Understanding Social Workers and Health Professionals’ Public Stigma against Women who Experience Intimate Partner Violence in Spain

Purpose

Social workers and health professionals play a relevant role in the detection and intervention of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW). However, these professionals may exert public stigma against IPVAW survivors, which prevents disclosure, help seeking and affects women’s health. There are no comprehensive models that explain stigma functioning in Spain. Our aim was to explore the functioning of such stigma that may be exercised by social workers and health professionals in Spain. Their perceived impact of stigma on survivors was also studied.

Methods

Interviews with 18 providers were conducted and analyzed through template analysis.

Results

The findings confirmed the presence of stigma and revealed that it was often unintentional. Factors about the Roots of stigma were identified (e.g., Privileged social identities or Symptom-focused role of psychology), which triggered several Myths about IPVAW and survivors (e.g., Broken toy or Survivor-profile) and Stigmatizing responses (e.g., Being paternalistic or Judging) when offering professional help. Several consequences of these myths and responses showed the perceived high Cost of stigma for survivors (e.g., Leaving support services or Internalizing stigma).

Conclusions

The results confirmed the importance of effective professional training to prevent stigmatizing myths and responses. Training should reduce professionals’ patriarchal values, increase their knowledge about IPVAW, self-reflection on how personal experiences and social identity influence their practice, and self-reflection on their own practice in general. Such training should also promote an intersectional perspective on recovery, a view of survivors as agents, a contextual approach, active listening, close contact with survivors, and informed care.