Victims of Intimate Partner Violence Chie Maekoya Tokiwa

Victims of Intimate Partner Violence Chie Maekoya Tokiwa International Victimology Institute 11 th Asian Post Graduate Course on Victimology and Victim Assistance 1

Main Topics Which Will Be Discussed Today What is intimate partner violence (IPV)? Who are the victims of IPV? What is the dynamic between offenders and victims like? What are the impacts of IPV on victims and their children? How do victims respond to their victimization? Unique aspects of IPV (Women who use violence against their partners) Effective psychological intervention 2

What is Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)? Definitions A pattern of behaviors where one partner tries to maintain control over the other through the use of physical force, intimidation and/or threats. Intimate Partner: current or former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends 3

What is IPV? -Types of Violence. Physical　　 kicking, grabbing, punching, shoving, slapping, pushing, burning, biting, choking, use of weapons Sexual forced or pressured sexual acts, criticizing her/his body parts and rape (even if married) Emotional excessive jealousy, making the victims feel crazy, isolation from family and friends, making the victim feel worthless and threatened 4

What is IPV? -Types of Violence Verbal name calling and put-downs, yelling, blaming, minimizing, denying abuse Spiritual attacking the victim’s spiritual or religious beliefs or misquoting the scripture to justify the abuse Financial/ economic controlling the victim’s economic status and basic needs, withholding money and prohibiting the victim to work 5

What is IPV? -Types of Violence- (cont. ) Destructive acts destruction of victim’s property, vandalism and harming or killing pets. Homophobic threatening to reveal the victim’s sexual orientation Immigration using fear of deportation 6

Who are the Victims of IPV? Males or Females? Percentages of males and females who report their experience as victims In the USA (in their lifetime): 7. 3% males vs. 21. 7% females (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000) In Japan (in their lifetime): 17. 4% males vs. 33. 2% females 　 (Gender Equality Bureau, 2006) 7

Who are the Victims of IPV? (cont. ) Female victims experience more negative impacts by their partners’ violence compared to male victims (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Females are more likely to … ◦sustain injury ◦receive medical help ◦be hospitalized ◦receive counseling ◦loose time from work ◦report incident to the police 8

Who are the Victims of IPV? (cont. ) Countries? The World Health Organization (WHO)(2005 b) measured the prevalence of IPV including physical, sexual and emotional violence in 10 countries. They focused on only violence against women. Although there were some differences among countries, the results revealed that IPV was widespread all over the world. 9

Countries Participating in This Study (WHO, 2005) 10

Prevalence of Lifetime Physical Violence & Sexual Violence by an Intimate Partner among Everpartnered Women Physical violence by a male partner: ranged from 13% in Japan to 61% in Peru. Sexual violence by a male partner: ranged from 6% in Japan to 59% in Ethiopia. (WHO, 2005) 11

Percentage of Ever Physically Abused Women Who had Told No One, Someone or a Service/ Authority about Their Experience of IPV (WHO, 2005) In all countries, the interviewer was frequently the first person that the abused women had ever talked to about their partner’s physical violence. 12

Comments of the Victims who Participated in This Study “My husband slaps me, has sex with me against my will and I have to conform. Before being interviewed I didn’t really think about this. I thought this is only natural. This is the way a husband behaves” (by women interviewed in Bangladesh). “I did not know where I could go for help. Now I know where I can go. I was looking for such places. It is good to address these types of issues in a survey” (by women interviewed in Japan). (WHO, 2005) 13

What Happens between Intimate Partners? Cycle of violence (Walker, 1979) It consists of three phases Tension building phase Acute battering phase Honeymoon phase The dynamics of violent relationships between an offender and a victim is complex and makes it difficult for a victim to leave a violent situation. 14

Cycle of Violence Offenders hitting, humiliating, rape, verbal abuse etc. Victims Acute Explosion Tension Building protect self, call police, try to calm offender, try to reason, fight back, leave Denial Offenders moody, nitpicking, put-down, yelling, threatening, withdraw affection, criticized Victims nurturing, stay away from family/friends, agree, try to reason, cook partner’s favorite foods, feel of walking on eggshells Honeymoon Offender “I am sorry”, “I‘ll never do it again”, beg forgiveness, cry, declare love Promise to get help Victims agree to stay, return to offender attempt to stop legal proceedings feel happy/ hopeful 15

What are the Impacts on Victims? Effects of violence on victims ◦ Depression ◦ Anxiety ◦ Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ◦ Suicidal ideation (Pico-Alfonso et al, 2006) Long term mental health risks Five years later they are likely to have … greater degree of depressive symptoms functional impairment low self- esteem less life satisfaction (Zlotnick et al. , 2006) 16

What are the Impacts on Victims? (Cont. ) Effects of violence on children The effects on children who witness violence between their parents are also serious and various. Those children are likely to … ◦ withdraw, being depressed and get involved with delinquent and aggressive behaviors (Clarke et al. , 2007). ◦ Get involved with bullying behaviors which are both offending and victimization (Baldry, 2003). Being maltreated & witnessing of IPV in childhood can increase the risk of women being victimized later in adulthood (Renner & Slack, 2006). Abused women tend to abuse their own children (Coohey & Braun, 1997). 17

Intergenerational Transmission of Violence An abusive behavior is handed down from generation to generation as an appropriate way to deal with conflict This theory does not suggest that battering tendencies are inherited; rather, they are experienced. Witness violence between parents Being abused by parents In childhood Learn violence Becoming an abusive adult In adulthood Violence facilitates more violence. Cycle of violence occurs across generations. 18

Reasons to Stay in an Abusive Relationship Fear Low self-esteem Recognition toward violence Feeling toward partner Lack of resources Childcare need Financial problems Social embarrassment Poor social support Hopes things change 19

How Victims Respond to Their Victimization? Battered women syndrome Describe a pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms found in violent relationship. Four psychological stages of battered women syndrome. Denial: refuse to admit that she has been victimized or there is a problem. Guilt: acknowledge and recognize that there is a problem, but still consider herself responsible for it. Enlightenment: no longer assume responsibility for her husband. Recognize that no one deserves to be victimized. Responsibility: accept the fact that her partner will not/ cannot change. No longer submit to it and start a new life. choose to take necessary step. 20

How Victims Respond to Their Victimization? (cont. ) Learned helplessness (originally this concept was created by Seligman) it occurs when victims believe that they are powerless and not able to escape from their abusers and it results in them staying in violent relationships. Try to resolve these abusive situations by separating, reporting the case and seeking help (Ruiz-Perez et al. , 2006). Becoming aggressive (Hamberger, 1997; Richardson, 2005). 21

How Victims Respond to Their Victimization? (cont. ) There is no single profile of a battered woman. Each individual is different in… Their responses depends on… ◦ emotional reaction (fear, anger, sadness) ◦ beliefs and attitudes about self, other and the world ◦ symptoms of psychological distress or dysfunction. ◦ victimization ◦ victims ◦ context or environment in which victimization occur, victims respond to, heal from, and based on social class, culture, social support (Dutton, 1996) 22

Female Victims who Use Violence - Background Historically, victims of IPV have been viewed stereotypically. Females →　helpless victims in IPV Focus of research ：female victims ＆ male offenders (Frieze, 2005; Robertson & Murachver, 2007). IPV has been considered as violence from males to female partners. This perception begun to be changed after the 　　　　first U. S. National Family Violence Survey in 1975. “Females were as violent as males were. ” (Frieze, 2005; Carney et al. , 2007) 23

Dynamics of Violence in Intimate Partners Bi-directional violence Violence is initiated by both partners. Mutual violence The more their partners use violence against female victims, the more female victims use violence against their partners and vice versa. → Violence is escalated. (For example. Graham-Kevan & Archer, 2005; Hamberger & Guse, 2002; Hendy et al. , 2003; Hughes et al. , 2007; Swan et al, 2005; Swan & Snow, 2003) 24

Dynamics of Violence in Intimate Partners (cont. ) Here are some facts… Mutually mild violence was the most common form of violence (Williams & Frieze, 2005). Females’ use of violence and their partners’ use of violence appeared to be parallel (Orcutt et al. , 2005). Being involved with a violent male partner →　Reinforces females’ aggressive tendencies & amplify their likelihood of being offenders of IPV Being involved with a nonviolent male partner →　Reduces females’ violent tendencies (Herrera et al. , 2008) Females experiencing both offending & being victimized behavior are more vulnerable than females experiencing only being victimized (Orcutt et al. , 2005). 25

Motivations to Use Violence against Partners Both males and females likely use violence as a means to achieve their goals, but females are mostly unsuccessful in achieving their goals (Dasgupta, 2002). Motivations Both genders ◦ controlling their partners　(Hamberger et al. , 1997; Dasgupta, 2002) 26

Motivations to Use Violence against Partners (Cont. ) Males ◦ trying to establish long-term authority (Dasgupta, 2002). ◦ punishment their partners’ unwanted behaviors (Hamberger et al. , 1997). Females ◦ trying to establish short-term security (Dasgupta, 2002). ◦ Self-defense (Swan & Snow, 2003). ◦ Retaliation for prior physical and emotional violence from their partners, and escape from their male partners’ violence (Hamberger et al. , 1997). 27

What are the Consequences of Using Violence? Using violence for self defense: ◦ may be effective for some victims in stopping the violence from their partners (Swan & Snow, 2003). ◦ makes their situations worse and they may end up being more vulnerable. Offenders’ violence get worse Victims receive more severe injuries and injuries likely to be sustained (Bachman & Carmody, 1994; Langhinrichsen-Rohling et al. , 1995; Orcutt et al. , 2005) Even though females use minimal violence against their partners who use violence, male partners respond with much more severe violence (Downs et al. , 2007). 28

What Should Victims Do? - Self-defense Strategies Four non violent strategies that female victims can use to protect themselves in violent situations (Downs et al. , 2007) ◦ Separating themselves from their partners by running away or locking themselves in a room ◦ Threatening to call for help such as to the police ◦ Talking the partners out of perpetrating the violence ◦ Obeying their partners’ demands. ↓　If those strategies do not work… ◦ Use violence Usually, it results in the escalation of violence from their partners. Nonviolence strategies generally appear to be the safest and effective option. 29

What are the Effective Psychological Intervention? Effective Intervention (Ananda et al. , 2007) Exposure therapy, cognitive therapy, anxiety management, psychoeducation Ø Psychoeducation Victims often have maladaptive coping strategies, confusion and self-blame. 　 ↓ ◦ Provide accurate information about their victimization typical responses educate healthy vs. unhealthy coping strategies (teach adaptive coping techniques. ) ØEmpowerment Ø Give appropriate referrals 30

Final Comments A condition surrounding violence may be different in each community and country because of different social situation, economies, perceptions about violence and other factors; however, it is true that violence is not an acceptable behavior and it facilitates many negative consequences. Most of what I have mentioned about today is basically based on facts that were found in the studies done in high income and greater gender equality countries. There might be something similar and different in your countries. I hope you have found something you can apply to your community/ country or come up with new ideas to help victims. 31

I personally believe that education is really important in order to raise the awareness that violence is not acceptable as the first step to reducing this kind of victimization. 32

Thank you for your attention!! Chie Maekoya (maekoya@tokiwa. ac. jp) 33