Newry Women's Aid

Women's Aid responds to urgent need to provide vital support and accommodation to women and children experiencing domestic violence. This is their first BCPP project. It will provide a range of social and health information sessions to women, staff, volunteers and children while supporting the pharmacist to better understand the issues they are facing, developing a referral process and confidential service.

Developing a Workplace Policy on Domestic Violence and Abuse (PDF 219KB)

This guide for employers has been produced by the Regional Steering Group on Domestic Violence in line with the strategy and action plan “Tackling Violence at Home” published in October 2005. The Regional Steering Group is a group of about 30 members representing the statutory and voluntary agencies involved in dealing with domestic violence. The guidance provides advice on how employers can develop increased awareness and more effective responses to domestic violence in the workplace for the benefit of all staff. The Regional Steering Group acknowledges that some employers already have good workplace policies in place and it encourages all employers across the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to use the guidance to develop a workplace policy on domestic violence. åÊ

Health care costs of domestic violence against women – evidence from Portugal

Our main objective is to estimate the additional health care costs to the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) due to domestic violence against women. We collected information through a survey addressed to health care centres’ female users. Both victims and non-victims of violence were inquired. We estimate costs according to five different groups – consultation costs, health care treatment and therapeutic costs, costs of complementary and diagnostic exams, drugs costs and transport costs. The estimations have been split into two perspectives – the NHS perspective (public perspective) and private perspective of inquired women (out of pocket payments). The timeframe of our calculations is one year, referring to all costs generated by domestic violence situations in the last twelve months. Essentially costs were estimated through the product of total number of episodes by the average estimated price per episode. Additionally, for the private costs, we also considered the costs originated by income losses, the opportunity cost of time spent on health care treatments and the work inability caused by sickness. The results suggest that the victims of domestic violence’s additional demand for health care is valued €140 per annum, that is about 22% higher than health care costs of non-victims. These results match those of similar studies for the United States, taking account of per capita differences in health care spending. A large proportion (90%) of the additional costs associated with domestic violence is supported by the NHS, where consultations and drugs are the most important contributors of such costs. Health consequences of domestic violence result from losses in quality of life and worst health status of victims and correspond to additional permanent economic costs of domestic violence episodes.

Social support from the perspective of adolescent victims of domestic violence

Objective: Assess the understanding of adolescents regarding the social support received in situations of domestic violence. Method: A qualitative study with data collection carried out through focus groups with 17 adolescent victims of domestic violence, institutionally welcomed in Campinas-SP, and through semi-structured interviews with seven of these adolescents. Information was analyzed by content analysis, thematic modality. Results: Observing the thematic categories it was found that social support for the subjects came from the extended family, the community, the Guardianship Council, the interpersonal relationships established at the user embracement institution and from the religiosity/spirituality. Conclusion: The mentioned sources of support deserve to be enhanced and expanded. With the current complexity of the morbidity and mortality profiles, especially in children and adolescents, the (re)signification and the (re)construction of health actions is imperative.



Domestic Violence Resources for Women Receiving Intensive Family Preservation Services

Intimate partner violence is a common correlate of child abuse and neglect and often is not addressed in family preservation services. In many cases, the ideologies of family preservationists and advocates for women 's safety can be at odds. This article presents a study of a collaborative model of intervention, utilizing family preservation workers and community resource practitioners working with domestic violence as group facilitators. The study utilizes a pretest, post-test design to evaluate a domestic violence resource group for women who were concurrently receiving intensive family preservation services. The study examines the effect of the program on participants' self-perceptions regarding self-esteem, independence, goals, social isolation, and assertiveness. Caseworker perceptions of client characteristics also are evaluated, and qualitative responses of the effects of the program are included.

Night terrors:Women's experiences of (Not) sleeping where there is domestic violence

The management of sleep is embedded within the social context of individuals' lives. This article is based on an exploratory study using focus groups of the sleep problems encountered by 17 women survivors of domestic violence. It argues that fear becomes the organizing framework for the management of sleep and illustrates how this takes place both while living with the perpetrators of violence and after the women have been rehoused. It argues that sleep deprivation is a method used by the perpetrators to exert control over women and that this has long-term implications for women's physical and mental health. © 2007 Sage Publication.

Atuação dos enfermeiros da estratégia de saúde da família frente à violência intrafamiliar contra a criança

The family violence against children became visible, in the context of public health, due to the damage and injuries generated in the lives of children and to the growing need of investment in physical and human resources to fill this demand. In this context, it is believed that intervention could prevent such events and are configured as primary strategies to prevent the corollaries generated by the violence. In this perspective, this study aims to analyze the performance of nurses dealing with the Strategy of Family Health viewing to identify actions based on the paradigm of health distribution. This is a descriptive, exploratory and qualitative research. The data were analyzed based on the content analysis about the method proposed by Bardin. The study was conducted in Mossoró-RN and the participants were 14 nurses working for the Family Health Strategy in Health Units of this town. The instrument for data collection was a semi-structured questionnaire, with questions answered by the participants themselves. It was evident to the study that the nurses believe that health education are the main tool for dealing with domestic violence against children, being developed, however, in its positivist and vertical way. The actions used to develop health performed by the team on their daily lives are limited to educational activities and are carried exactly when cases of family violence against children are notified. Barriers to the practice emerged from fear of reprisals from the agressor, overwork, lack of management support and difficulty for the realization of interdisciplinary, intersectorality and comprehensive care.

Violence against women is strongly associated with suicide attempts: Evidence from the WHO multi-country study on women`s health and domestic violence against women

Suicidal behaviours are one of the most important contributors to the global burden of disease among women, but little is known about prevalence and modifiable risk factors in low and middle income countries. We use data from the WHO multi-country study on women`s health and domestic violence against women to examine the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and attempts, and relationships between suicide attempts and mental health status, child sexual abuse, partner violence and other variables. Population representative cross-sectional household surveys were conducted from 2000-2003 in 13 provincial (more rural) and city (urban) sites in Brazil, Ethiopia, japan, Namibia, Peru, Samoa, Serbia, Thailand and Tanzania. 20967 women aged 15-49 years participated. Prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts, lifetime suicidal thoughts, and suicidal thoughts in the past four weeks were calculated, and multivariate logistic regression models were fit to examine factors associated with suicide attempts in each site. Prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts ranged from 0.8% (Tanzania) to 12.0% (Peru city): lifetime thoughts of suicide from 7.2% (Tanzania province) to 29.0% (Peru province), and thoughts in the past four weeks from 1.9% (Serbia) to 13.6% (Peru province). 25-50% of women with suicidal thoughts in the past four weeks had also visited a health worker in that time. The most consistent risk factors for suicide attempts after adjusting for probable common mental health disorders were: intimate partner violence, non-partner physical violence, ever being divorced, separated or widowed, childhood sexual abuse and having a mother who had experienced intimate partner violence. Mental health policies and services must recognise the consistent relationship between violence and suicidality in women in low and middle income countries. Training health sector workers to recognize and respond to the consequences of violence may substantially reduce the health burden associated with suicidal behaviour. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the way to light the dark: a retrospective inquiry into the registered cases of domestic violence towards women over a six year period with a semi-quantitative analysis of the corresponding forensic documentation

Domestic violence victims are increasingly identified at emergency departments (ED). Studies report a prevalence of 6-30%; women are more frequently affected and to a more serious extent than men. Studies have shown that without screening domestic violence victims are often not recognised. The primary aim of the study is to collect data descriptive of domestic violence victims and to show whether medical documentation meets the requirements of forensic medicine.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN PERSPECTIVE OF WOMEN WHO LIVED IT

Introduction: Knowing the experience of abuse, contextual determinants that led to the rupture of the situation and attempts to build a more harmonious future, it is essential to work sensitivities and better understand victims of domestic violence. Objectives: To understand the suffering of women victims of violence. Methods: This is an intentional sample of 21 women who were at shelter home or in the community. The data were collected by in- Documento descargado de http://www.elsevier.es el 13-10-2016 3rd World Congress of Health Research 21 terviews, guided by a script organized into four themes. The interviews were conducted with audio record, the permission of the participants were fully passed the text and analyzed as two different corpuses, depending on the context in which they occurred. The analysis was conducted using the ALCESTE computer program. The study obtained a favorable opinion of the Committee on Health and Welfare of the University of Évora. Results: From the irst sample analysis emerged ive classes. The association of the words gave the meaning of each class that we have appointed as Class 1 - Precipitating Events; Class 2 - Experience of abuse; Class 3 - Two feet in the present and looking into the future; Class 4 - The present and learning from the experience of abuse; and Class 5 - Violence in general. From the analysis of the sample in the community four classes emerged that we have appointed as Class 1 - Violence in general; Class 2 - Precipitating Events; Class 3 - abuse of experience; and class 4 - Support in the process. Conclusions: Women who are at shelter home have this experience of violence and its entire context a lot are very focused on their experiences and the future is distant and unclear. Women in the community have a more comprehensive view of the phenomenon of violence as a whole, they can decentralize to their personal experiences and recognize the importance of support in the future construction process.

Social representation of domestic violence against women among Nursing Technicians and Community Agents

OBJECTIVE To analyze the social representations of the Nursing Technicians and Community Health Agents about domestic violence against women. METHOD A qualitative study carried out in the city of Rio Grande, RS, in which evocations and interviews were collected between July and November 2013. For the treatment of data were used the EVOC 2005 software and the context analysis. RESULT It is a structured representation, in which the central nucleus contains conceptual, imaging and attitudinal elements, namely: abuse, aggression, physical aggression, cowardice and lack of respect. Such terms were present in the context of the interviews. The professionals acknowledged that violence is not limited to physical aspects and were judgemental about the acts of the aggressor. CONCLUSION This knowledge may enable the problematization of the studied phenomenon with the team, and facilitate the search for prevention and intervention strategies for victims, offenders and managers of health services.

“Rights of Women against Domestic Violence - The Law and Emerging Challenges”

Domestic violence is a gender based violation of human rights having multi- dimensional repercussions in the well- being of individuals in family and society. The Indian legislation to protect the women from domestic violence is significant in providing a mechanism for enforcing positive civil rights of protection and injunction orders to the victims of domestic violence along with the existing remedies of criminal sanctions. However the Act was brought in the backdrop of an established tradition of cohesive and stable family setting. This, in turn, results in the emergence of new issues and challenges which necessitates deeper understandings of indigenous sociocultural institutions in India i.e., marriage and family. This study is an attempt to analyse the Indian law on domestic violence and to assess whether the law addresses and answers the problems of domestic violence effectively in the culture specific setting of India

Being a bridge : Swedish antenatal care midwives’ encounters with Somali-born women and questions of violence; a qualitative study

Background: Violence against women is associated with serious health problems, including adverse maternal and child health. Antenatal care (ANC) midwives are increasingly expected to implement the routine of identifying exposure to violence. An increase of Somali born refugee women in Sweden, their reported adverse childbearing health and possible links to violence pose a challenge to the Swedish maternity health care system. Thus, the aim was to explore ways ANC midwives in Sweden work with Somali born women and the questions of exposure to violence. Methods: Qualitative individual interviews with 17 midwives working with Somali-born women in nine ANC clinics in Sweden were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The midwives strived to focus on the individual woman beyond ethnicity and cultural differences. In relation to the Somali born women, they navigated between different definitions of violence, ways of handling adversities in life and social contexts, guided by experience based knowledge and collegial support. Seldom was ongoing violence encountered. The Somali-born women’s’ strengths and contentment were highlighted, however, language skills were considered central for a Somali-born woman’s access to rights and support in the Swedish society. Shared language, trustful relationships, patience, and networking were important aspects in the work with violence among Somali-born women. Conclusion: Focus on the individual woman and skills in inter-cultural communication increases possibilities of overcoming social distances. This enhances midwives’ ability to identify Somali born woman’s resources and needs regarding violence disclosure and support. Although routine use of professional interpretation is implemented, it might not fully provide nuances and social safety needed for violence disclosure. Thus, patience and trusting relationships are fundamental in work with violence among Somali born women. In collaboration with social networks and other health care and social work professions, the midwife can be a bridge and contribute to increased awareness of rights and support for Somali-born women in a new society.

Knowledge and perceptions of domestic violence services among women in Ghana

Support services are important to the mental and physical well-being of survivors of intimate partner violence. However, researchers and service providers note that survivors seldom report violence to formal domestic violence services in Ghana. Despite calls from service providers for Ghanaians to report domestic violence, few studies have focused on women’s knowledge and perceptions of formal domestic violence services in Ghana and how these perceptions influence their help-seeking behaviour. This thesis presents qualitative findings on Ghanaian women's knowledge and perceptions of formal domestic violence services. Also, challenges to service delivery are explored. Results revealed that awareness among respondents of available services was low. Additionally, most respondents had negative perceptions of these formal services. This study demonstrates that more educational campaigns need to be carried out to raise awareness among Ghanaians on domestic violence and the formal interventions available in the country. Additionally, service providers and policy makers must formulate programmes and policies that are better suited to the uniqueness of the Ghanaian situation.