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The Involvement of Children in Postseparation Intimate Partner Violence in Italy: A Strategy to Maintain Coercive Control?
Abstract
Violence against women often continues after couples separate. Although the involvement of children in intimate partner violence is known, no study has investigated the role of children in postseparation violence in southern Europe. The aim of this study was to analyze male perpetrators’ strategies to maintain control over the woman after couples separate and the involvement of children in this process. We designed a multimethod research with a sample of women attending five anti-violence centers in Italy: In the quantitative part, women were interviewed with a questionnaire (N = 151) at baseline and followed up 18 months later (N = 91); in the qualitative part, in-depth interviews were carried out with women (N = 13) attending the same centers. Results showed that women experienced high levels of violence and that children were deeply involved. When women with children were no longer living with the violence perpetrator, threats, violence, manipulation, and controlling behaviors occurred during father–child contacts: 78.9% of women in the longitudinal survey and all women in the qualitative study reported at least one of these unsettling behaviors. The qualitative study allowed for discovering some specific perpetrator strategies. Making the woman feel guilty, threatening, denigrating, and impoverishing her; preventing her from living a normal life; and trying to destroy the mother–child bond were key elements of a complex design aimed at maintaining coercive control over the ex-partner. Results from this multimethod study provided a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of coercive control and postseparation violence and how perpetrators use children to fulfill their aims.
... Some children were noted to come home with "bruises everywhere." Physical violence could be isolated outbursts of aggression or a recurring part of their contact experience (Feresin et al., 2019;Holt, 2011;Humphreys et al., 2019;Mackay, 2018;Zeoli et al., 2013). As Sean (a 7-year-old) said: "He's just bold . . . ...
... Similarly, verbal abuse that could escalate to events of bullying children was described by mothers (Humphreys et al., 2019). Mothers had also reported children witnessing assault or harassment directed at the mother (Feresin et al., 2019;McInnes, 2004). One mother mentioned that her ex-husband emotionally abused her by upsetting their child . ...
... In some studies, children felt rejected or "let down" when their fathers did not visit (Holt, 2011;Morrison, 2014;Toews & Bermea, 2017). Children also noticed their father's inconsistency and unpredictability (Holt, 2011(Holt, , 2015Vass & Haj-Yahia, 2022) and they began to anticipate this behavior as they "did not know exactly when he would come" (Vass & Haj-Yahia, 2022, p. 539) as he'd travel abroad, or if they visit, they would change contact plans at last minute (Feresin et al., 2019;Vass & Haj-Yahia, 2022). During the contact, children were frightened when they were not told where they were going and mothers reported how children "don't like to go with him because they are kept in uncertainty" (Galántai et al., 2019, p. 403). ...
Domestic violence (DV) can persist and escalate post-separation. However, little focus has been given to children exposed to DV during this period. This review aims to consolidate the available evidence on children's post-separation experiences with DV caused by their fathers. A qualitative systematic review was carried out. Six electronic databases were searched from the inception of each database until July 2022. Qualitative studies of children aged below 24 years, with biological fathers that committed DV, of which each had experienced parental separation were selected. Twenty studies were included in this review after screening according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline. Using Sandelowski and Barroso's analysis method, a meta-summary and a meta-synthesis were conducted. Three major themes with eight subthemes were identified: (1) continued abuse post-separation, (2) child's wavering mind of their fathers, and (3) wrangling between past and present. Overall, the findings highlighted that the experience of DV persisted post-separation through various forms of abuse. Children also struggled with mixed feelings and thoughts toward their fathers. They found it hard to trust their fathers and were cautious about their fathers' intentions regarding love and interest. Some children had difficulty interacting with their fathers and were exploited by them. Different stakeholders such as healthcare professionals and court officials can play a significant role in supporting and protecting children exposed to DV and schools can play a significant role in empowering children against DV.
... It is not uncommon for abusive partners and ex-partners to use children they share with survivors as intermediaries of abuse (Clements et al., 2021;Hayes, 2012Hayes, , 2017Katz et al., 2020). Strategies can include threatening to harm or kidnap the children if the survivor does not comply with demands (Feresin et al., 2019;Hayes, 2012Hayes, , 2017, using the children to garner information about the survivors' current movements (Beeble et al., 2007;Hayes, 2012), and either turning the children against the non-abusive parent or convincing them to pressure the survivor to take the abusive ex-partner back (Beeble et al., 2007). By weaponizing children, abusive partners can have continued-and often prolonged-access to their victims. ...
... Although there is a rich evidence base regarding children witnessing IPV or being abused themselves within this context (see Carter et al., 2022;Noble-Carr et al., 2020 for recent reviews), the scant research examining the use of children as a tactic of IPV against the survivor has been almost exclusively qualitative (Callaghan et al., 2018;Dragiewicz et al., 2022;Katz et al., 2020), cross-sectional (Clements et al., 2021;Holt, 2017), or included only a small number of items related to use of the children as a specific tactic of abuse (Feresin et al., 2019;Hayes, 2012). While these studies paint a consistent picture of the use of children being commonplace, only Clements and colleagues (2021) examined the relationship of this form of abuse with mothers' mental health. ...
... Interviews were only conducted with mothers and focused on the impact of this abuse on mothers, but there is also more to be understood about the child's experience with this type of abuse. It is well known that being privy to an abusive family dynamic has a negative impact on child development (Buckley et al., 2007;Feresin et al., 2019;Katz et al., 2020; Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. ...
Purpose
This is the first study to longitudinally examine the mental health and well-being impacts on survivors when their abusive partners and ex-partners use their children as an abuse tactic against them.
Methods
The sample included two hundred seventy-seven homeless or unstably housed survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). All were mothers of minor children. Participants were interviewed shortly after seeking services and again at 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, and 24-months. They were asked about abuse they had experienced in the past six months, including the ways children were used as a form of IPV. They were also asked about their current depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms, as well as quality of life.
Results
Many of the participants reported their abusive partners and ex-partners had used their children as a form of IPV to control or hurt them. Further, after controlling for other forms of abuse, use of the children significantly predicted increased anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and quality of life (but not depression) over time.
Conclusion
It is important to recognize the widespread use of children as a common and injurious form of IPV, and its impact on the mental health and well-being of survivors.
... Similarly, technology-facilitated stalking has not yet been foregrounded in the literature on children and coercive control. It has already been established in this literature that children are harmed not just by witnessing fathers' violence against mothers, but also via the range of coercive control tactics that domestic violence perpetrators often use -including psychological/emotional abuse, economic abuse, continual monitoring and micromanagement of activities, and isolation from sources of support (for example, Øverlien, 2013;Katz, 2016;Callaghan et al, 2018;Feresin et al, 2019;Haselschwerdt et al, 2019). Our focus on how children and young people are exposed to technology-facilitated stalking by fathers/father-figures opens up important new avenues of enquiry in the coercive control literature. ...
... For example, by denigrating the woman as a 'bad mother' in front of community and public audiences, the perpetrator weakens their victim while simultaneously presenting themselves as a 'good' father/ father-figure. Undermining the woman's maternal role and the child-mother relationship, such online-offline humiliation is a significant tactic of post-separation coercive control (Holt, 2017;Feresin et al, 2019;Humphreys et al, 2019;Monk and Bowen, 2020). ...
... Meanwhile, increasing our knowledge base around how children are affected by such technology-facilitated stalking can augment our existing knowledge of children and coercive control. We already understand much about how coercively controlling men/fathers tend to continue and even escalate their abuse after partners separate from them, and usually continue to play substantial and largely negative roles in their children's lives (Holt, 2015;Feresin et al, 2019;Humphreys et al, 2019;Katz et al, 2020). Because of perpetrators' ongoing campaigns of violence, stalking and threats, children and young people have described being unable to leave the home for fear of fathers attacking their mother and kidnapping them, constant worry about pet safety and doors and windows being locked, difficulty sleeping, lack of school attendance, and having to relocate to different areas multiple times (for example, Øverlien, 2013;Callaghan et al, 2018;Katz et al, 2020). ...
Knowledge of technology-facilitated abuse and stalking has increased in recent decades, but research on how children and young people are exposed to these behaviours by their parent is still lacking. This article examines how technology-facilitated parental stalking manifests in children’s and young people’s everyday lives in contexts where parents have separated and fathers/father-figures have stalked mothers as part of post-separation coercive control. The article analyses materials from 131 stalking cases dealt with by district courts in Finland from 2014 to 2017 in cases that involved a relationship (dating, cohabitation or marriage), separation/divorce, and one or more children. Analysis of these court decisions identified that children and young people were exposed to three manifestations of technology-facilitated parental stalking: (1) Threats of violence and death; (2) Intrusive and obsessive fatherhood; and (3) Disparaging and insulting motherhood/womanhood. These findings underline the following contextual factors that are important for professionals to consider in identifying and helping children and young people exposed to parental stalking: technology enabling constant coercive and controlling abuse, technology in maintaining abusive parenthood, and technology in magnifying gendered tactics of abuse. The article argues that children’s exposure to and vulnerability to technology-facilitated parental stalking must be more widely recognised.
Key messages
Children in cases of technology-facilitated parental stalking should be seen as victims/survivors in their own right.
The potential for technology-facilitated parental stalking and abuse against children and mothers should be considered in all cases of previous domestic violence/coercive control and parental separation. </ul
... As Holden explains, "'Exposed' is a better term than 'witnessed' or 'observed' because it is more inclusive of different types of experiences and does not assume that the child actually observed the violence" (2003, p. 151). Characterizations of children as passive witnesses to violent incidents are now outdated as many studies have documented how children actively manage and resist ongoing physical and non-physical abuse (Dragiewicz et al., 2020;Edleson et al., 2003;Feresin et al., 2019;Johnson, 2005;Katz, 2016;Katz et al., 2020;McGee, 2000;Morris et al., 2015;Mullender et al., 2002;Øverlien & Holt, 2019;Radford & Hester, 2006). Katz (2016) suggests that the coercive control frame can help draw attention to the overall pattern of ongoing non-physical abuse that jointly affects mothers and their children in addition to physical violence. ...
... As abusers lose other avenues to control estranged partners, post-separation parenting may become a key site for continued abuse. Domestic violence offenders frequently use family law systems and child contact as opportunities to continue abuse (Bancroft et al., 2012;Campo, 2015;Crossman et al., 2016;Elizabeth, 2017;Feresin et al., 2019;Harne, 2011;Jaffe et al., 2003;Johnson, 2005;Katz et al., 2020;Kaye et al., 2003;Mullender et al., 2002;Radford & Hester, 2006). In Australia, Kaye, Stubbs and Tolmie's study of 40 mothers who had to negotiate and facilitate contact arrangements with abusive ex-partners found that 97.5% of these women were abused post-separation, with 85.7% of resident parents abused in the context of child contact (2003, p. 25). ...
... This study indicates that rather than children being passively exposed to abuse as witnesses, women and children are effectively co-victims of technology-facilitated coercive control. This comports with the extant literature on the centrality of children to the dynamics of coercive control, with controlling tactics jointly affecting children and mothers and involving children in diverse ways (Bancroft et al., 2012;Callaghan et al., 2018;Campo, 2015;Feresin et al., 2019;Holt, 2013;Øverlien & Holt, 2019;Katz, 2016;Mullender et al., 2002;Morris et al., 2015). This has significant implications for violence prevention and intervention. ...
This is the first article to analyze children’s involvement in technology-facilitated coercive control in Australia. The primary research question was ‘‘How do mothers describe their children’s involvement in technology-facilitated coercive control?”. This article is based on incidental findings from a larger study on Australian women’s experiences of technology-facilitated abuse in the context of domestic violence. Although children were not the focus of the study, semi-structured interviews with twelve mothers yielded discussion of children’s involvement in the abuse. We used thematic analysis to identify key dynamics and contexts of this abuse. We found that mothers and their children are co-victims of coercive control. Mothers interviewed for the study reported that children were involved in technology-facilitated coercive control directly and indirectly. This study bridges the gap between the extant research on children and coercive control and technology-facilitated abuse by highlighting the ways children are involved in technology-facilitated coercive control. The social and legal contexts of co-parenting with abusive fathers exposed mothers and children to ongoing post-separation abuse, extending abusive fathers’ absent presence in the lives of children
... While the general public often naively hopes that separating from an abusive partner ameliorates these significant concerns, IPV commonly continues after women leave (Hardesty & Chung, 2006) either through continued physical assaults (Brownridge et al., 2008;Fleury et al., 2000;Humphreys & Thiara, 2003;Rezey, 2020), or sexual assaults (DeKeseredy et al., 2004). Importantly, women with children who leave abusive partners are often faced with bitter, high-conflict divorce and child custody and access disputes, the focus of considerable study (Ellis et al., 2021;Feresin et al., 2019;Jaffe et al., 2008;Khaw et al., 2021;Miller & Manzer, 2021;Saunders & Oglesby, 2016;Varcoe & Irwin, 2004). ...
... The post-separation physical assaults experienced by four women in the current study were serious, but one-time events. Physical and sexual assaults after partners separate have been studied extensively (i.e., Brownridge et al., 2008;DeKeseredy et al., 2004;Feresin et al., 2019;Fleury et al., 2000;Khaw et al., 2021;Miller & Manzer, 2021;Rezey, 2020;Saunders & Oglesby, 2016) and, while the current study focus was not on physical assaults postseparation, as questions specific to any physical assaults were not asked in either the post-separation abusive tactics checklist nor the in-depth interviews, it made sense to note that violence occurred for some women, albeit not often. That relatively few women were physically abused post-separation is consistent with Hayes (2012) even though, the scores on the CAS (Hegarty et al., 2005) illustrated significant IPV when the women co-habited with their partners; in the clinical ranges on all CAS subscales and the Total score. ...
Relatively little research has examined men's use of coercive controlling tactics against female partners after separation. This mixed-methods secondary analysis of 346 Canadian women documented coercive controlling tactics used by their ex-partners (86.4% identified at least one). The composite abuse scale emotional abuse subscale and women being older were associated with men using coercive control tactics post-separation. A secondary qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with a sub-sample of 34 women provided additional examples. Abusive partners used numerous strategies to coercively control their ex-partners by stalking/harassing them, using financial abuse and discrediting the women to various authorities. Considerations for future research are presented.
... This is a serious limitation. Data indicate that violent partners often continue to exert violence against the ex-spouse even after the couple separates (Brownridge et al., 2008); this post-separation violence may involve children (Feresin et al., 2019;Radford et al., 1997). According to Italian national data (Istat, 2015), 5% of women are victims of physical or sexual violence from their current partner and 19% from their ex-partner; rates for psychological and economic violence are 26% and 46%, respectively. ...
... According to a smaller study carried out in northern Italy, among women who had presented at an anti-violence center (AVC), 3-5 years later, almost half were still experiencing partner violence (Pomicino et al., 2019). Notwithstanding its frequency and seriousness, post-separation violence tends to be poorly understood by professionals working with abused women and their children (Feresin et al., 2019). Investigating what happened to victims of post-separation violence during the lockdown is necessary to complete our picture of the consequences of COVID-19 on violence against women and their children. ...
This study explores intimate partner violence (IPV) evolution during the lockdown with a sample of 238 women (44% cohabitating and 56% not cohabitating with the perpetrator), attending five antiviolence centers in Italy (June-September 2020). Questions included 12 items on IPV and, for each item, a question about whether violence increased/stayed the same/decreased during lockdown; an indicator of IPV modifications was constructed. Two distinct patterns, confirmed after adjustment for socio-demographic factors, emerged: IPV increased for 28% of cohabitating and decreased for 56% of non-cohabitating women. Such results suggest the efficacy of physical distancing-strictly controlled by the State-in the prevention of IPV.
... Moreover, perpetrators of DVA may establish new intimate relationships, and or retain access to their children in some capacity post-separation (Maxwell et al., 2012;Westmarland & Kelly, 2015), often without reforming their behavior or belief systems (Hester & Westmarland, 2006). Child contact can therefore expand the modes and possibilities for the DVA to continue (Coy et al., 2015;Feresin et al., 2019;Kelly et al., 2014;Macdonald, 2016;Thiara & Gill, 2012), including the coercive control of children (Katz et al., 2020). ...
Purpose
This paper foregrounds the experiences of mothers involved with England’s children’s social care system when experiencing domestic abuse. It reports on data from a survivor-led study on domestic violence and/or abuse (DVA), involving women victim-survivors and domestic abuse practitioners. It aimed to understand how dominant discourses governing child protection work with families in which there is a perpetrator of DVA, might be revised to shift a tendency to hold mothers (solely) responsible for the protection of children as well as for their partners’ abuse.
Methods
The study advances a discourse analysis of interview and focus group data, substantiating how children’s social care practices produce the routine responsibilisation of the non-abusing parent, usually the mother, with limited focus on the abusing parent, usually the father.
Results
The paper exposes the gendered discourses of mother-victim-blame and responsibility patterning children’s social care responses to domestic abuse, which together intensify adult and child victim-survivor material harm and hamper child protection work. Also in evidence are the enduring traumatic consequences of the court-ordered removal of children.
Conclusion
The paper has implications for policy and practice, asserting that shifting responsibility away from mothers requires the ongoing interrogation of normative understandings of gender relations and gender-role stereotypes as they manifest in families. Fathers’ accountability should be constructed on a structural as well as individual level, which in the case of DVA and the family, incorporates efforts to enable perpetrators of DVA to cultivate an individual sense of responsibility and accountability, as standard practice.
... Ce répertoire de comportements oppressifs constitue un privilège de genre (Delage, 2020) qui « s'appuie sur la vulnérabilité créée par des inégalités » (Stark, 2007, p. 5 3 ). Il perdure après la séparation, y compris par l'intermédiaire des enfants (Dragiewicz, 2014 ;Feresin et al., 2019) et l'exercice de la parentalité (Sadlier, 2015a, b ;Durand, 2013). La recherche commence à tenir compte de son effet traumatisant sur les enfants (Katz et al., 2020) dans tous leurs domaines de vie : santé, éducation, développement des relations, loisirs, probabilité de comportement à risque ou violent, et de redevenir victime (OMS, 2010). ...
Le contrôle coercitif (Stark, 2007) désigne les comportements constants, cumulatifs, continués post-séparation, par lesquels les agresseurs subordonnent durablement les victimes par la peur et la privation de droits humains fondamentaux. Cette note le présente à partir d’éléments scientifiques destinés aux magistrat-e-s et à leurs partenaires, policiers, gendarmes, avocats, greffiers, huissiers, éducateurs, soignants, cadres de l’aide sociale à l’enfance, associations de victimes ou d’accompagnement des auteurs, conseillers pénitentiaires d’insertion et de probation, chercheurs, professionnels impliqués dans la prévention, la prise en charge et le traitement des violences au sein du couple. L’objectif est de contribuer à la création d’une culture commune favorable au dialogue interprofessionnel pour mieux protéger les victimes et lever les entraves à la révélation de ces violences indissociables de leur impact sur les enfants.
Coercive control (CC) is a core facet of intimate partner violence (IPV) and involves asserting power, dominance, and control over another person. Although the adverse impacts of childhood exposure to interparental IPV have been well documented, the outcomes of childhood exposure to interparental CC have not been systematically examined. This study aimed to address this gap by reviewing available empirical evidence on interparental CC and child and family outcomes. Articles were identified by searching electronic databases using keywords relating to CC, children and parents, and child wellbeing outcomes. The final review included 51 studies that reported on adverse outcomes pertaining to parenting and family relationships ( k = 29), child internalizing and externalizing problems ( k = 7), social-emotional development ( k = 5), and physical/health development ( k = 17). Specifically, studies reported that CC was associated with increased parental psychopathology, poorer family functioning, harsher parenting and higher levels of child abuse, strained parent–child relationships, children used as tools and co-victims of CC, increased risk of child internalizing and externalizing problems, limited socializing opportunities, increased bullying, poorer perinatal outcomes, limited access to healthcare, and increased risk of child mortality. Evidence identified CC as a unique contributor to adverse child wellbeing outcomes, independent of exposure to IPV more broadly. Results indicated that the impacts of childhood exposure to CC are complex, far reaching, and, in some cases, devastating. The limitations of the findings, as well as implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.
The ways in which postseparation parenting disputes are managed has undergone significant change in Australia since the Family Law Act (Cth) was first enacted in 1975. The best interests of children have always been paramount in children’s cases and over the last 20 years, this concept has been legislatively shaped to include ongoing beneficial post separation parental relationships and protection from harm. A critical piece of evidence to inform a Family Court’s decision making in such matters is a family report, which is an expert assessment compiled by a social science professional. The authors report findings from an Australian based qualitative study exploring the experiences of family report assessment practice from the perspective of victim mothers who have separated from men who perpetrate intimate partner violence. The authors conclude that reforms are necessary to improve the practice and procedure of family report writing in Australia. Such reforms should ensure that the lived experience of victims of intimate partner violence is validated, assessment processes have victim efficacy, and the outcomes of such reports do not put women and their children at ongoing risk of harm.
This study examines the situation of women ( N = 124) who had presented themselves to an anti-violence center in Italy in the previous 3-5 years. At follow-up, 37.3% had no contact with the perpetrator, 22.7% had stayed with him, and 39.8% had "forced" contact. Almost half of the sample was still subjected to intimate partner violence (IPV). Compared to women with "no contact," the risk of IPV was 5.9 times higher for women who stayed with the perpetrator, and 10.5 times higher for women with "forced" contact. These results confirm that ending IPV does not depend exclusively on women's choices.
Women leaving violent relationships face many challenges and risks. A survivor with children may encounter even greater barriers in protecting herself and her children from an ex-partner. These barriers are especially insidious because they take the form of “no-win” situations or “traps.” If she stays she may be accused of “failing to protect” her children from violence and then faces more violence, yet leaving means facing the risk of stalking, harassment and more abuse. Reporting threats or violence to authorities or being reluctant to co-parent means she goes against the “friendly parent” standard used to award custody. She also risks being accused of making false allegations of abuse or being labeled as an “alienator,” causing “parental alienation syndrome” in her child. We illustrate such traps with survivors’ own words among those who experience very negative custody or visitation outcomes. Implications are made for professional practice and policy reform.
This article critically explores accounts of how men attending domestic violence perpetrator programs (DVPP) used the “time out” strategy. Findings are drawn from 71 semi-structured interviews with 44 men attending DVPPs and 27 female partners or ex-partners of men in DVPPs. We describe three ways in which the technique was used: first, as intended, to interrupt potential physical violence; second, through the effective adaption of the time-out rules by victim-survivors; and finally, misappropriation by some men to continue and extend their controlling behaviors. Policy and practice lessons are drawn from the findings through connecting broader and deeper measurements of what success means when working with domestic violence perpetrators to the ways in which the time-out technique was used.
This paper outlines why domestic violence (or more specifically, coercive control) should be crucial to child custody proceedings. What is known about parenting in the context of coercively controlling violence, and what the legislation directs courts to consider, is juxtaposed with the actuality of court decision making. Current knowledge about the recognition of domestic violence in judicial practice is overviewed, drawing particular attention to the role of the ‘expert’ family assessment in determinations of a child’s ‘best interests’. A comprehensive synopsis of the existing research on these ‘expert’ reports in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States is provided. It is concluded that, in court proceedings the reality of living with coercively controlling violence and the potential on-going risks it poses to children and non-abusive parents, is typically negated. Instead, ‘best interests’ considerations prioritise the maintenance of perpetrator/child relationships, and thus “abuser’s rights” over victim safety. Judicial officers are not experts in domestic violence and they can only make decisions on the basis of the evidence before them, the assessments made by the ‘experts’ likely play an important role in best interest considerations. Of concern is current research that calls into serious question the expertise of these ‘experts’ when it comes to proceedings involving allegations of coercively controlling violence.
This study aimed to identify factors associated with the likelihood of IPV cessation among women attending Spanish primary healthcare. Of the 2465 women who reported lifetime IPV, 36.1 % stated that violence had ceased. Those women not currently abused had higher levels of education and social support, were workers or students, and had no dependent children. When IPV duration was less than 5 years, the likelihood of cessation was two times higher than when IPV continued beyond 5 years. For women who have experienced physical IPV, the probability of ending the violent relationship was 10 times higher than for those suffering from psychological IPV. The implications of the findings regarding clinical significance and future research are discussed.
• Summary: Domestic violence often directly and indirectly undermines the relationship between mothers and their children. This paper describes ‘the tactics of abuse’ that are instrumental in this damaging process and draws on previous research by one of the authors which shows that a conspiracy of silence can ensue, precluding talk of the abuse that women and children have experienced. The first stage of a four-year action research process designed to address some of these issues is discussed.
• Findings: Early findings show that those women and children living in refuges or using outreach services who chose to work together on activities have found the process beneficial. They have provided critical feedback about how the project and activities can be revised for the second action research cycle. The research also shows that not all women are ready to engage in this process when they enter a refuge, and it does require them to acknowledge that their children have been exposed to, and negatively affected by, domestic violence.
• Applications: The implications for social workers and specifically the need to provide active support for the mother-child relationship in the aftermath of domestic violence are discussed.
This grounded theory study examined the processes by which women make custody decisions and manage co-parenting after divorce with abusive former husbands. Nineteen women who left abusive husbands were interviewed. Fears, prag- matic concerns, and family ideology pushed them toward custody agreements that continued their involvement with former husbands after divorce. Men who were controlling during marriage were very involved with children postdivorce and continued to exert control over mothers. As a result, women managed conflict, set boundaries, and resisted control in the context of ongoing fear. Postdivorce abuse, positive changes in fathers, and children's recognition of abuse influenced how women co-parented over time. Fears, pragmatic concerns, and family ideology continued to influ- ence their decisions as they planned for the future.
Throughout the 1990s, scholars interested in fatherhood have generated a voluminous, rich, and diverse body of work. We selectively review this literature with an eye toward prominent theoretical, methodological, and substantive issues. This burgeoning literature, complemented by social policy makers' heightened interest in fathers and families, focuses on fatherhood in at least 4 key ways. First, theorists have studied fatherhood as a cultural representation that is expressed through different sociocultural processes and embedded in a larger ecological context. Second, researchers have conceptualized and examined the diverse forms of fatherhood and father involvement. Third, attempts have been made to identify the linkages between dimensions of the father-child relationship and developmental outcomes among children and fathers. Fourth, scholars have explored the father identity as part of a reciprocal process negotiated by men, children, mothers, and other interested parties. Our review highlights research that examines the relationships between dimensions of the father-child relationship and children's well-being and development. We conclude by discussing promising avenues of scholarship for the next generation of research on fatherhood.
The WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women is a landmark research project, both in its scope and in how it was carried out. For the results presented in this report, specially trained teams collected data from over 24 000 women from 15 sites in 10 countries representing diverse cultural settings: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Namibia, Peru, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Over their lifetime, approximately 10% of all women become victims of postseparation stalking or assault. We use a nationally representative survey of separated Swedish women to examine whether men who strive to control their partners during their relationships are more likely to stalk or assault their ex-partners after separation. The empirical analysis shows that basic measures of control behaviors explain 18% of the variance in stalking victimization and 8% of the assault victimization. Moreover, the predictive values of our measures of control by far surpass those of other common risk markers included in the analysis.
Much of the discourse on intimate partner violence assumes that women must end their relationship with their abusive partner
to increase their safety and emotional well-being. Few studies, however, exist to support this assumption. Equally problematic,
those studies that do exist have failed to distinguish women who leave and stay out from those who leave only to later return.
Comparing emotional well-being and experiences of violence for 206 low-income, primarily Black battered women following different
relationship trajectories, this longitudinal study found that women both separated from and together with their partner for
the entire year of the study fared best at the end of that year compared to women “in” and “out” of the relationship over
time. Beyond challenging common assumptions, these findings highlight the importance of considering the larger context within
which an individual instance of leaving occurs.
We aimed to describe the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy across 19 countries, and examine trends across age groups and UN regions. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (20 surveys from 15 countries) and the International Violence Against Women Surveys (4 surveys from 4 countries) carried out between 1998 and 2007. Our data suggest that intimate partner violence during a pregnancy is a common experience. The prevalence of IPV during pregnancy ranged from approximately 2.0% in Australia, Cambodia, Denmark and the Philippines to 13.5% in Uganda among ever-pregnant, ever-partnered women; half of the surveys estimated prevalence to be between 3.9 and 8.7%. Prevalence appeared to be higher in African and Latin American countries relative to the European and Asian countries surveyed. In most settings, prevalence was relatively constant in the younger age groups (age 15-35), and then appeared to decline very slightly after age 35. Intimate partner violence during pregnancy is more common than some maternal health conditions routinely screened for in antenatal care. Global initiatives to reduce maternal mortality and improve maternal health must devote increased attention to violence against women, particularly violence during pregnancy.
Feminism's achievements regarding violence against women are a key target for the fathers' rights movement. This article provides an overview of the impact of the fathers' rights movement on men's violence against women. It documents the ways in which fathers' rights groups in Australia have influenced changes in family law, which privilege parental contact over safety, particularly through moves toward a presumption of children's joint residence. They have attempted to discredit female victims of violence, to wind back the legal protections available to victims and the sanctions imposed on perpetrators, and to undermine services for the victims of men's violence.
Drawing on Connell's (Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. California: Stanford University Press, 1987; Masculinities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995) model of gender relations, this paper examines patterns of intimate partner violence among women who have recently left an abusive partner. In so doing, we attempt to better understand the social structural factors that shape the relations of power and control in intimate violent heterosexual unions. The data come from the first wave of a longitudinal prospective survey of 309 women who had left an abusive partner in the previous 3 years. Our data suggest that structured relations of inequality, namely relations of production, power and cathexis, shape women's risk of abuse and harassment after leaving, and do so in ways that shape relations of coercive control. These results have implications for understanding the social context within which male violence against women occurs, and how this context constrains and/or enables women's strategies for leaving and safety.
PIP
The link between recent or imminent separation and violence against female partners is discussed. Interviews were conducted among 87 divorced, separated and domestic violence survivors during 1985-88 to study violence perpetrated by men against their female intimate partners. Various bodies of literature are reviewed to establish the fact that separation heightens the risk of violence. The conceptual contributions of social learning and power and control theories are presented as they pertain to intimate violence against women. An expanded version of the power-and-control model is used to underscore the violence proneness of separations, especially when women initiate separations. To illustrate the expanded model, numerous Canadian examples are provided, drawn from interviews with divorced women, survivors of intimate violence, and news media reports. Finally, different strategies to break the cycle of violence are summarized.
Although most states mandate considerations of intimate partner violence (IPV) in child custody proceedings, little is known about how often a preexisting history of IPV is effectively presented to the courts in dissolution cases and, when it is, what effect it has on child custody and visitation outcomes. This retrospective cohort study examined the effects of a history of IPV, further categorized by whether substantiation of that history existed and whether the court handling the custody proceedings knew of that history, on child custody and visitation outcomes. The findings from this study highlight several issues of concern regarding the reality of child custody among families with a history of IPV. These include two primary concerns: a lack of identification of IPV even among cases with a documented, substantiated history, and a lack of strong protections being ordered even among cases in which a history of substantiated IPV is known to exist.
The United Kingdom has seen conflicting developments in safeguarding women's and children's safety when there has been domestic violence. Although criminal justice responses have improved, child contact arrangements following parental separation remain dominated by pro-contact models that fail to take full account of the impact of domestic violence. Drawing on qualitative research in U.K. child contact (visitation) centers, this article presents women's perspectives to demonstrate how family court proceedings and welfare practices marginalized violence and exposed women and children to further abuse. This builds on previous articles in the journal to show how, in the post-separation family, contact now constitutes a significant site for continuing violence.
We aimed to describe the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy across 19 countries, and examine trends across age groups and UN regions. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (20 surveys from 15 countries) and the International Violence Against Women Surveys (4 surveys from 4 countries) carried out between 1998 and 2007. Our data suggest that intimate partner violence during a pregnancy is a common experience. The prevalence of IPV during pregnancy ranged from approximately 2.0% in Australia, Cambodia, Denmark and the Philippines to 13.5% in Uganda among ever-pregnant, ever-partnered women; half of the surveys estimated prevalence to be between 3.9 and 8.7%. Prevalence appeared to be higher in African and Latin American countries relative to the European and Asian countries surveyed. In most settings, prevalence was relatively constant in the younger age groups (age 15–35), and then appeared to decline very slightly after age 35. Intimate partner violence during pregnancy is more common than some maternal health conditions routinely screened for in antenatal care. Global initiatives to reduce maternal mortality and improve maternal health must devote increased attention to violence against women, particularly violence during pregnancy.
Résumé
Nous souhaitions décrire la prévalence de la violence exercée sur les femmes enceintes par un partenaire intime dans 19 pays, et examiner les tendances par groupes d'âge et régions des Nations Unies. Nous avons mené une analyse secondaire des données d'enquêtes démographiques et sanitaires (20 enquêtes dans 15 pays) et d'enquêtes internationales sur la violence faite aux femmes (quatre enquêtes dans quatre pays) réalisées entre 1998 et 2007. Nos données indiquent que la violence du partenaire intime pendant la grossesse est fréquente. Sa prévalence allait d'environ 2,0% en Australie, au Cambodge, au Danemark et aux Philippines à 13,5% en Ouganda parmi les femmes ayant déjà été enceintes et ayant déjà eu un partenaire ; la moitié des enquêtes estimaient cette prévalence entre 3,9 et 8,7%. La prévalence semblait plus élevée dans les pays d'Afrique et d'Amérique latine que dans les pays d'Europe et d'Asie ayant fait l'objet des enquêtes. Dans la plupart des pays, la prévalence était relativement constante dans les groupes d'âge les plus jeunes (15–35 ans) et semblait décliner très légèrement après 35 ans. La violence du partenaire intime pendant la grossesse est plus fréquente que certaines conditions de santé maternelle qui font l'objet d'un dépistage systématique dans les consultations prénatales. Les initiatives mondiales pour réduire la mortalité maternelle et améliorer la santé maternelle doivent consacrer davantage d'attention à la violence faite aux femmes, en particulier pendant la grossesse.
Resumen
Nos propusimos describir la prevalencia de violencia de pareja íntima (VPI) durante el embarazo en 19 países y examinar las tendencias en diferentes grupos etarios y regiones de la ONU. Realizamos un análisis de datos secundarios de las Encuestas Demográficas y de Salud (20 encuestas de 15 países) y de las Encuestas Internacionales sobre Violencia contra las Mujeres (4 encuestas de 4 países) realizadas entre 1998 y 2007. Nuestros datos indican que la violencia de pareja íntima durante el embarazo es una experiencia común. La prevalencia de la VPI durante el embarazo varió de un 2.0% en Australia, Camboya, Dinamarca y Filipinas al 13.5% en Uganda entre mujeres alguna vez embarazadas, que alguna vez tuvieron pareja; la mitad de las encuestas calcularon una prevalencia del 3.9% al 8.7%. La prevalencia pareció ser más alta en países africanos y latinoamericanos comparada con los países europeos y asiáticos encuestados. En la mayoría de los entornos, la prevalencia era relativamente constante en los grupos más jóvenes (de 15 a 35 años) y pareció disminuir muy poco después de los 35 años de edad. La violencia de pareja íntima durante el embarazo es más común que algunos problemas de salud materna para los cuales se hacen pruebas de detección sistemática durante la atención antenatal. Las iniciativas internacionales por disminuir la tasa de mortalidad materna y mejorar la salud materna deben dedicar mayor atención a la violencia contra las mujeres, particularmente la violencia durante el embarazo.
Domestic violence has a serious impact on children and families but some of the harm can be minimised by providing parents with effective guidance on developing safe, protective and positive ways of caring for their children in the aftermath of a violent relationship.
Co Author - Kate Iwi
This practical guide provides techniques and exercises to help practitioners work in a structured and focused way with parents after domestic violence has occurred. It sets out a framework for assessing risks and needs, and covers how to build strengths, set goals, and plan an intervention pathway. Advice, exercises and handouts that are easily photocopied will help parents understand the impact of domestic violence and develop their relationship with their child. The resource also covers how to use discipline, talking to children, understanding child development, and how to build resilience and empathy. Guidance on working with both the perpetrator and the victim of domestic violence is included.
This invaluable resource will benefit child and family social workers, children's centre workers, therapists, counsellors and anyone supporting a family recovering from the trauma of domestic violence.
While mediation is commonly used in custody negotiation, there is no consensus regarding its applicability in domestic violence cases. The aim of this qualitative study in Italy was to explore the role of family mediation in the management of child custody in cases involving domestic violence. Semistructured interviews were conducted with lawyers (N=5), social workers (N=15), and abused women who had separated from their children’s fathers (N=13). Legal documents were also analyzed. The results showed that violence against women and children had often been concealed during mediation, as the professionals involved had failed to detect domestic violence or had labeled it as conflicts. Moreover, the “parental couple” had been dissociated from the “marital couple,” and the responsibility for the abuse had been attributed to both parents. As a result, women and children had been blamed and had experienced secondary victimization, while the perpetrators’ patterns of power and control had continued. The results also revealed that those professionals had not known about and had not applied the Istanbul Convention, which provides guidelines to ensure women’s and children’s safety. Recommendations highlight the need to account for the complexity of domestic violence cases, to hold perpetrators responsible for the abuse, and to support the victims.
This book is born of a contradiction: on the one hand, there has been a genuine advance in the awareness of violence against women and children and actions to oppose it. On the other, the violence persists and so does the counter-attack against those who seek to expose it. Patrizia Romito’s extraordinary book describes the links between discrimination, violence against women and violence against children and, uniquely, uncovers the strategies and tactics used for concealing it. Her analysis, corroborated by a solid theoretical framework as well as up-to-date international research data, powerfully reveals the interconnectedness of what might appear as separate events or measures. The book also demonstrates how the same tactics and strategies are at work in various different countries. Written in a clear and direct style, the book is an essential tool for anyone - professional, researcher or activist - wanting to understand male violence against women and children and to oppose it.
Children's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with significant emotional impairment and other harmful effects. It is increasingly recognized as a type of child maltreatment, with outcomes similar to other types of abuse and neglect. Children can experience harm from exposure to IPV, even when not directly involved in, or a witness to, the violence between caregivers. This review, based on a synthesis of best available evidence, addresses the epidemiology of children's exposure to IPV, including prevalence, risk and protective factors, and associated impairment, as well as strategies for identification, and interventions for prevention of exposure and impairment. Strategies for ensuring children's safety are also discussed. The article concludes with guidance specific to mental health clinicians.
Examines violent acts and violent actors in the context of a marital relationship delineating the conflicts of interest between intimate partners that focus on issues such as domestic work, money, children, alcohol, possessiveness and jealousy, restrictions of social life, sex, and male power and authority. We identify a constellation of violence made up of the physical acts of violence, injuries, and various forms of controlling behaviors. On the basis of a study of violent men and women partners, we use data from the Violent Assessment Index, the Injuries Assessment Index, and the Controlling Behaviour Index to compare the accounts of men and women and reflect on the similarities and differences between them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
1. Power and the Politics of Custody Carol Smart 2. The Politics of Custody and Gender: Child Advocacy and the Transformation of Custody Decision Making in the USA Martha Fineman 3. Rights for Fathers and the State: Recent Developments in Custody Politics in the Netherlands Nora Holtrust, Selma Sevenhuijsen and Annick Verbracken 4. The Interest of the Child' and the Regulation of the Post-Divorce Family Irene Thery 5. From Gender Specificity to Gender' Neutrality? Ideologies in Canadian Child Custody Law Susan Boyd 6. Best Interests and Justice Kirsten Sandberg 7. Equal Rights versus Fathers Rights: The Child Custody Debate in Australia Regina Graycar 8. The Custody of Children in the Republic of Ireland Delma McDevitt 9. Custody Law, Childcare and Parenthood in Thatcher's Britain Julia Brophy 10. What else is new? Reproductive Technologies and Custody Politics Juliette Zipper.
As in many other countries in the West, Swedish policy and law presupposes shared parenting and a high degree of parental co-operation after separation or divorce. Parents are expected to share the legal responsibility for the child and face-to-face contact is presumed to be in the best interests of the child. It was not until the new millennium that intimate partner violence was placed upon the policy agenda to any greater extent in the field of family law. The legislation has recently been revised with the aim of ensuring a higher degree of safety for both abused parents and children. The re-definition of children exposed to violence as crime victims seems to be a key to these changes. In many ways, the development regarding intimate partner violence represents a significant change of direction in Swedish policy in the area of family law. However, it is argued that policy makers need to pay more attention to the implementation of safety-oriented reforms. The discussion demonstrates how three social positions available for children in this context - the witness, the victim, and the competent participant - form a relational pattern full of tensions that creates challenges for everyday professional practice. The article highlights how the ambiguity in the perspective on children, constructing them as both 'becomings' and 'beings' may undermine policy intentions to create a higher degree of safety in the field of family law for this particular group of vulnerable children. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Much of the existing research on intimate male violence against women has focused on the prevalence of and response to abuse that occurs within an ongoing intimate relationship. Little attention has been paid to the abuse that occurs after women have ended abusive relationships. In the current study, women leaving a shelter for women with abusive partners were interviewed across 2 years. More than one third of the women were assaulted by a former partner during the time of the study. Several factors under the control of the batterer were found to be related to ex-partner assaults, including his prior violence, threats, and sexual suspicion. Several factors under partial control of the survivor were also explored and were found to be less strongly related to violence by an ex-partner. Implications for improving the community response to women with abusive partners and ex-partners are discussed.
Despite its great achievements, the domestic violence revolution is stalled, Evan Stark argues, a provocative conclusion he documents by showing that interventions have failed to improve women's long-term safety in relationships or to hold perpetrators accountable. Stark traces this failure to a startling paradox, that the singular focus on violence against women masks an even more devastating reality. In millions of abusive relationships, men use a largely unidentified form of subjugation that more closely resembles kidnapping or indentured servitude than assault. He calls this pattern "coercive control." Drawing on sources that range from FBI statistics and film to dozens of actual cases from his thirty years of experience as an award-winning researcher, advocate, and forensic expert, Stark shows in terrifying detail how men can use coercive control to extend their dominance over time and through social space in ways that subvert women's autonomy, isolate them, and infiltrate the most intimate corners of their lives. Against this backdrop, Stark analyzes the cases of three women tried for crimes committed in the context of abuse, showing that their reactions are only intelligible when they are reframed as victims of coercive control rather than as "battered wives." The story of physical and sexual violence against women has been told often. But this is the first book to show that most abused women who seek help do so because their rights and liberties have been jeopardized not because they have been injured. The coercive control model Stark develops resolves three of the most perplexing challenges posed by abuse: why these relationships endure, why abused women develop a profile of problems seen among no other group of assault victims, and why the legal system has failed to win them justice. Elevating coercive control from a second-class misdemeanor to a human rights violation, Stark explains why law, policy, and advocacy must shift their focus to emphasize how coercive control jeopardizes women's freedom in everyday life. Fiercely argued and eminently readable, Stark's work is certain to breathe new life into the domestic violence revolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examines sexual abuse of children in the light of the facts that approximately 10% of all women report a childhood sexual experience with a relative and that 1% are victims of father–daughter incest. Incestuous families are seen to represent a pathological exaggeration of traditional patriarchal norms. Common features include extreme paternal dominance, maternal disability, and imposition of a mothering role on the oldest daughter. The incestual relationship has not only been found to begin before puberty and to continue in secrecy for many years, but more than one daughter may be involved. Adult women with a history of incest exhibit a clinical syndrome that includes low self-esteem, difficulty in intimate relationships, and repeated victimization. Measures that improve the general status of women and strengthen the role of mothers within the family are proposed as the best means of long-term prevention. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This 2003 article seeks to take on what was then conventional wisdom, that myriad law reforms over the prior two decades have improved and corrected the law's response to domestic violence. It focuses on family courts' failure to credit and respond appropriately to protective mothers' - mostly battered women's - allegations that fathers are unsafe for the children. It unpacks several "neutral" principles that seem to guide family courts' responses to abuse allegations, arguing that they are mis-guided, and distort the realities of battering and child abuse in these cases. While not seeking to explain family court culture simply in terms of gender bias, it discusses aspects of commonly held views that are intrinsically gender discriminatory. It ends with two "thought experiments" as suggestions for possible mechanisms for challenging and correcting the dominant and non-protective family court culture in these cases.
Joint custody and cooperative coparenting are often unsafe for women who leave violent partners. Although certain legal protections are available, more work is needed to understand and address abused women's needs in this context. This study provides divorce scholars and practitioners with information on the interface between separation/divorce and intimate partner violence. We review existing research, policies, and programs and propose directions for intervention and research that center around the unique needs of these families.
Today, judges are faced with the daunting task of determining the best interests of the child and making appropriate custody awards to that end. The best interests of children becomes a critical question when domestic violence is involved; yet, determining what constitutes domestic violence is often debated. Research is often divided on what constitutes domestic violence. One body of research focuses on conflict, another focuses on domestic violence. What the first group identifies as intense emotional distress and disagreement, the other identifies as abuse. Judges making custody determinations in such cases are faced with the difficult challenge of distinguishing between a divorce with “high conflict” and a domestic violence case with ongoing abuse. This article will summarize the legal, philosophical, and historical understandings of the “high conflict” family and its potential impact on children. It will also provide practical judicial guidelines for making the important distinction between high conflict and domestic violence and subsequently crafting appropriate and safe child custody awards.
A growing body of empirical research has demonstrated that intimate partner violence is not a unitary phenomenon and that types of domestic violence can be differentiated with respect to partner dynamics, context, and consequences. Four patterns of violence are described: Coercive Controlling Violence, Violent Resistance, Situational Couple Violence, and Separation-Instigated Violence. The controversial matter of gender symmetry and asymmetry in intimate partner violence is discussed in terms of sampling differences and methodological limitations. Implications of differentiation among types of domestic violence include the need for improved screening measures and procedures in civil, family, and criminal court and the possibility of better decision making, appropriate sanctions, and more effective treatment programs tailored to the characteristics of different types of partner violence. In family court, reliable differentiation should provide the basis for determining what safeguards are necessary and what types of parenting plans are appropriate to ensure healthy outcomes for children and parent–child relationships.
Violenza e maltrattamenti contro le donne dentro e fuori la famiglia [Violence and abuse against women inside and outside the family
- Istat
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Mothering through domestic violence
- L Radford
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The batterer as parent
- L Bancroft
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The interconnectedness of domestic violence and child abuse: Challenges for research, policy and practice
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State of the world’s fathers. Time for action
- Promundo
Crisis in family court: Lessons from turned around cases
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Power and control: Tactics of men who batter (Rev
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Finding the costs of freedom. How women and children rebuilt their lives after domestic violence
- L Kelly
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lives after domestic violence. London, England: Solace Women's Aid.