delinquency.

Housing constitutes an important health resource for children. Research has revealed that, when housing conditions are unfavorable, they can interfere with child health, academic performance, and cognition. Little to no research, however, has considered whether adverse housing conditions and early-onset delinquency are significantly associated with one another. This study explores the associations between structural and non-structural housing conditions and delinquent involvement during childhood. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were employed in this study. Each adverse housing condition was significantly associated with early-onset delinquency. Even so, disarray and deterioration were only significantly linked to early delinquent involvement in the presence of health/safety hazards. The predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed to housing risks in the presence of health/safety hazards was nearly three times as large as the predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed only to disarray and/or deterioration, and nearly four times as large as the predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed to none of the adverse housing conditions. The findings suggest that minimizing housing-related health/safety hazards among at-risk subsets of the population may help to alleviate other important public health concerns-particularly early-onset delinquency. Addressing household health/safety hazards may represent a fruitful avenue for public health programs aimed at the prevention of early-onset delinquency.

The Impact of Gender Stereotypes on Legal Perceptions of Lesbian Intimate Partner Violence.

The present study examined legal perceptions of lesbian intimate partner violence (IPV) in an experimental context. Undergraduate women and men from the Southeastern United States ( N = 217) read a trial summary in which the defendant was charged with physically assaulting her same-sex partner. The trial varied as to whether the victim and defendant were depicted via images as either feminine or masculine. Participants rendered verdicts and made judgments about the victim and defendant (e.g., credibility). Results indicated that the victim's and defendant's masculine or feminine appearance affected these judgments. Female participants viewed a masculine victim as more credible than a feminine victim when the defendant was masculine. When the victim was masculine, they viewed a masculine defendant as more responsible for the victim's injuries than a feminine defendant. Male participants had higher sympathy for a masculine versus feminine victim overall, but had more anger toward a masculine defendant versus a feminine defendant accused of assaulting a feminine victim. Finally, fewer participants mentioned the defendant's history of violence as a reason for a guilty of felony verdict for a feminine victim with a feminine defendant versus all other combinations of victim and defendant masculine/feminine appearance. Results are discussed in terms of gender stereotypes influencing legal decision-making in IPV cases among lesbian couples.

Associations Between Sexual Behavior Norm Beliefs in Relationships and Intimate Partner Rape Judgments.

Using a community sample ( n = 296), we investigated the associations between sexual behavior norm beliefs, acceptance of partner rape, judgments that non-consensual partner sex is "wrong not rape," and decisions if non-consensual partner sex should be charged as rape. Sexual behavior norm beliefs were associated both directly and indirectly with latter components in the model related to acceptance of non-consensual partner sex judgments and charging rape judgments. In addition, participant gender moderated the model, such that many of the associations between the variables were stronger for males than for females. The results have implications for understanding how individuals label rape between intimate partners.