Betty Jo Barrett’s research while affiliated with University of Windsor and other places

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Publications (33)


Prevalence and types of pet-inclusive shelter services for unhoused survivors of intimate partner violence
  • Article

March 2025

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12 Reads

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1 Citation

Betty Jo Barrett

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Amy Fitzgerald

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[...]

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Nicole Forsyth


Domestic Violence, Companion Animal Abuse, and Help-Seeking: The Mediating Role of Fear of Lethal Violence

November 2021

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44 Reads

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2 Citations

Women & Criminal Justice

This study assesses the relationship between threatened/enacted violence against companion animals, intimate partner violence (IPV), fear of lethal violence, and help-seeking in a community sample of IPV survivors in Canada (n = 630). After controlling for socio-demographic covariates, IPV survivors who report animal maltreatment by their partner were significantly more likely to fear for their lives and to seek help from multiple sources of support than survivors who did not report animal maltreatment, with the relationship between animal abuse and help-seeking mediated by survivors’ fear of lethal IPV. Implications for the provision of effective services and supports to this high-risk population of IPV survivors are discussed.


Unmet Healthcare Need Due to Cost Concerns among U.S. Transgender and Gender-Expansive Adults: Results from a National Survey

October 2021

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143 Reads

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12 Citations

Health and Social Work

This study examines past-year unmet healthcare need due to cost experienced by transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) adults in the United States in the context of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). It also aims to estimate the importance of having health insurance among TGE Americans (transgender men, transgender women, nonbinary/genderqueer people, and cross-dressers). Data were from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (N = 19,157 adults, aged 25 to 64 years). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CI) of TGE individuals' past-year unmet healthcare need due to cost. Although the majority (86.8 percent) reported seeing a doctor or healthcare provider in the past year, 32.1 percent reported past-year unmet healthcare need due to cost. One in six respondents (17.1 percent) was uninsured and almost one-third (29.8 percent) were at/near poverty. The prevalence of unmet healthcare need was greater among the uninsured (65.1 percent) than among the insured (25.2 percent). Compared with transgender women, nonbinary/genderqueer people (AOR = 1.31, 95% CI [1.18, 1.46]) and transgender men (AOR = 1.30, 95% CI [1.18, 1.42]) had greater odds of unmet healthcare need due to cost. Social workers can lobby to fully enact the ACA by underscoring affordability and availability as important dimensions of healthcare access for TGE populations.


Intimate partner violence

August 2021

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58 Reads

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3 Citations

Intimate partner violence (IPV; sometimes referred to as woman abuse or domestic violence) describes the physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual forms of harm perpetrated within the context of intimate relationships. A call to a residence where IPV has taken place can be challenging, and EMS personnel must use empathy and compassion to empower and support their patient. When responding to a call that involves IPV, EMS personnel have a host of concerns to consider, including being mindful of scene safety, understanding the multifaceted dynamics of IPV, and addressing the consequences of IPV, which may affect physical, emotional, and psychological health. EMS personnel should (when possible) engage in risk assessment, safety planning, and referral to other resources. Finally, EMS personnel should thoroughly document their interactions.


The Co-Occurrence of Animal Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence Among a Nationally Representative Sample: Evidence of “The Link” in the General Population

April 2021

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167 Reads

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12 Citations

Violence and Victims

This article empirically examines if the relationship between animal abuse and intimate partner violence (often referred to as "the link") documented in samples of women accessing services from domestic violence shelters extends to a nationally representative sample of the general Canadian population. Nationally representative data from the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey are analyzed using hierarchical binary logistic regression models, with threats and actual abuse of pets as a predictor of physical and sexual intimate partner violence, controlling for several key sociodemographic variables. Actual and threatened abuse of pets by a romantic partner is a significant and sizable predictor of also reporting that partner perpetrated intimate partner violence, particularly physical and severe abuse. As the first study to use nationally representative data to assess the perpetration of animal abuse and IPV in current/recent relationships, this study makes significant contributions to the interdisciplinary literature on animal abuse and IPV.


Descriptive comparison of nominal sociodemographic proportions.
Note. GSS = General Social Survey; VAAC = violence against animal companions.
Comparison of mean age.
Note. GSS = General Social Survey; VAAC = violence against animal companions.
Comparison of mean income in tens of thousands Canadian dollars.
Note. GSS = General Social Survey; VAAC = violence against animal companions.
Descriptive comparison of any experience of emotional or financial IPV of groups.
Note. GSS = General Social Survey; VAAC = violence against animal companions.
All group means statistically significantly different (p ≤ .001).
Descriptive comparison of emotional and financial IPV experiences of groups.
Note. GSS = General Social Survey; VAAC = violence against animal companions.
All group means statistically significantly different (p ≤ .001).

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The Connection Between Animal Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Financial Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Evidence From a Nationally Representative Sample of the General Public
  • Article
  • Publisher preview available

July 2020

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101 Reads

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26 Citations

This article empirically examines the extent to which the co-occurrence of the maltreatment of companion animals and intimate partner violence (IPV) previously documented in samples of women accessing services from domestic violence shelters extends to a nationally representative sample of the general Canadian population, with a specific focus on emotional and financial abuse. Using data from the intimate partner victimization module of the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey (n = 17,950), the authors find that reporting one’s intimate partner threatened or abused companion animals in the home increased the probability that one had experienced at least one form of emotional abuse or financial abuse by 38.6% (p ≤ .001) and 7.5% (p ≤ .001), respectively, net of several key control variables. Moreover, the findings indicate that those who identify as women are significantly more likely to report their partner emotionally or financially abused them and threatened or mistreated their pet(s); the connection between animal maltreatment and IPV is particularly pronounced for emotional IPV when compared with other forms of IPV; challenge the commonplace conceptualization of animal abuse as a form of property abuse; and suggest a need for a more nuanced understanding of IPV perpetrators vis-à-vis animal maltreatment. This is the first study to use nationally representative data to assess the co-occurrence of animal abuse and IPV, and as such, it makes significant contributions to the interdisciplinary literature on animal abuse and IPV.

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Logistic Regression Models of Healthcare Avoidance during the Past Year due to Anticipated Discrimination
Healthcare Avoidance due to Anticipated Discrimination among Transgender People: A Call to Create Trans-Affirmative Environments

May 2020

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406 Reads

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258 Citations

SSM - Population Health

Transgender people encounter interpersonal and structural barriers to healthcare access that contribute to their postponement or avoidance of healthcare, which can lead to poor physical and mental health outcomes. Using the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, this study examined avoidance of healthcare due to anticipated discrimination among transgender adults aged 25 to 64 (N=19,157). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether gender identity/expression, socio-demographic, and transgender-specific factors were associated with healthcare avoidance. Almost one-quarter of the sample (22.8%) avoided healthcare due to anticipated discrimination. Transgender men had increased odds of healthcare avoidance (AOR=1.32, 95% CI=1.21-1.45) relative to transgender women. Living in poverty (AOR=1.52, 95% CI=1.40-1.65) and visual non-conformity (AOR= 1.48, 95% CI=1.33-1.66) were significant risk factors. Having health insurance (AOR= 0.87, 95% CI=0.79-0.96) and disclosure of transgender identity (AOR=0.77, 95% CI=0.68-0.87) were protective against healthcare avoidance. A significant interaction of gender identity/expression with health insurance was found; having health insurance moderated the association between gender identity/expression and healthcare avoidance. Providers should consider gender differences, socio-demographic, and transgender-specific factors to improve accessibility of services to transgender communities. A multi-level and multi-faceted approach should be used to create safe, trans-affirmative environments in health systems.


Help Seeking Experiences of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence in Canada: the Role of Gender, Violence Severity, and Social Belonging

January 2020

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332 Reads

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61 Citations

Journal of Family Violence

Using data from the 2009 Canadian General Social Survey-Victimization main file, this study assessed the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) victims’ socio-demographic characteristics, violence characteristics, sense of social belonging, and help seeking behaviors. In a nationally representative study, we conducted hierarchical binary logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between IPV victims’ (n = 900; 385 males and 515 females) sense of social belonging and their engagement with seeking help from informal (family members, friends/neighbors, co-workers) and formal (counsellor/psychologist, doctor/nurse, lawyer, police) sources of support after controlling for victim socio-demographic characteristics and severity of violence experienced. We also sought to assess whether male and female victims of IPV differed in their solicitation of help from both informal sources and formal service providers. As hypothesized, males were significantly less likely than females to seek help from all sources. In partial support of our hypotheses, social belonging was significantly associated with an increased probability of seeking support from friends or neighbors in the regression analysis; however it was not associated with seeking help from any other source. Implications suggest that facilitating strategies for bringing together community members in every day contexts (not solely in the aftermath of violence) may be salient to enhancing survivors’ sense of belonging and increasing the likelihood that they will solicit help if needed. Findings also suggest the need for further gender based analysis of the help seeking experiences of male and female survivors to address potential gender specific barriers to help seeking.


Fleeing with Fido: an Analysis of What Canadian Domestic Violence Shelters Are Communicating Via their Websites about Leaving an Abusive Relationship when Pets Are Involved

May 2019

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166 Reads

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11 Citations

Journal of Family Violence

In response to the growing body of empirical research demonstrating a substantial co-occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and animal abuse, domestic violence shelters are increasingly offering on- or off-site services to care for the pets of abused women accessing shelter services. This paper analyzes all public websites of first-stage shelters in Canada (n = 337) to offer the first examination of what these shelters are communicating about this co-occurrence of abuse and an appraisal of what services are available to survivors with pets. The findings indicate that less than half of the websites mention pets, and only 1% of shelters report offering on-site pet programs. There are significant relationships between websites addressing the role of pets in both safety planning and help-seeking among abused women and the provision of pet shelter services. The paper concludes with suggestions for pet-related information on domestic violence shelter websites in Canada and elsewhere.


Citations (28)


... Victims also report that their animal companions have "gone missing" or had "accidents"-likely the result of their partner's violence (Doherty & Hornosty, 2008). Research and domestic violence death reviews suggest that co-occurance of animal maltreatment with IPV increases the risk for severe violence and lethality (Barrett et al., 2020(Barrett et al., , 2022Campbell et al., 2021; Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, 2019). ...

Reference:

Intimate Partner Violence, Animal Maltreatment, and Barriers to Safety for Survivors with Companion Animals and Livestock: Findings From a Qualitative Study
Domestic Violence, Companion Animal Abuse, and Help-Seeking: The Mediating Role of Fear of Lethal Violence
  • Citing Article
  • November 2021

Women & Criminal Justice

... Any program that endeavors to diminish the likelihood that transgender persons of color will think about ending their lives will have to contend with the impact of these socioeconomic factors. Previous researchers have also commented upon the socioeconomic-related challenges faced by many transgender persons [38][39][40]. In practical terms, this means that initiatives designed to reduce suicidal ideation among minority transgender adults will not only have to address anti-transgender discrimination, harassment, and violence and be culturally sensitive to their needs as racial minority group members but also their additional needs as people who are less well-educated, out of work, and/or impoverished. ...

Unmet Healthcare Need Due to Cost Concerns among U.S. Transgender and Gender-Expansive Adults: Results from a National Survey
  • Citing Article
  • October 2021

Health and Social Work

... Among most well-known types of violence against women, one is intimate partner violence (IPV) includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviours by an intimate partner (Donnelly, Levin & Barrett, 2021). People in the world were restricted to remain at home, and geological disengagement during coronavirus, these measures prompts IPV among women (Mojahed et al., 2021). ...

Intimate partner violence
  • Citing Chapter
  • August 2021

... Previous research has demonstrated the link between intimate partner violence (IPV) and animal maltreatment (Cleary et al., 2021). Using a nationally representative Canadian sample, Fitzgerald et al. (2021) found that less than 1% of the general population experienced their partner threatening or harming their companion animal; however, over 13% of respondents who experienced physical or sexual IPV also experienced threats or harm toward animals. In a study by Febres et al. (2014), 41% of men who participated in IPV intervention programs reported perpetrating animal abuse, as compared to 3% of men in the general population. ...

The Co-Occurrence of Animal Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence Among a Nationally Representative Sample: Evidence of “The Link” in the General Population
  • Citing Article
  • April 2021

Violence and Victims

... Humiliation consists of emotional abuse in the forms of belittling or insulting, making women feel bad about themselves, and putting a woman down in front of others or privately [34,35,[42][43][44][45]. Humiliation may include undervaluing [46,47], ridicule [48], accusing, yelling [47], dehumanizing a woman [49], or sexual humiliation [50]. It includes treating women disrespectfully [51], purposefully saying ofensive words, swearing at the woman [41], criticizing her for what she does, telling her that she is not good enough or inadequate, insulting a woman's appearance such as talking about her in a disrespectful way [29,52], saying that she is ugly [53], or belittling her on account of the color of her skin [52]. Furthermore, humiliation may encompass accusing a woman that she is dishonest, unfaithful [54,55], or cognitively disabled, such as being insane or stupid [40]. ...

The Connection Between Animal Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Financial Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Evidence From a Nationally Representative Sample of the General Public

... Some individuals who would benefit from gender-affirming care may avoid seeking treatment out of fear of stigma and discrimination on the basis of gender identity [34] or on the basis of having a psychological disorder [42]. Moreover, the two can be conflated. ...

Healthcare Avoidance due to Anticipated Discrimination among Transgender People: A Call to Create Trans-Affirmative Environments

SSM - Population Health

... Interventions seek to create communities that 'hold those who use violence accountable, promote justice, and that provide adequate resources and opportunities for all community members' (Sullivan et al. 2017, 127). Evidence suggests that strengthening community bonds can build durable systems of support for victim-survivors who are more likely to seek help from their informal networks if they hold a sense of social belonging (Barrett et al. 2020) Interventions targeting communities also focus on the social, cultural and community norms that shape victim-survivors' readiness to disclose, for example, family honour (Güler et al. 2023) and informal supporters' willingness to respond, for example, beliefs about the sanctity of marriage (Goodkind et al. 2003). Such interventions may aim to chAllenge the norms that inhibit responses to DVA to foster a social and physical environment that is conducive to positive support for victimsurvivors. ...

Help Seeking Experiences of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence in Canada: the Role of Gender, Violence Severity, and Social Belonging

Journal of Family Violence

... increase in odds. This is consistent with numerous prior studies showing that family violence and animal abuse are often related, including in general public, community, or student samples (Cleary et al., 2021;DeGue & Dilillo, 2009;Fitzgerald et al., 2022a& b, Giesbrecht, 2022Randour et al., 2021;Riggs et al., 2021;Volant et al., 2008;White & Quick, 2018), among survivors in online intimate partners forums (Newberry, 2017), in women's shelters for victims of domestic violence (Barrett et al., 2020;Fitzgerald et al., 2019) and according to police officers' observations (Campbell et al., 2018;Richard & Reese, 2019). ...

Animal Maltreatment in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: A Manifestation of Power and Control?
  • Citing Article
  • February 2019

... Despite this, only 44.6% reported their intake interview included questions concerning pet abuse and only 6% allowed pets to stay on-site at the shelter (25). This low percentage is again reflected in a later, 2018 study by Gray, who reported that out of 337 first-stage DV shelters in Canada, only 1% describe offering on-site pet programs (26). If accommodation does happen to be pet . ...

Fleeing with Fido: an Analysis of What Canadian Domestic Violence Shelters Are Communicating Via their Websites about Leaving an Abusive Relationship when Pets Are Involved

Journal of Family Violence

... Despite the continued evolution of such initiatives, negative attitudes toward the police still persist among survivors. Research has documented that survivors of spousal violence in Canada endorse lower evaluations of police performance (in general) and lower levels of overall confidence in the police than Canadians who have not experienced spousal violence (Barrett, Peirone, Cheung, & Habibov, 2016). The proliferation of such negative beliefs may discourage survivors from reporting violence to the CJS, undermining the potential of the police to carry out their mandate to serve and protect all Canadians. ...

Spousal Violence and Evaluations of Police Performance in Canada: Does Police Contact Matter?

Journal of Family Violence