Pub Date : 2022-08-16DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16575346226383
E. Atakav, Karoline Pelikan, Victoria Cann
Drawing on video data collected between June and September of 2020, this piece reveals the unique challenges presented by COVID-19 frontline domestic abuse workers in the UK and provides critical reflections from the authors in the form of a collective interview. This innovative study uses participant-led data collection (in the form of self-recorded video diaries) and filmed focus groups with CEOs of UK charities, parliamentarians, the police and NHS professionals. The authors produced a film, Lifeline, drawing on the knowledge produced from these focus groups and video-diaries, foregrounding the voices of the women who work in this sector. The conversation presented here unpacks the complexities of representing domestic violence provision both in creative and academic outputs. Furthermore, the conversation reveals the epistemological challenges that come with representing and understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the domestic violence sector.
{"title":"‘You can’t go home because you are at home’: critical reflections on capturing and reflecting the trauma of domestic violence work during COVID-19","authors":"E. Atakav, Karoline Pelikan, Victoria Cann","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16575346226383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16575346226383","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on video data collected between June and September of 2020, this piece reveals the unique challenges presented by COVID-19 frontline domestic abuse workers in the UK and provides critical reflections from the authors in the form of a collective interview. This innovative study uses participant-led data collection (in the form of self-recorded video diaries) and filmed focus groups with CEOs of UK charities, parliamentarians, the police and NHS professionals. The authors produced a film, Lifeline, drawing on the knowledge produced from these focus groups and video-diaries, foregrounding the voices of the women who work in this sector. The conversation presented here unpacks the complexities of representing domestic violence provision both in creative and academic outputs. Furthermore, the conversation reveals the epistemological challenges that come with representing and understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the domestic violence sector.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48802317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-05DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16566912857663
Eleonora Esposito, Agata Szypulska
Natural disasters and pandemics bring new risks and dangers to women and their children. In particular, various factors stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as economic instability, additional stress and increased control over victims led to an increase in both prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence. Based on the findings of a study conducted by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), this article examines the main challenges during the first months of the COVID-19 crisis (March–September 2020) and analyses institutional responses to facilitate access to support services for victims. Relying on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the study highlights the role of European Union (EU) Member States in improving long-term responses to gender-based violence in times of crises. The study also gives particular attention to emerging promising practices and holistic approaches towards the gender-based violence crisis stemming from the pandemic, describing selected examples of initiatives adopted across the EU and identifying main areas of improvement.
{"title":"Addressing intimate-partner violence during COVID-19 in the EU: challenges, responses and areas of improvement","authors":"Eleonora Esposito, Agata Szypulska","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16566912857663","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16566912857663","url":null,"abstract":"Natural disasters and pandemics bring new risks and dangers to women and their children. In particular, various factors stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as economic instability, additional stress and increased control over victims led to an increase in both prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence. Based on the findings of a study conducted by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), this article examines the main challenges during the first months of the COVID-19 crisis (March–September 2020) and analyses institutional responses to facilitate access to support services for victims. Relying on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the study highlights the role of European Union (EU) Member States in improving long-term responses to gender-based violence in times of crises. The study also gives particular attention to emerging promising practices and holistic approaches towards the gender-based violence crisis stemming from the pandemic, describing selected examples of initiatives adopted across the EU and identifying main areas of improvement.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45892337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-03DOI: 10.1332/239868022x16558143159507
N. Murshid
As indicated by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 80 per cent of women in Bangladesh experience partner violence (BBS, 2015). Given this prevalence, it is essential to assess factors, transcending the personal, that precipitate such violence. Using the lens of structural violence and supporting studies showing that violence of one form engenders another, we posit that a lack of sanitation that leads to open defecation also contributes to an increased likelihood of partner violence. This study uses data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007 to explicate the association between open defecation and partner violence among women in Bangladesh. Results show that in our sample of 4466 women, almost 9 per cent reported open defecation, 18.4 per cent reported physical violence, and 10.2 per cent reported sexual violence. In the multivariate analyses, the adjusted prevalence ratios indicate that open defecation is significantly associated with sexual violence by partners (APR=1.30, p<0.05) but not physical violence. Implications are discussed.
{"title":"Structural and relational oppression of women: the association between open defecation and partner violence in Bangladesh","authors":"N. Murshid","doi":"10.1332/239868022x16558143159507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868022x16558143159507","url":null,"abstract":"As indicated by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 80 per cent of women in Bangladesh experience partner violence (BBS, 2015). Given this prevalence, it is essential to assess factors, transcending the personal, that precipitate such violence. Using the lens of structural violence and supporting studies showing that violence of one form engenders another, we posit that a lack of sanitation that leads to open defecation also contributes to an increased likelihood of partner violence. This study uses data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007 to explicate the association between open defecation and partner violence among women in Bangladesh. Results show that in our sample of 4466 women, almost 9 per cent reported open defecation, 18.4 per cent reported physical violence, and 10.2 per cent reported sexual violence. In the multivariate analyses, the adjusted prevalence ratios indicate that open defecation is significantly associated with sexual violence by partners (APR=1.30, p<0.05) but not physical violence. Implications are discussed.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47632573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-26DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16556502903676
D. Lindberg, Joakim Billevik
Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) is a systematic education programme aimed at addressing gender inequality and preventing violence among boys and men. The programme originates from Canada and the USA, and since 2015 has been introduced in a number of Swedish schools. Whereas most evaluations of MVP and other programmes addressing gender-based violence focus on broad changes, we argue that these evaluations fail to provide insight into where and for whom the programmes are or are not effective. By identifying the participants with knowledge and attitudes furthest away from the target assumptions of the programme and following them throughout the programme, we can see what effects the programme has on those with the most problematic knowledge and attitudes. The study shows that MVP does not seem to contribute to a more positive development for the group of students whose knowledge and attitudes are furthest from the programme’s target assumptions. Moreover, the study shows that the comparison group shows a more positive development over time than the MVP group. This leads to the conclusion that MVP seems to have limited potential to change the specific group with low levels of knowledge about violence and most problematic attitudes towards violent behaviour.
{"title":"Preaching to the choir: effects of the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme on ‘the bad apples’","authors":"D. Lindberg, Joakim Billevik","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16556502903676","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16556502903676","url":null,"abstract":"Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) is a systematic education programme aimed at addressing gender inequality and preventing violence among boys and men. The programme originates from Canada and the USA, and since 2015 has been introduced in a number of Swedish schools. Whereas most evaluations of MVP and other programmes addressing gender-based violence focus on broad changes, we argue that these evaluations fail to provide insight into where and for whom the programmes are or are not effective. By identifying the participants with knowledge and attitudes furthest away from the target assumptions of the programme and following them throughout the programme, we can see what effects the programme has on those with the most problematic knowledge and attitudes. The study shows that MVP does not seem to contribute to a more positive development for the group of students whose knowledge and attitudes are furthest from the programme’s target assumptions. Moreover, the study shows that the comparison group shows a more positive development over time than the MVP group. This leads to the conclusion that MVP seems to have limited potential to change the specific group with low levels of knowledge about violence and most problematic attitudes towards violent behaviour.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44225483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-14DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16536613142067
Oona Brooks-Hay, Kristina Saunders, M. Burman
Reports of an intensification of domestic abuse under COVID-19 restrictions has been described by the UN as a ‘shadow pandemic’. Drawing upon interviews with domestic abuse survivors (n=11), plus interviews (n=18) and surveys (n=22) with support service providers in Scotland, this article develops a nuanced understanding of how the conditions created by the pandemic interacted with existing experiences of domestic abuse, highlighting the relatively overlooked experiences of survivors who have separated from their abusers. The findings reveal how pandemic conditions triggered, mirrored and amplified experiences and impacts of domestic abuse through the complex interplay between isolation, anxiety, lone-parenting, financial concerns and protective requirements such as mask wearing. Participants described an increase in economic abuse, abuse online and the manipulation of child contact arrangements as the restrictions imposed by the pandemic facilitated perpetrator behaviours. However, survivors’ resilience, coping mechanisms, and in some cases enhanced feelings of safety, were also notable. These findings generate insights into the evolving but persistent nature and dynamics of domestic abuse though the pandemic, including how domestic abuse interacts with, creates, and is compounded by gendered inequalities irrespective of whether survivors have separated from their abuser.
{"title":"A toxic mix: the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on the post-separation experiences of domestic abuse survivors","authors":"Oona Brooks-Hay, Kristina Saunders, M. Burman","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16536613142067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16536613142067","url":null,"abstract":"Reports of an intensification of domestic abuse under COVID-19 restrictions has been described by the UN as a ‘shadow pandemic’. Drawing upon interviews with domestic abuse survivors (n=11), plus interviews (n=18) and surveys (n=22) with support service providers in Scotland, this article develops a nuanced understanding of how the conditions created by the pandemic interacted with existing experiences of domestic abuse, highlighting the relatively overlooked experiences of survivors who have separated from their abusers. The findings reveal how pandemic conditions triggered, mirrored and amplified experiences and impacts of domestic abuse through the complex interplay between isolation, anxiety, lone-parenting, financial concerns and protective requirements such as mask wearing. Participants described an increase in economic abuse, abuse online and the manipulation of child contact arrangements as the restrictions imposed by the pandemic facilitated perpetrator behaviours. However, survivors’ resilience, coping mechanisms, and in some cases enhanced feelings of safety, were also notable. These findings generate insights into the evolving but persistent nature and dynamics of domestic abuse though the pandemic, including how domestic abuse interacts with, creates, and is compounded by gendered inequalities irrespective of whether survivors have separated from their abuser.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44739691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-14DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16557434018638
Dongling Zhang
China’s first-ever, national Anti-Domestic Violence Law (henceforth, the Law) took effect in March 2016. The enactment of the Law was perceived by members of the general public as a solid step, taken by the Chinese government, both to protect the legal rights and interests of victims of gender-based violence (especially female victims) and also to establish domestic violence as a serious socio-legal problem deserving of greater public (especially political) attention. In this article, I choose to primarily focus on one specific type of domestic violence – gender-based violence within a current or former romantic relationship that causes harms to those in the relationship. I aim to identify and examine the limitations with this still recent Law in particular, and the criminal justice approach in general that China has been adopting to stop gender-based violence. Based upon an analysis of a very recent high-profile case of gender-based violence and five annual evaluation reports on the implementation of the Law, I lean to the conclusion that without transforming the socio-cultural context, no domestic violence legislation can effectively address gender-based violence and enhance the wellbeing of Chinese women.
{"title":"Learning to see, learning to say, and learning to eradicate domestic violence in China","authors":"Dongling Zhang","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16557434018638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16557434018638","url":null,"abstract":"China’s first-ever, national Anti-Domestic Violence Law (henceforth, the Law) took effect in March 2016. The enactment of the Law was perceived by members of the general public as a solid step, taken by the Chinese government, both to protect the legal rights and interests of victims of gender-based violence (especially female victims) and also to establish domestic violence as a serious socio-legal problem deserving of greater public (especially political) attention. In this article, I choose to primarily focus on one specific type of domestic violence – gender-based violence within a current or former romantic relationship that causes harms to those in the relationship. I aim to identify and examine the limitations with this still recent Law in particular, and the criminal justice approach in general that China has been adopting to stop gender-based violence. Based upon an analysis of a very recent high-profile case of gender-based violence and five annual evaluation reports on the implementation of the Law, I lean to the conclusion that without transforming the socio-cultural context, no domestic violence legislation can effectively address gender-based violence and enhance the wellbeing of Chinese women.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47336074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-12DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16556503088293
Mehak Majeed
The analysis of gender in conflict and fragile situations is an emerging area of research. Little to no attention has been paid to it up until very recently. There is scant scholarly work available that directly addresses this issue, and there is no research on the relationship between gender and low intensity conflict in Kashmir. It is in this light that the current research note has been written. It traces the broad impact that conflict has had on the lives of women living in the Kashmir region, the conflict centric part of Jammu and Kashmir. Through this research note it is established that the women in Kashmir have been exposed to the shock of unpredicted fragility, and the study is further endorsed by some instantial ethnographic case studies. These shocks have impacted them economically, psychologically and socially. Generations of women have been suffering from the negative impact of the conflict. Alhough disastrous for the most part, women have gradually developed some resilience. With time more and more Kashmiri women have been striving towards gaining economic independence by learning skills, by the acquisition of education and by being gainfully employed.
{"title":"Women in low intensity political conflict (through the lives of Kashmiri women)","authors":"Mehak Majeed","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16556503088293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16556503088293","url":null,"abstract":"The analysis of gender in conflict and fragile situations is an emerging area of research. Little to no attention has been paid to it up until very recently. There is scant scholarly work available that directly addresses this issue, and there is no research on the relationship between gender and low intensity conflict in Kashmir. It is in this light that the current research note has been written. It traces the broad impact that conflict has had on the lives of women living in the Kashmir region, the conflict centric part of Jammu and Kashmir. Through this research note it is established that the women in Kashmir have been exposed to the shock of unpredicted fragility, and the study is further endorsed by some instantial ethnographic case studies. These shocks have impacted them economically, psychologically and socially. Generations of women have been suffering from the negative impact of the conflict. Alhough disastrous for the most part, women have gradually developed some resilience. With time more and more Kashmiri women have been striving towards gaining economic independence by learning skills, by the acquisition of education and by being gainfully employed.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44191487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-04DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16535814891956
C. Barlow, P. Davies, R. Ewin
Few criminological studies have specifically set out to research responses to domestic abuse in rural communities. A small number of recent studies have arrived at the problem from a health and/or social geography perspective lending weight to the increasingly apparent significance of space and culture in rural domestic abuse. This article contributes to this research agenda, focusing on the ways in which police and other agencies respond to domestic abuse within the spatial context of rural England and victim-survivors’ experiences of such responses. The article outlines empirical work with a police partner based in the North of England. The study involved a case file analysis of police data and interviews with police officers, partner agency representatives and victim-survivors. We discuss the ways in which apparent heightened gendered conservatism and the ‘cloak of silence’ leads to difficulties in the identification of domestic abuse in rural communities and argue the importance of engaging in holistic and multi-agency approaches when responding to domestic abuse in remote and inaccessible rural communities.
{"title":"‘He hits me and that’s just how it is here’: responding to domestic abuse in rural communities","authors":"C. Barlow, P. Davies, R. Ewin","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16535814891956","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16535814891956","url":null,"abstract":"Few criminological studies have specifically set out to research responses to domestic abuse in rural communities. A small number of recent studies have arrived at the problem from a health and/or social geography perspective lending weight to the increasingly apparent significance of space and culture in rural domestic abuse. This article contributes to this research agenda, focusing on the ways in which police and other agencies respond to domestic abuse within the spatial context of rural England and victim-survivors’ experiences of such responses. The article outlines empirical work with a police partner based in the North of England. The study involved a case file analysis of police data and interviews with police officers, partner agency representatives and victim-survivors. We discuss the ways in which apparent heightened gendered conservatism and the ‘cloak of silence’ leads to difficulties in the identification of domestic abuse in rural communities and argue the importance of engaging in holistic and multi-agency approaches when responding to domestic abuse in remote and inaccessible rural communities.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45438165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-27DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16528069833875
Lucy Trafford
This article investigates the police response to intimate partner violence (IPV) during the first lockdown in England (23 March–30 June 2020), a time when more people were confined to their homes and rates of IPV increased globally (Williamson et al, 2020). Having gained access to data for domestic abuse-flagged incidents from a south-eastern police force, this research compares quantitative data for 6808 incidents during the first lockdown in England with 6408 incidents during the equivalent 2019 timeframe. Quantitative analysis was conducted by comparing descriptive statistics and chi-squared testing. This study finds that age distribution changed for victims and suspects, with IPV decreasing among younger age groups and increasing within older age categories. Shifts occurred in the categorisation of IPV crimes with an increase in crimes that can be committed remotely, most notably stalking and malicious communications. Additionally, the risk level differed for IPV incidents, with a reduction in incidents recorded as medium- and high-risk. Whereas, standard-risk incidents rose substantially, causing a change in the distribution of risk levels across reported incidents. This shift was reflected in fewer arrests, except among higher-risk incidents which maintained higher arrest rates. Official outcomes similarly decreased, with fewer court disposals and more simple cautions.
{"title":"Policing a pandemic: changes in police response to intimate partner violence (IPV) during the first lockdown in England","authors":"Lucy Trafford","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16528069833875","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16528069833875","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates the police response to intimate partner violence (IPV) during the first lockdown in England (23 March–30 June 2020), a time when more people were confined to their homes and rates of IPV increased globally (Williamson et al, 2020). Having gained access to data for domestic abuse-flagged incidents from a south-eastern police force, this research compares quantitative data for 6808 incidents during the first lockdown in England with 6408 incidents during the equivalent 2019 timeframe. Quantitative analysis was conducted by comparing descriptive statistics and chi-squared testing.\u0000This study finds that age distribution changed for victims and suspects, with IPV decreasing among younger age groups and increasing within older age categories. Shifts occurred in the categorisation of IPV crimes with an increase in crimes that can be committed remotely, most notably stalking and malicious communications. Additionally, the risk level differed for IPV incidents, with a reduction in incidents recorded as medium- and high-risk. Whereas, standard-risk incidents rose substantially, causing a change in the distribution of risk levels across reported incidents. This shift was reflected in fewer arrests, except among higher-risk incidents which maintained higher arrest rates. Official outcomes similarly decreased, with fewer court disposals and more simple cautions.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43962073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-14DOI: 10.1332/239868021x16528076885500
Anna Hopkins, P. K. Miller
Understanding the factors that influence the decisions made by victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) has, for some time, been a key area of focus for professionals working within the Criminal Justice System and academic researchers alike. Using female victims’ reported decision-making around incidences of DVA as an illustrative case study, this article analyses N=120 police victim statements (PVSs), collected by officers in one force in Northwest England. The usefulness of a PVS as a form of qualitative research data to better understand DVA is examined by means of a deductive content analysis. Drawing on the literature addressing decision-making by victims in DVA, a simple coding frame was developed to provide a structure for the initial investigation of the PVSs to examine the type of data contained in these legal documents. Findings suggest that, while they have some limitations, PVSs are a valuable and currently under-utilised form of qualitative data to research and understand victim decision-making in DVA.
{"title":"‘This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief’: a provisional assessment of the utility of police victim statements in the qualitative understanding of domestic violence and abuse","authors":"Anna Hopkins, P. K. Miller","doi":"10.1332/239868021x16528076885500","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021x16528076885500","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the factors that influence the decisions made by victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) has, for some time, been a key area of focus for professionals working within the Criminal Justice System and academic researchers alike. Using female victims’ reported decision-making around incidences of DVA as an illustrative case study, this article analyses N=120 police victim statements (PVSs), collected by officers in one force in Northwest England. The usefulness of a PVS as a form of qualitative research data to better understand DVA is examined by means of a deductive content analysis.\u0000Drawing on the literature addressing decision-making by victims in DVA, a simple coding frame was developed to provide a structure for the initial investigation of the PVSs to examine the type of data contained in these legal documents. Findings suggest that, while they have some limitations, PVSs are a valuable and currently under-utilised form of qualitative data to research and understand victim decision-making in DVA.","PeriodicalId":42166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gender-Based Violence","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45677722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}