Parenting-related abuse among women survivors of attempted intimate partner homicide

Abstract

Background

Despite increasing attention to intimate partner homicide (IPH), there is a significant gap in understanding the continuation of abuse after women survive attempted IPH, particularly in cases involving shared parenthood. The goal of this research is to fill this gap by exploring the specific parenting-related post-separation abuse tactics used by perpetrators, providing critical insights into the ways coercive control extends into shared parenting arrangements and the implications for survivors' healing as well as their children's safety and well-being.

Objective

Coercive control was used as a theoretical framework to explore attempted IPH survivors' experiences of parenting-related post-separation abuse tactics.

Participants and setting

An interpretive phenomenological analysis methodology was utilized to explore the experiences of women who survived an attempted intimate partner homicide.

Method

In-depth, semi-structured, phenomenological interviews, using an interview guide, were conducted with nine participants.

Results

Four themes were identified: (1) Claiming information; (2) Interfering with parental decisions; (3) Gaining economic control; and (4) Controlling by proxy using the ex-partner's family.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that shared parenthood may be a platform for ongoing abuse and that this abuse is an extension of the act of attempted homicide. Survivors of attempted IPH require heightened care due to their unique circumstances and the ongoing abuse by their ex-partners, which institutions often fail to address, highlighting the necessity for tailored interventions from justice, welfare agencies, therapists, and family members.