{"title":"Family and Domestic Violence Discretion and Decision-Making Through the Perspectives of Social Workers and Victim-Survivors.","authors":"Sophie Bishop, David Hodgson","doi":"10.1177/10778012261488880","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261488880","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social workers (SWs) employed in family and domestic violence (FDV) roles use their discretion and make decisions that impact victim-survivor (VS) outcomes and well-being. However, when working alongside VSs, discretion and decision-making remain unexplored in existing literature. This study examined social work discretion and decision-making in FDV contexts and its impacts on VSs. Interpretative phenomenological analysis underpinned eight semistructured interviews with SWs and VSs to explore experiences of discretion and decision-making within FDV contexts. The findings suggest a lack of discretion steers SWs down a standardized path of risk-averse practice, which works against VS needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261488880"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148977892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maged Elshamy, Osama Warda, Mahrous A Ibrahim, Rehab A Mohamed, Amany A Makroum
{"title":"Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy in Mansoura, Egypt: Medico-Legal and Psychological Points of View.","authors":"Maged Elshamy, Osama Warda, Mahrous A Ibrahim, Rehab A Mohamed, Amany A Makroum","doi":"10.1177/10778012261487435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261487435","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intimate partner violence during pregnancy is a significant health concern. This prospective cohort study aimed to estimate prevalence and examine associations with adverse obstetric and psychological outcomes in an Egyptian community. 2,292 pregnant women completed the NorVold Domestic Abuse Questionnaire and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. 42.15% reported IPV: emotional (67.7%), physical (58.4%), and sexual (43.7%). Adverse pregnancy outcomes: abortion, rupture of membranes, fetal distress/death, and low birth weight, were found to be more frequent among exposed participants (<i>p</i> < .05). Higher depressive symptom scores were significantly associated with greater severity of physical (<i>p</i> = .042) and sexual violence (<i>p</i> = .038).</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261487435"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148971420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dreolin Nesbitt Fleischer, Ellie Hepworth, G J Melendez-Torres
{"title":"A Realist Evaluation of a Behavior Change Program for Domestic Abuse Perpetrators in the United Kingdom.","authors":"Dreolin Nesbitt Fleischer, Ellie Hepworth, G J Melendez-Torres","doi":"10.1177/10778012261486427","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261486427","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Behavior Change Independent Domestic Violence Advisor Program is a Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Program operating in England. This evaluation drew upon semistructured interviews with program professionals (<i>n</i> = 7), perpetrators (<i>n</i> = 7) and victims/survivors (<i>n</i> = 5) to develop a realist model of how perpetrator behavior change is thought to be enabled through this program. Key contextual factors were identified which moderate program delivery and lead to the conditions required to initiate six mechanisms of change which could lead to outcomes of a reduction in abusive behaviors, reoffending, and harm to victims/survivors.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261486427"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148971415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"\"<i>F*ck This, I Want to Get My Life Back</i>\": Examining Australian Young Women's Experiences and Expressions of Resistance to Intimate Partner Violence.","authors":"Bianca Johnston, Catherine Flynn, Faith Gordon","doi":"10.1177/10778012261484125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261484125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Expanding understandings of youth intimate partner violence (IPV) beyond a risk-and-oppression paradigm, this study explored the way that resistance to IPV was expressed during 12 young women's relationships. This exploratory research study, in Victoria, Australia, was undertaken using visual ethnography-combining qualitative interviews and arts-based methods. This study found that the ways which young women enacted resistance to IPV occurred differently across five core sequential phases: <i>relationship onset; escalation; survival; relationship termination;</i> and <i>recovery/healing.</i> This research raises important implications for policy, service responses and social work practice, including the need for targeted intervention at different points of young women's experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261484125"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148921144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Afreenbanu A Khadirnavar, Veena Satyanarayana, Kelsey Hegarty, Prabha S Chandra, Kavita V Jangam
{"title":"Linguistic and Cultural Translation of the Composite Abuse Scale for Women with Common Mental Illness in India.","authors":"Afreenbanu A Khadirnavar, Veena Satyanarayana, Kelsey Hegarty, Prabha S Chandra, Kavita V Jangam","doi":"10.1177/10778012261484123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261484123","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study adapted the Composite Abuse Scale (CAS) into Kannada and Urdu for Indian women with common mental illnesses. The study used co-design. The method using a multi-stage process involving 62 women ensured linguistic and cultural validity, achieving high content validity (Content Validity Ratio: 0.98, Content Validity Index: 0.98). The adapted CAS was reliable and culturally relevant, highlighting the need for targeted interventions. This foundational adaptation facilitates future psychometric evaluations, enhancing intimate partner violence assessment and intervention within India's diverse cultural contexts. This cultural and linguistic adaptation is the first step that paves the way for a detailed psychometric evaluation before it can be used.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261484123"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148913418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recommendations From Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations to Mainstream Inquiries on Family Violence: It's Time to Act.","authors":"Samantha O'Donnell, Heather Douglas, Kyllie Cripps","doi":"10.1177/10778012261484115","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10778012261484115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article examines recommendations from Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) in submissions to Australian federal parliamentary inquiries that considered family violence. Our findings outline commonalities in what these organisations recommended under four themes, and show how these themes all centre self-determination. In so doing, we explore how ACCOs craft demands for structural change that emphasise the inseparability of First Nations women's experiences from the experiences of First Nations peoples more broadly. We highlight that these demands are not new but align with long-standing calls from First Nations women and communities made over many years for action on these demands.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261484115"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148898033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teógenes Matias de Souza, André Vilela Komatsu, Kathleen Liedtke Kolb, Luís Gustavo Toledo Zulai
{"title":"A Forensic Risk Score for Femicide Prevention: Development and Exploratory Application in 103 Medicolegal Cases in Brazil.","authors":"Teógenes Matias de Souza, André Vilela Komatsu, Kathleen Liedtke Kolb, Luís Gustavo Toledo Zulai","doi":"10.1177/10778012261484124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261484124","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This retrospective, descriptive, exploratory medicolegal study examined the Forensic Risk Score (ETR-Escore Técnico de Risco), a structured, literature-informed, lesion-centered forensic risk classification framework, in 103 confirmed femicide cases in Brazil. Cases were coded from anonymized official and forensic documentary data. The mean victim age was 34.0 years. Sharp-force injury, firearm injury, and asphyxia/strangulation accounted for 85.4% of lethal mechanisms. Vital or multiple vital topography was documented in 93.2% of cases. High and Critical ETR classifications represented 58.3% of the sample. The ETR is presented as an exploratory forensic classification framework, not a validated predictive model.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261484124"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148898014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Motivators of Sexual Violence Disclosures and Mental Health: A Mixed Methods Investigation.","authors":"Rannveig Sigurvinsdottir, Karen Birna Thorvaldsdóttir, Erla Katrín Jónsdóttir, Bryndís Björk Ásgeirsdóttir","doi":"10.1177/10778012261484116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261484116","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this mixed methods study was to examine motivators and characteristics of sexual violence disclosures and relationships with mental health. A representative national sample of male and female Icelandic adult survivors (<i>N</i> = 473) took part in a survey. Disclosure was common, especially among women, and psychological symptoms were greatest among late disclosers. Motivators of disclosure included violence itself, trauma and recovery, and social context and movements. Social context and movements disclosures related to lower psychological symptoms. Further research is needed to understand how disclosing related to social movements, such as #MeToo, could potentially confer mental health benefits.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261484116"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148892401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natasha C S Vilela, Daniela T Borges, Shana Ginar-Silva
{"title":"Obstetric Violence: Prevalence and Associated Factors in Women from Southern Brazil.","authors":"Natasha C S Vilela, Daniela T Borges, Shana Ginar-Silva","doi":"10.1177/10778012261484121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261484121","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Unnecessary interventions during childbirth are recognized as forms of disrespect and abuse, increasing maternal and neonatal risks. We assess the prevalence and associated factors with experiences of obstetric violence (OV) among women assisted in public primary healthcare in southern Brazil. A total of 60.9% (95% CI [55.0-67.0]) of women reported some type of OV during childbirth and/or prenatal care. After adjustments for confounders, women ≥30 were less likely to experience OV, whereas vaginal delivery was associated with a 115% higher prevalence of OV than cesarean delivery. These findings highlight the need for effective strategies to prevent and address this practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261484121"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148888776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cynthia Fraga Rizo, Tonya Bloomer Van Deinse, Julia Metz, Christine Murray
{"title":"Lessons Learned from a Formative Evaluation of Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Co-located Centers.","authors":"Cynthia Fraga Rizo, Tonya Bloomer Van Deinse, Julia Metz, Christine Murray","doi":"10.1177/10778012261471645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012261471645","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) survivors must navigate fragmented and burdensome service systems to address their needs. Co-located service models bring multiple services into one location to facilitate coordination and collaboration and enhance survivor outcomes. However, limited research has examined the implementation or effectiveness of these models. This study describes a formative evaluation of six IPV/SV co-located centers and offers lessons learned regarding the feasibility of evaluation activities and methods. Findings suggest that the evaluation activities were generally feasible. Nonetheless, methodological challenges as well as facilitators and recommendations for enhancing feasibility and minimizing burden are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":23606,"journal":{"name":"Violence Against Women","volume":" ","pages":"10778012261471645"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148888754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}