Help-seeking for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Experiences of Civilian Partners of UK Military Personnel

Filipa Alves-Costa; Rebecca Lane; Rachael Gribble; Anna Taylor; Nicola Fear; Deirdre MacManus

doi:10.1007/s10896-022-00382-w

Help-seeking for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Experiences of Civilian Partners of UK Military Personnel

Filipa Alves-Costa, Rebecca Lane, Rachael Gribble, Anna Taylor, Nicola Fear, Deirdre MacManus

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is evidence that Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA) is more prevalent among military populations compared with civilian populations. However, there has been limited research into the help-seeking experiences of civilian victim-survivors who have experienced IPVA within relationships with military personnel. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of, and barriers to, help-seeking for IPVA victimisation among civilian partners of military personnel in order to identify strategies to improve the management of IPVA both within the military and civilian sectors. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design and used qualitative research methods. One-to-one telephone interviews were conducted with civilian victim-survivors (n = 25) between January and August 2018. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Three superordinate themes were derived: (1) Drivers to help-seeking; (2) Barriers to help-seeking; and (3) Experiences of services. The findings indicate difficulties in help-seeking for IPVA among civilian partners of military personnel due to stigma, fear, dependency, poor understanding of IPVA, lack of appropriate and timely support, and a perceived lack of victim support. Difficulties in help-seeking were perceived by participants to be amplified by military culture, public perceptions of the military, military protection of personnel and the lack of coordination between civilian and military judicial services. This study reinforces the need for a military specific Domestic Abuse strategy, identifies vulnerable groups and highlights a need for both increased awareness and understanding of IPVA within civilian and military services in order to provide adequate victim protection.

Original language	English
Journal	JOURNAL OF FAMILY VIOLENCE
Early online date	5 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00382-w
Publication status	Published - Apr 2022

Keywords

Civilian spouses
Help-seeking
Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA)
UK Military

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s10896-022-00382-w

Cite this

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title = "Help-seeking for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Experiences of Civilian Partners of UK Military Personnel",

abstract = "There is evidence that Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA) is more prevalent among military populations compared with civilian populations. However, there has been limited research into the help-seeking experiences of civilian victim-survivors who have experienced IPVA within relationships with military personnel. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of, and barriers to, help-seeking for IPVA victimisation among civilian partners of military personnel in order to identify strategies to improve the management of IPVA both within the military and civilian sectors. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design and used qualitative research methods. One-to-one telephone interviews were conducted with civilian victim-survivors (n = 25) between January and August 2018. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Three superordinate themes were derived: (1) Drivers to help-seeking; (2) Barriers to help-seeking; and (3) Experiences of services. The findings indicate difficulties in help-seeking for IPVA among civilian partners of military personnel due to stigma, fear, dependency, poor understanding of IPVA, lack of appropriate and timely support, and a perceived lack of victim support. Difficulties in help-seeking were perceived by participants to be amplified by military culture, public perceptions of the military, military protection of personnel and the lack of coordination between civilian and military judicial services. This study reinforces the need for a military specific Domestic Abuse strategy, identifies vulnerable groups and highlights a need for both increased awareness and understanding of IPVA within civilian and military services in order to provide adequate victim protection.",

keywords = "Civilian spouses, Help-seeking, Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA), UK Military",

author = "Filipa Alves-Costa and Rebecca Lane and Rachael Gribble and Anna Taylor and Nicola Fear and Deirdre MacManus",

note = "Funding Information: The research team are very grateful to the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) for funding this research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

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AU - Fear, Nicola

AU - MacManus, Deirdre

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Help-seeking for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Experiences of Civilian Partners of UK Military Personnel

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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